Summary
Experts, marketers, and email marketing documentation overwhelmingly advise against emailing a competitor's customer list, even if the competitor went out of business and provided the list. The core issue is the absence of explicit consent from recipients to receive emails from the new company, potentially violating ethical standards, anti-spam laws (like CAN-SPAM), and data privacy regulations (like GDPR). This can damage sender reputation, increase spam complaints, lead to blacklisting, and violate email platform terms of service. A proper approach involves encouraging the competitor to introduce the new company and gain explicit opt-in from the customers.
Key findings
- Consent is Paramount: Explicit consent from recipients is crucial; consent given to the previous company doesn't transfer.
- Legal and Ethical Concerns: Using a list without consent can violate anti-spam laws (CAN-SPAM) and data privacy regulations (GDPR).
- Reputation Damage: Emailing unengaged recipients leads to bounces, spam complaints, and harm to sender reputation, impacting deliverability.
- Spam Trap Risk: Acquired lists often contain spam traps, leading to blacklisting.
- Platform Restrictions: Many email marketing platforms prohibit using purchased or acquired lists, risking account suspension.
Key considerations
- Legal Compliance: Understand and comply with all applicable data privacy laws and regulations (e.g., GDPR, CAN-SPAM).
- Prioritize Permission: Build an organically grown, permission-based list.
- Alternative Opt-In: Encourage the competitor to facilitate opt-in to your list before their closure.
- Transparency: If contact is unavoidable, be transparent about the situation and offer a clear opt-in.
- Consult Legal Counsel: Seek legal advice to navigate complex legal and compliance issues.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
The overwhelming consensus is that emailing a competitor's customer list, even if they went out of business and provided the list with their 'blessing,' is a bad idea. It's generally considered unethical, potentially illegal (depending on the jurisdiction and data privacy laws like GDPR), and harmful to your email deliverability and sender reputation. The core issue is the lack of explicit consent from the recipients to receive emails from your company. Using such a list can lead to spam complaints, low engagement, and potential blacklisting.
Key opinions
- Ethical and Legal Issues: Emailing a purchased/inherited list without consent is often considered unethical and may violate anti-spam laws (e.g., CAN-SPAM) or data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR).
- Damage to Sender Reputation: Sending emails to unengaged recipients can lead to high bounce rates and spam complaints, negatively impacting your sender reputation and deliverability.
- Low Engagement: Acquired lists typically have lower engagement rates compared to organically built lists, as recipients haven't opted-in to receive your specific content.
- Spam Traps: Purchased lists frequently contain spam traps, which can severely damage your sending reputation and lead to blacklisting.
- Competitor's blessing: The previous company consenting to give the list makes no difference. If individuals have not consented to receiving comms from the new company it is unlawful.
Key considerations
- Jurisdictional Laws: Understand the specific data privacy and anti-spam laws in your jurisdiction and the recipients' locations, such as GDPR in the EU.
- Consent Requirements: Ensure you have explicit consent from recipients before sending them marketing emails.
- Alternative Approaches: Consider alternative methods, such as having the competitor notify their customers and encourage them to opt-in to your list.
- List Quality: If you are considering this ensure the email list is of good quality to avoid harming the deliverability of your business.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks reinforces that the competitor's consent is irrelevant, and the lack of permission from the actual recipients is the key issue. Legality depends on the specific jurisdiction.
3 Apr 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that emailing a competitor's customer list, even with their blessing, is generally unethical and potentially illegal (depending on jurisdiction) because the recipients didn't opt-in to receive emails from the new company.
20 Jun 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
Experts strongly caution against emailing a competitor's customer list, even when gifted due to business closure. Ethical and legal concerns, especially under GDPR, are paramount. The consent previously granted to the original company doesn't transfer. The list may contain spam traps and invalid addresses, harming sender reputation. A proper approach involves the competitor introducing the new company and encouraging opt-in. If attempting any contact, legally binding agreements, transparent communication, and legal counsel are essential.
Key opinions
- Non-Transferable Consent: Consent to receive emails from the original company does not extend to the new company.
- Ethical and Legal Risks: Using the list can be unethical and may violate data privacy regulations like GDPR.
- List Quality Concerns: Purchased or transferred lists may contain spam traps and invalid addresses, damaging sender reputation.
- Importance of Transparency: Any communication should be transparent and clearly explain the situation to the recipients, indicating the transfer from the previous vendor and the purpose of the email (for their benefit).
- Introduction is Key: The best approach is for the competitor to introduce the new company to their customers.
Key considerations
- Legal Consultation: Seek legal counsel to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.
- Legally Binding Agreement: Obtain a legally binding agreement with the defunct company regarding the list transfer.
- Limited Contact: If attempting contact, consider a single, transparent email offering an opt-in opportunity.
- Reason for Transfer: Understand the reason behind the list transfer.
- Audience Benefit: Prioritize benefit to the audience above any financial consideration.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks advises obtaining a legally binding agreement and clearly stating the purpose of the email (for their benefit, not sales) with both logos. He also advises against viewing this as a revenue stream and suggests consulting lawyers.
28 Dec 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource answers that purchased email addresses are likely to be spam traps, and the business will get blacklisted by contacting these email addresses. They advise that only a small portion of purchased lists contain good data, as a lot of these email addresses are not valid.
29 Apr 2022 - Spamresource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Email marketing documentation from various sources, including Mailchimp, GDPR, Constant Contact, CAN-SPAM, and SparkPost, strongly advises against emailing a competitor's customer list, even if the competitor provided it. The core reason is the lack of explicit consent from the recipients to receive emails from your company. This practice violates their terms of service, data privacy regulations, and anti-spam laws, leading to potential account suspension, legal consequences, harm to sender reputation, and blacklisting by email service providers.
Key findings
- Lack of Consent: Sending emails to individuals who haven't explicitly consented to receive communications from your company violates established email marketing best practices and data privacy regulations.
- Legal and Regulatory Violations: Using a competitor's list without consent can violate GDPR, CAN-SPAM Act, and other applicable laws.
- Terms of Service Violations: Many email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp, prohibit the use of purchased or acquired lists, and violating their terms can lead to account suspension.
- Damage to Sender Reputation: Contacting unconsented recipients can result in high bounce rates, spam complaints, and negative impacts on your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues.
- Blacklisting Risk: Sending emails to a list acquired from a competitor dramatically increases the risk of getting blacklisted by ESPs.
Key considerations
- Permission-Based Marketing: Focus on building an organically grown, permission-based email list to ensure compliance and improve engagement.
- Data Privacy Regulations: Thoroughly understand and comply with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act.
- Email Marketing Platform Policies: Adhere to the terms of service and acceptable use policies of your chosen email marketing platform.
- Ethical Email Practices: Prioritize ethical email marketing practices, respecting recipients' privacy and preferences.
- Consequences of Non-Compliance: Be aware of the potential legal, financial, and reputational consequences of violating data privacy laws and anti-spam regulations.
Technical article
Documentation from Constant Contact explains that buying a competitor's list, even when that competitor goes out of business, is a bad idea. This is because these people did not consent to hearing from your business and therefore, will likely mark you as spam. Resulting in harming your sender reputation and the chance of getting blacklisted.
17 Nov 2023 - Constant Contact
Technical article
Documentation from GDPR explains that data transfers require a legal basis. Even with a business closure, transferring data (email addresses) to another company for marketing purposes requires explicit consent from the data subjects (the email recipients). If consent wasn't given for the new company, it's a violation.
27 Feb 2024 - GDPR
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