The short answer
Price is not a proxy for exclusivity in MCA leads. Large generic lead vendors charge $120 to $200 a lead and can still resell the same lead to ten other brokers. Niche providers that generate their own leads, from Meta and other sources, charge $50 to $90 for a real-time lead sent only to you, because they do not carry a big office or a large payroll. You can close deals on the expensive resold lead, but you are fighting uphill. The hard part is finding a provider you can trust.
Once a shop can afford to pay with money, the temptation is to assume the most expensive lead is the most exclusive one. Alex’s point is that it often isn’t. He will not name the vendors, but the pattern is a familiar one to anyone who has bought from a big generic shop.
Two kinds of vendor
| Big generic vendor | Niche provider | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per lead | $120 to $200 | $50 to $90; ours are $60 per lead |
| Who else gets it | Resold to as many as 10 other brokers | Nobody: sent only to you, in real time |
| Where the price goes | A big New York office and a payroll in the millions | The leads, marked up |
| What closing a deal is like | Possible, and uphill | The merchant is expecting your call |
The price difference is overhead. A niche provider generating leads from Meta and other sources, without a big office or a payroll of millions a month, can sell a real-time exclusive lead for less than a large vendor charges for one that ten shops are calling. You can still close deals on the resold lead; Alex’s point is that you are paying the top of the market to be one of eleven brokers calling the same merchant.
How to check what you are paying for
- Ask how many buyers each lead goes to, and get the answer in the agreement, not on the call.
- Ask where the leads come from and whether the vendor generates them or buys them. Spotting a lead reseller has five checks that need no cooperation.
- Ask for the submission timestamp on every lead and compare it with when it reached you.
- Run a test and compare cost per funded deal, not cost per lead. How to tell if your leads are being resold covers the duplicate check.
The price bands by lead type give the open-market ranges. A quote above the top of the exclusive band is not evidence of a better lead; it is a reason to ask the first question on that list harder.