Aged MCA leads: what they are, what they cost, and how to work them

"Aged MCA leads" is one of the most searched phrases in merchant cash advance marketing, and one of the least consistently defined. Every vendor means something slightly different by it. This guide explains what we mean, what the market charges, and how shops that buy aged files turn them into funded deals.

What an aged MCA lead actually is

An aged lead is a business-owner record that was generated some time ago, usually through a funding inquiry, a web form or a completed application, and has since been worked by whoever generated it. It's called "aged" because the record has a date on it and that date has passed. Nothing else about the merchant is implied: they may have been funded elsewhere, may have decided against funding, or may still be looking. The age tells you how long ago the inquiry happened, not what the owner thinks today.

That's why the honest way to sell aged data is by the date the record entered the system, and why every record we deliver carries that date. You can verify the tier yourself; you don't have to take our word for it.

The age tiers and why prices fall the way they do

The industry has settled on roughly four tiers. Names vary; the shape is the same everywhere.

Tier	Typical market price per record	What you're paying for
30–90 days	$0.75 – $1.00	Recent inquiry; many owners still shopping or renewing
90–120 days	$0.40 – $0.50	Past the first funding cycle; renewal conversations start here
120–360 days	$0.25 – $0.35	Volume tier; best cost per contact for dialers
12 months and older	$0.03 – $0.10	Bulk; works as a base list for SMS and drip campaigns

Price roughly halves at each step. The reason is simple: contact rates fall as records age (phones change, businesses close, owners stop answering unknown numbers), so the price has to fall to keep the cost per conversation roughly flat. A buyer paying $1.00 for a 60-day record and $0.10 for a 14-month record is often paying about the same per live conversation.

Submissions vs. leads vs. worked leads

Three words that get used interchangeably and shouldn't be:

Lead: a business owner who raised a hand somewhere: a web form, a click, an inbound call. Usually name, business, phone, maybe revenue.
Submission (or application): the owner filled out an actual funding application. That means stated revenue, time in business, amount requested, and often use of funds. Submissions are worth several times a plain lead at the same age because the owner has already told you the numbers.
Worked lead: a lead or submission that an agent has already called and dispositioned: "call back", "in follow-up", "warm", "transferred". The disposition and the date of the last contact are the product. You're buying the notes as much as the phone number.

When you compare vendors, make sure you're comparing the same thing. A "$0.50 aged lead" and a "$0.50 aged submission" are not the same buy.

Exclusive, semi-exclusive, non-exclusive

Aged data is non-exclusive by definition; the vendor who generated it has already worked it. What a good vendor can promise is a cap on resale and never selling the same record to the same buyer twice. Ask for both. If a vendor won't say how many times a record can be sold, assume the answer is "as many as we can".

How buyers make money on aged files

Shops that do well on aged data share a few habits:

They buy by cost per conversation, not cost per record. A $0.35 record at a 6% contact rate costs about $5.80 per live conversation. That's the number to compare across tiers and vendors.
They match the tier to the pitch. A 60-day submission gets a "how did your funding go?" opener. A 14-month record gets a "you looked at capital last year; things change" opener. Using the fresh-lead script on old records burns them.
They scrub before they dial. DNC, litigator lists, and their own do-not-call file. Aged vendors supply data; the compliance decision is always the buyer's, and the cost of getting it wrong is far higher than the cost of the list.
They dedupe against what they already own. Good vendors dedupe against your past orders automatically. If yours doesn't, dedupe on phone number before loading the dialer.
They work the file more than once. Aged records reward a second and third pass two to three weeks apart. First-pass contact rates on old data are low; cumulative contact rates over three passes are not.

What should come with every record

At minimum: business name, owner name, a direct phone, email where available, city and state, industry, and the date the record entered the vendor's system. For submissions, add stated revenue or deposits, time in business, and amount requested. What should never come with a record: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or bank account numbers. A vendor offering those is selling you a liability.

A note on where aged data comes from

The cleanest aged inventory is data the vendor generated itself: applications submitted through its own channels, leads from its own forms, calls its own agents made. Data bought from a third party and resold is a grey area at best; most purchase agreements prohibit it. Ask a vendor where a list originated. A straight answer is a good sign.

Updated 2026-09-28. Prices quoted are market ranges we observe, not offers; our own lists and current prices are on the Buy Data page. We supply data; compliance with TCPA, DNC and CAN-SPAM for any outreach is the buyer's responsibility.