A net name agreement means that a mailer pays for only those names on the rented list which do not appear on the mailer’s list. In list industry lingo, this means that mailer only pays for “net” names mailed (after merge-purge), not “gross” names provided.

The industry standard is known as an “85% net name”. Which means you’re going to pay for a minimum of 85% of the names provided, regardless of the amount used. If your actual names used is greater than 85% of names provided, then you pay for actual names used. If your actual names used is less than 85% of names provided, then you pay for 85% of names provided. The rationale for this 85% figure is that very few lists have more than 15% duplication versus other lists.

The other component of net name pricing is the “running charge on unused names”. This is a modest charge, usually $ 10 per thousand names or less, on unused names which were provided to you. This charge helps the list owner cover their out-of-pocket processing costs for those unused names.

In our example, the net name agreement would be expressed as “85% net with a $ 10/M running charge”.

Most list owners will provide net name pricing on orders of 50,000 names or more. Net name pricing must be requested at time of order, not after the fact. For some lists, another way to get net name deals on smaller orders is for the mailer to commit to rent a specific quantity of names on annual basis.

When you have a net name agreement, your list broker must provide the list owner with computer verification from your mail house of the names used and duplicate names vs. other lists. Without verification, you are still charged for the full amount of names provided.

Another simpler option to pay for only the net names mailed is on reuses of mailing lists. With prior approval from the list owner, you can send another mailing to names previously mailed, and pay for only the actual quantity mailed on the reuse.