A Few Caveats
The following sections give you some advice and thoughts from experienced list-runners"
If someone already has a list, check out the subscriber and the list. "A lot of people come to us using lists they've collected. We require they come with confirmed opt-in lists," states Dundee Net's Pat Rountree. "We look up and make sure they have the rights to the list they're using, in case it's one they bought."
Saying a list is "opt-in" doesn't necessarily make it so. "Some spammers have been known to put up a Web-based subscription form, simply to have something to point to for when somebody complains 'I never signed up for the list,' they can say. 'Here's our form, you must have signed up,'" notes Dan Ritter.
Subscribers often forget they opted in or don't want to bother unsubscribing. Subscribers are often too lazy to unsubscribe, and find that it's easier to submit you to a spam-reporter/blocker, according to James Galvin. "And once you're on a blacklist, other subscribers are hurt because many blacklists are used as a blunt instrument."