List Usage

The terms used by the list marketplace to describe the ways in which a list can be bought and used, are sometimes misunderstood. The following is an attempt to clarify the terminology.

Multiple Use/Purchase    A purchase agreement allows you to do what ever you like with the data other than sell it on. Many multiple use agreements are also purchase agreements. '?Multiple use' means that the list can be used by the client many times. In most instances this means that you can use the list as many times as he likes ad infinitum.  Some suppliers add a rider to 'multiple use' e.g. 'multiple use for a period of up to one year' or 'multiple use up to x number of uses'.  Lists sold for multiple use with these riders are often described as being sold on 'multiple use rental'.  Most telemarketing lists are available for multiple use, some are only available for multiple use as policing a list for single use for telemarketing is difficult to achieve.  For inclusion in a database, data must be bought on a multiple use or outright purchase basis.  Multiple use or outright purchase is the most expensive option for buying a list.   

Single Use/Rental    Rental means that you have no rights to the data you have purchased. Generally the term applies to buying the data for use over a stated time period and may include single or multiple use during the stated period of the agreement.  Single use agreements are almost exclusively rental agreements.  'Single use' means that the list can be used once only by you.  Normally this is a usage applicable to mailing lists, however, with care it can be used for telemarketing lists.  In many instances of single use list sales, for security reasons the supplier will not allow the list to go directly to the client.  The list is only released to a third party agency on the condition the client never gets to see the original data (sometimes called a 'site unseen' list).  Other suppliers are more trusting of their clients and will provide a single use list directly to you.  The major benefit to you of single use is cost.  It is the cheapest way of using a list.  The major drawback is that you only get to keep the responses to the mailing or telephone campaign, you can't keep or reuse the original data.  The conditions around single usage can get hazy when it comes to telemarketing.  At what point is a record classified as having been used? When the researcher gets a questionnaire completed?  Or is a record used as soon as the first dialling has been made irrespective of the outcome (what if the result is the engaged tone)?  As you see, the situation is unclear and open to interpretation.  Most single use lists bought on magnetic media require that the tape/disk is returned within a specified time period.  The supplier often charges a refundable deposit on the tape/disk to encourage this.  Sometimes you are contractually obliged to return the tape within a specified time frame or risk incurring a penalty.  This is a technique designed to limit the abuse of data under the single use agreement.    

Note, that no list supplier will allow you to resell or sell on his list without first making some special arrangement with the list owner. Such agreements are rare.