Data broker guides
Data broker guides for people who arrange dataset deals: how each stage works, what can go wrong, and what to check before you sign.
Updated
Who these guides are for
These pages are written for people who want to arrange the sale or licensing of data between companies: independent brokers, consultants adding data deals to an existing practice, and founders trying to work out whether the data their company has built up is worth anything to someone else. They assume no background in law or data engineering. Where a topic needs a lawyer or an accountant, the guide says so plainly instead of pretending a web page can replace one.
They are not about removing your personal details from people-search sites, and they are not about selling your own browsing data for small payments. Both are real topics, but they belong to a different part of the internet and a different set of companies.
The five stages of a brokered data deal
Every guide here fits somewhere in the same sequence. Knowing where you are in it tells you which questions matter now and which can wait.
| Stage | The question it answers | Usually takes |
|---|---|---|
| Sourcing | Which companies hold data that someone would pay for, and who decides there? | Ongoing; most of a new broker's time |
| Qualifying | Does the seller really own it, may it be licensed, and is personal data involved? | Days to a few weeks per dataset |
| Valuing | What range would a buyer pay, and what pushes it up or down? | Days |
| Matching | Which buyers need it, and what will they ask in diligence? | Weeks |
| Closing | Which agreements, in what order, and how is the data delivered and paid for? | Weeks to months |
Sourcing and qualifying decide whether there is a deal at all. Many first-time brokers spend their energy on pricing and pitching, then discover late that the seller licensed the data from someone else or collected it under terms that forbid resale. The guides put the rights questions early for that reason.
How to read them
- If you are new, begin with the guide on becoming a data broker. It walks through one deal end to end and points to the deeper pages.
- Before your first conversation with a seller, read the material on rights and privacy. It is the part that most often ends a deal.
- When a seller asks what their data is worth, use the valuation guides together with the estimate tools in the app, and give a range rather than a number.
- When a buyer is interested, move to the contract guides and templates: the NDA first, then the letter of intent, then the licence itself.
Each guide opens with a short answer so you can get the gist in under a minute, then explains the reasoning, the exceptions and the common mistakes. Frequently asked questions sit at the bottom, collected from what people actually search for and ask us.
How we write and update them
- No invented numbers. Where a page gives a price, a volume or a timing, it says where the figure comes from, or the figure is left out.
- No promises about income. What a broker earns depends on the deals they find and close, and we don't publish typical earnings we can't verify.
- Legal sections describe the law in general terms and say when to get advice. Laws on data sales change often, especially at state level.
- Each page shows the date it last changed. We update the date only when the content changes, not to look fresh.
- When another tool or service is better for a task, we say so.
Words you will meet in every guide
Seller, owner or licensor
The company that holds the data and the right to license it. Sometimes these are different companies, which is one of the first things to untangle.
Buyer or licensee
The organisation paying for the right to use the data. Most deals are licences with conditions on use, not outright sales.
Exclusivity
Whether the buyer is the only one allowed to use the data, for how long and in which field. Exclusive deals cost more and need careful drafting.
Diligence
The buyer's checks before signing: samples, documentation, provenance, privacy review and sometimes a technical evaluation of quality.
Commission or finder's fee
What the broker is paid, agreed in writing with the seller before any introduction is made.
What is coming next
New guides are added a few at a time, each after it has been checked against how deals really run. The list above grows as they are published; pages appear there only once they are finished and live, so anything you find in the table is complete. If there is a question about data deals you can't find an answer to, it is probably on the way, and the course covers every stage in more depth in the meantime.
Questions people ask
Are these guides free?
Yes. Every guide on this site can be read without an account. The paid course goes deeper, with lessons, worked deals and the tools in the app.
Do I need a technical background to follow them?
No. The guides explain technical points where they matter, such as what makes a dataset clean or what a data room is, in plain language. Knowing a data niche well helps more than knowing how to code.
Are the guides legal advice?
No. They explain how the law generally works and when it tends to apply, so you know what to ask. For a specific deal, especially one involving personal data, speak to a lawyer in the relevant country or state.
How often are the guides updated?
When something changes: a new state law, a change in how buyers run diligence, or a better way of doing a step. The updated date at the top of each page shows the last real change.
Become a data broker
The DataBroker course and tools: find companies with data to sell, price it, license it and close the deal.