Buy business leads in India: what to check before you pay

Enquiry leads or contact data, how each is priced, and the checks to make before you pay anyone.

Updated 13 October 2026 · 5 min read

Enquiry leads or contact data: know which you are buying

When you set out to buy leads in India, sellers offer you one of two quite different products under the same word:

Enquiry leads. A business or person who asked for something: filled in a form, posted a requirement on a marketplace, or called the number in an advert. You get their name, number and what they asked for. These are sold per lead and are usually shared with several sellers, so whoever calls back first tends to win.
Contact data. Businesses that have not asked for anything yet, with their name, phone, email, city and trade. Usually sold per list. You make the first move, so the selling is up to you, but nobody else is chasing the same enquiry at the same minute.

Many B2B sellers use both: enquiries for buyers already in the market, and data to reach the far larger group who have not started looking.

How business leads are priced

Per lead: the usual model for enquiries. Ask whether a lead is exclusive or shared, and with how many sellers.
Per meeting: telecalling agencies that book appointments for you. Ask what counts as a meeting and whether a no-show is charged.
Subscription: a monthly or yearly fee for a marketplace listing or lead platform, sometimes with a quota of enquiries. Ask what happens to a quota you do not use.
Per credit: contact-finder tools charge each time you reveal a number or email. Fine for twenty named people, expensive for thousands.
Per list: a fixed price for a file of businesses in one trade and place. Compare the price per usable contact, not per row.

What to check before you buy a database or leads

For enquiry leads

Where each lead came from: which form, advert or marketplace, and what the buyer was shown.
How many sellers receive the same lead, and how many minutes it takes to reach you.
What happens with wrong numbers or fake enquiries: a replacement, a credit, or nothing.
How many leads come from your own service area. A lead you cannot deliver to is money lost.

For contact data

Sample rows taken from the very file you would receive.
The share of rows with a mobile, an email and a contact name, and the month the data was last built.
That the file holds businesses and professionals, not private individuals.
A seller with a business name you can look up, a proper invoice, and a way for listed people to have their details removed.

Our 10-point checklist for choosing a data provider goes deeper on the second kind.

Red flags in a database for sale

Consumer data dressed up as leads: "loan customers", "credit card holders", "salaried employees", "car owners" or "students". This is personal data about private individuals. They never agreed to hear from you, many of their numbers are on the DND register, and using it can put your business at legal risk. Do not buy it at any price.
Offers in Telegram or WhatsApp groups of "all India data" with no company name, address or invoice behind them.
"Exclusive" leads with no written promise of exclusivity.
Counts that cannot be true, such as crores of rows for one city, or every row with a mobile, an email and the owner's name.
No refund or replacement terms in writing before you pay.
Pressure to pay today because the "offer price" ends tonight.

Working out what a lead really costs

The cheapest lead is rarely the one with the lowest price. Compare sources on what each order cost you:

Note what you paid for a batch, including any subscription fee.
Count real conversations: someone who heard you out and answered a question, not just a ring.
Count quotes sent and orders won from that batch over the next two or three months.
Divide what you paid by the orders won, and compare it with what one customer is worth to you in a year.

A worked example with round numbers: 50 shared enquiries cost you ₹5,000 and bring 12 conversations and 2 orders, so each order cost ₹2,500. Do the same sum for a list: the price of the file plus your callers' time, divided by the orders it brings. Your own figures will differ; the point is to keep source, date, cost and outcome in one sheet and look at it every month.

Where ready-made lists fit

Starleads sells the second kind: ready-made lists of businesses and professionals, 6,318 of them across 140 industries, ₹499 for a city, state or specialisation list and ₹1,999 for bulk data, one industry across all of India, paid by UPI or bank transfer and delivered as Excel with an invoice. Every list shows 60 real contacts and the share of rows with each field before you pay. The biggest All-India lists:

If a team will be dialling the list, our guide to calling data for telecallers shows how to split it and what to say.

Questions about buying B2B leads

Is it legal to buy data in India?

Buying business contact lists is common, but how you use them is regulated. Promotional calls and SMS must follow TRAI's TCCCPR rules, including the DND register (our DND guide explains it), and personal data should be used for a clear purpose, with opt-outs and removal requests honoured. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is coming into force in phases, so take advice on how it applies to you.

Are enquiry leads better than a contact list?

They meet different needs. An enquiry is warm but shared and limited in number; a list is cold but covers every business that fits. Many sellers use enquiries for this month's sales and a list to build next quarter's pipeline.

How recent does business data need to be?

Businesses change numbers and close, so ask when the data was last built and expect some wrong numbers in any list. Call your best segment first, soon after you buy.