Act respectfully

Spam is annoying and disrespectful, and may actually work against your objective. Spam is normally defined as "unsolicited commercial email", and includes any message that is both unsolicited (the recipient did not ask to receive it), and commercial in nature (the recipient is asked to buy a product or service). Prosper takes a broader view of what is considered spam—often broader than the definition of spam under federal and state spam laws.

Prosper considers the following to be spam:

* Borrowers sending messages to lenders saying "Bid on my loan!"
* Group leaders sending messages to existing borrowers saying "Join my group!"

How can sending such messages work against you? Most lenders who have reported spam on Prosper noted that this kind of message from a borrower, rather than being an enticement, is actually a warning flag against bidding on that listing. So if you spam a lender, you might have actually reduced your chances of receiving a bid from the lender.

If you want to send a short thank you note to your lenders or fellow group members, that's okay. But try to keep unnecessary chatter to a minimum.

Respect the privacy of others on the marketplace. If you happen to know your group leader's name, but that information is not published publicly elsewhere, please do not include "thanks to my group leader Jill Smith" in your listing. This is a violation of your group leader's privacy, and undercuts the effectiveness of the marketplace.