Email List Brokers – How They Operate

December 23, 2009 by Tim
Filed under: Email Lists

What List Brokers Do

List brokers bring together the buyer and the seller. The buyer is looking for a list and the list seller is a list compiler or owner of the list. List brokers are paid a commission, usually about 20% which comes to them from the list owner.

The broker owes his loyalty to the mailer and not the list company. The majority of all mail order list rentals are placed by list brokers. Most list brokers serve less 200 customers and have prospect lists of a few thousand names.

Buying Mailing Lists

Brokers tend to specialize because of the specialization of the mailers. There are brokers known for their unique inside knowledge of gardening or outdoor hunters, fishing enthusiasts, magazines or online opt-in lists.

List brokers have a vested interest in providing the best possible list suggestions to their clients. They lose money on small test email/mailing list quantity purchases. List brokers tend to become list and marketing consultants to those they work closest with.

List Negotiator

Because the broker has the confidence of both the mailer and the list owner, he/she can be very useful in negotiating favorable terms for a roll-out through the merge/purge.

The more the broker knows about what happens in the email or direct mail campaign, such as the offer, target market, and the history of the lists that are purchased, the better is their advice.

Standard Rates And Data Services publish the results of a survey of a cross-section of major mailers and a number of known list brokers. Buried in the figures are some interesting insights into fascinating business of mailing lists.

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