Went out and tested this method myself. It was a small test but it did shed a lot of light on just how effective it would be. So here's what I did:
1. Created a cloaked affiliate link for VinAudit using a generic site.
2. Created a brand new email using an older man's persona to establish legitimacy.
3. Went to the used car ads on Craigslist (sorted by owners only, no dealers.)
4. Emailed the first 100 sellers on the page with an email like this:
"Hi, Just saw your listing on craigslist for the CARNAMEHERE you're selling. Are there any problems with the car right now?"
5. Waited 3 hours so it didn't seem like a spam account.
6. Responded to all replies with this message:
"I'm pretty interested in getting it and I need something rather soon but do you happen to have a report on the car? Would like to make sure there haven't been any serious issues with it.If not, I'd recommend getting one from here - LINK - I've used it in the past, it works well and it's cheaper than most other places.
I'd just feel safer about getting a vehicle with an official report because I've had friends and family get shafted on craigslist before. Be sure to let me know if/when you get a report so I can check it out. I'm definitely interested in the car."
My Results? Well out of about 100 emails sent I received about 45 replies (so close to 50%). Of those 45 that replied I managed to pull in only 1 conversion on the VinAudit product after a few hours. I haven't seen another one since.
A lot of the sellers replied with messages like "I can give you the VIN number if you want to get the report yourself." Others flat out told me to fuck off.
So, is this a viable method? Eh, yes and no. You'd have to make it 100% automated in order for it to be worth it, rotate several large cities, respond to a lot more listings (like 1,000-2,000 a day if you want to make anything decent), and maybe test out different messages and twists to the method to increase conversions.
1 in 100 isn't terrible considering this is a really sleazy, blackhat method but if you're looking to bank, well, there are much better ways to do it. The product itself only pays out a little over $5 per conversion and, if you're doing this manually, it'll take around an hour or so to email all the sellers and then respond to them with the link. So $5/hr... I'll pass but maybe someone can come up with a craftier way to mold this technique for another niche or something.