Requiring Buyers to Opt-In After Payment
April 8th, 2009
In the past, I required people to opt-in to my list before I allowed them to receive their purchased item and in all my years online, no ever complained. That I can remember.
I thought it was a good idea. After all, I wanted to build my list and having a list of actual buyers is worth more than a list of freebie seekers.
Then one day on the Warrior Forum, the topic came up (as it does many times) and Paul Myers of TalkBiz News convinced me that the practice wasn’t a good one. I don’t remember all the reasons Paul gave me, it was well over a year go, but below are some that I have seen others state recently.
- Requiring people to opt-in after paying, if not disclosed ahead of time, is changing the terms of the sale. Remember, the buyer agreed upon a price for the product and part of the price wasn’t being required to join an email list.
- Opt-In is an option. If you require it, you are removing the choice.
- PayPal & other 3rd party processors may terminate your account.
- 3rd party email services may terminate your account if they get just a few complaints.
Now the question is how do you email your paying clients if you don’t require the opt-in?