This page is for lead generation companies and aggregators that generate leads and also buy them. It explains what each side of the arrangement involves, how one onboarding covers both, and what a partnership does and does not include. It gives no prices or volumes: those are set per partner.
Who a lead partnership suits
Summit Leads operates on both sides of the market: it buys supply from lead generators and publishers, and it sells leads to aggregators, lead-generation companies and buying desks. Some companies sit on both sides too. Typical cases:
- A generator in one verticalVerticalThe industry or product category a lead belongs to, such as roofing or car accident. Glossary that buys in another. For example, a company that runs its own roofing forms and also buys car accident leads for a client.
- A generator whose clients want more states. It produces leads in some states and buys in others to cover the rest of its clients’ areas.
- An aggregator with its own forms. It sells part of what it generates and buys leads to fill campaigns its own supply does not cover.
- A buying deskBuying deskA team inside a lead-generation company, agency or aggregator that purchases leads to fill its own or its clients' campaigns. Glossary that has started generating. It keeps buying while its own traffic grows, and sells what its clients do not take.
If you only sell, start with sell your leads. If you only buy, start with buy leads.
The two sides of a lead partnership
| Side | What happens | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| You sell to Summit | You send leads from your own forms to Summit by ping/post, and Summit routes them to buyers whose filters match. Summit buys MVA and home improvement web leads in all U.S. states. | Sell your leads, and the vertical pages under it |
| You send traffic to Summit | Instead of building forms, you run MVA or home improvement traffic to landers Summit owns and maintains. Summit reviews publisher ad creative before launch. | Publisher program |
| You buy from Summit | You set filters and caps, and leads that match reach your endpoint by real-time ping/post, exclusive by default with shared delivery on request. | Buy leads, sample leads and the integration page |
A partner can take part in any combination of these, for example selling leads from its own forms and buying Summit’s leads in the verticals or states it needs.
HVAC is now onboarding on both sides: Summit is accepting interest from HVAC lead buyers and HVAC lead generators, and a partner that does both can say so in the same email. HVAC is not part of a partnership until it opens. See HVAC leads and sell HVAC leads.
Selling your supply to Summit
On the selling side, you are a supplierSupplierAny company that provides leads to a buyer, whether it generates them itself or brokers them from publishers. Glossary like any other. Your leads are posted to Summit, checked against buyer filters, and routed in real time. The seller program explains how leads are sent and what buyers accept, and each vertical has its own page: selling MVA leads, selling car accident leads, selling home improvement leads and selling roofing leads.
If you run traffic but do not want to maintain forms and consent capture, the publisher program is the other route in. The publisherPublisherA company or individual that generates leads, usually through websites, ads or content, and sells them to brokers or buyers. Glossary program has offers in MVA and home improvement, with HVAC and auto and home insurance now onboarding.
Buying leads from Summit
On the buying side, you are a buyer like any other. A ping with partial, non-identifying data goes out, your system bids or declines, and the winning bid receives the full lead by post. Filters can cover the vertical and sub-type, states or ZIP codes, homeowner status in home improvement, and injury and attorney status in MVA, with daily caps and hourly or day-of-week limits.
Before you buy, read the sample leads for the fields each vertical carries, and the ping/post integration page for the message formats and testing steps. If you place leads with clients, aggregators and buying desks and lead resellers cover those models.
One onboarding for both sides
The point of a partnership is that you do not go through two separate sign-ups. Both sides are set up in the same onboarding:
Email both lists
Tell us what you generate (verticals, states, how leads are captured) and what you want to buy (verticals, states, daily caps, delivery method).
One call
One onboarding call covers both sides: your supply, your buying filters, and the questions each side raises.
Two sets of terms
Terms for selling and terms for buying are set separately and agreed in writing before going live.
Connect and test
Your leads are test-posted into Summit, and test leads are sent to your buying endpointEndpointThe web address in a buyer's system that receives pings and posts. Glossary, so both connections are checked.
Go live on each side
Each side goes live when its own tests pass. One side does not have to wait for the other.
Use the two email buttons on this page: "Email us to buy leads" for the buying side, and "Sell leads" for the selling side. Either one reaches the same team, and mentioning the other side in your email is enough for both to be handled together.
What a lead partnership is not
People search for this arrangement as a lead swap, a lead exchange or a way to buy and sell leads with one company. The words suggest more than the arrangement is, so here is what it does not include:
- Not a one-for-one swap. Summit does not trade a set number of its leads for a set number of yours. What you sell and what you buy are separate.
- Not one combined account. Selling and buying are two relationships, each under the terms agreed for it.
- Not a requirement. You can sell without buying or buy without selling, and you can end one side and keep the other.
- Not an exchange platform. Summit is a brokerage that routes leads by ping/post, not a marketplace where partners list leads for each other.
For the wider landscape of buying models, see compare lead sources. For the broker model Summit uses, see what a lead broker is.
Consent records on both sides
Consent comes up on both sides of a partnership, from opposite directions. As a seller, you capture consent on your own forms and send the consent record with each lead; buyers check it before they contact the consumer. As a buyer, you receive the consent record in each post: the opt-in language shown, the timestamp, the IP address and the page URL where consent was given.
TCPA compliance for lead generators covers the seller’s side, TCPA for ping/post delivery covers how consent works in an auction, and record keeping for TCPA consent covers what both sides should store.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Consent requirements for the leads you sell and the leads you buy are questions for your own counsel.
Frequently asked questions
Can one company both sell leads to Summit and buy leads from Summit?
Yes. Summit buys supply through its seller program and sells leads by ping/post, and a company can do both. The two sides are set up in one onboarding, each with its own terms.
Is a buy and sell partnership a one-for-one lead swap?
No. Summit does not trade a number of its leads for a number of yours. Selling and buying are separate relationships, each under the terms agreed for it.
Do both sides of a partnership have to be in the same vertical?
No. Each side has its own verticals and states, so you can sell in one vertical and buy in another, within the MVA and home improvement verticals Summit works in.
Which email button should a partner use first?
Either one: both go to team@summitleads.ai, the same team. Say in your email that you want to sell and buy, list what you generate and what you want to buy, and both sides are handled in the same onboarding.
Related guides
Selling and buying leads?
Tell us what you generate and what you want to buy. Both sides are set up in one onboarding, and the terms for each are agreed in writing before going live.
Or write to team@summitleads.ai. We reply by email.
What happens next
- Step 1: You email us.
- Step 2: We reply by email.
- Step 3: Return terms are agreed on the onboarding call, before you go live.