Buy mailing list options: rent, buy or build

A mailing list is sold as a licence to use names, not as a file you own outright, and the licence decides how often you can mail it.

Sellers price lists per name or per thousand names, and the price rises with targeting, freshness and the number of uses. The US Postal Service doesn't sell address lists; commercial compilers and list brokers do.

DataBroker doesn't sell lists. This hub explains how the trade works and points to public registries that already hold some professional audiences for free. If you want to run a list business rather than buy from one, the list broker guide covers that side.

• Where did the names come from: public records, warranty cards, surveys, purchases or opt-in sign-ups?
• When was the file last updated, and against which change-of-address or suppression files was it cleaned?
• Is the licence single-use or multi-use, for how long, and for which channels?
• Can I see a sample and the count for my exact selections before I pay?
• For email: how were the addresses collected, and what bounce rate do you guarantee?
• Can you append missing fields to my own customer file instead? A data append is often cheaper than a new list.

• Email (US): CAN-SPAM applies to business-to-business email too. Every message needs honest headers and subject lines, an ad disclosure, a valid postal address and a working opt-out honoured within 10 business days. Each violating email can cost up to $53,088, and hiring a sender doesn't move the responsibility.
• Postal mail: no consent rule of the same kind, but the licence limits how often and for what you may use the names.
• Outside the US: the EU and UK need a lawful basis for marketing to individuals, and email marketing usually needs prior consent; check before buying a list of European contacts.