Got a 48-hour offer for your company's data? A checklist
Updated October 2026 · listmydata team
A short deadline puts pressure on you. It isn't a reason to sign. Serious buyers will wait a few days while you check the terms, the buyer and what your data is worth elsewhere.
Business Insider reported in October 2026 that some buyers make six-figure offers for company data that expire in 48 hours. Some of these offers are real and fair. A two-day deadline makes it hard to compare offers.
Before you answer
- Ask for more time. A simple reply works: "We're interested. We need a week to review the terms with our advisors." How the buyer responds tells you a lot.
- Get every term in writing: the price, exactly which data, how it's delivered, when you're paid, and what happens if they reject part of it.
- Check who you're dealing with. Look up the company, its address, its website and the person writing to you. Ask what the data will be used for and who else will see it.
- Find out what it's worth to others. Read the wanted ads, post your own listing (owners always post free), or get help selling. One more offer changes the conversation.
- Remove personal information first. Agree in writing who removes customer and employee details and who checks the result. See How to remove personal information.
- Know what you're licensing. Is it exclusive? Can they resell it? For how long? What happens to the data if they go out of business?
- Protect the payment. Use escrow, or deliver a sample first and the full set after payment clears.
- Leave out special records. Client tax returns, health records, financial account data, children's data and clients' confidential files have extra legal rules. When in doubt, leave them out.
- Think about your people. Old email and chat hold private conversations from employees who never expected them to be sold.
- Talk to a lawyer before signing anything large.
Questions to ask the buyer
- What will you use the data for, and will it be shared with or resold to anyone else?
- Is the license exclusive? If so, how long does exclusivity last?
- Who removes personal information, and can we see the result before delivery?
- When and how are we paid? Will you use escrow?
- Will you delete the data if the deal falls through, or at the end of the license?
- Can we see your standard contract now, before we commit?
Red flags
- The deadline can't move, even by a few days.
- They want logins to your email or systems instead of an export.
- They won't put the use, exclusivity or resale terms in writing.
- They ask for raw data, including names, "to evaluate it."
- They want payment or a "processing fee" from you.
- You can't find a real company, address or person behind the offer.
Got one of these offers? Tell other owners about it in the scam warnings forum, without names.
This guide is general information, not legal advice.
next steps
- List your data: owners always post free.
- Read what buyers want in the wanted ads.
- Get help selling from an independent data broker.
- Get an email when something new is posted.
- Ask other owners in the forums.