Summary
Purchased email lists are widely condemned in the email deliverability community, and for good reason. They present a myriad of challenges that undermine sender reputation, lead to low engagement, and can even result in legal complications. Unlike organically grown lists, purchased lists often contain outdated, invalid, or unengaged contacts, as well as a significant number of spam traps. Sending to these addresses can trigger immediate flags with internet service providers (ISPs) and anti-spam organizations like Spamhaus, causing severe deliverability issues.
Key findings
- Deliverability impact: Purchased lists lead to high bounce rates, low engagement, and increased spam complaints, which negatively impact inbox placement and overall email deliverability. This can result in your emails landing in the spam folder or being blocked entirely.
- Reputation damage: Sending to unverified or low-quality contacts can severely damage your sender reputation and domain reputation, making it harder to reach the inbox even for legitimate, opted-in subscribers. Learn more about how email sending practices impact domain reputation.
- Spam trap risk: Purchased lists frequently contain spam traps, which are email addresses specifically designed to identify spammers. Hitting these can lead to immediate blacklisting (or blocklisting) and severe penalties. Find out what an email blacklist is.
- Legal and compliance issues: Many data protection regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, require explicit consent (opt-in) from recipients before sending marketing emails. Using purchased lists can violate these laws, leading to hefty fines and legal action.
- Financial inefficiency: The low return on investment (ROI) from purchased lists, combined with potential fines and the cost of remediation, makes them a financially unsound strategy. Learn more about why buying email lists is an absolute no-no for your marketing efforts.
Key considerations
- Prioritize organic growth: Focus on building your email list through legitimate, opt-in methods, such as website sign-up forms, content downloads, and lead magnets. This ensures higher engagement and better deliverability.
- Maintain list hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers, invalid addresses, and hard bounces. This practice improves engagement rates and protects your sender reputation.
- Monitor deliverability: Utilize email deliverability tools to monitor your inbox placement, monitor blocklists, and track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates.
- Educate stakeholders: Ensure all relevant teams, especially sales and marketing, understand the severe risks and poor ROI associated with purchased email lists.
What email marketers say
Email marketers frequently encounter challenges when clients or internal teams propose using purchased email lists. The common sentiment is that while such lists might appear to offer a shortcut to audience reach, they inevitably lead to significant deliverability problems and damage to sender reputation. Marketers often highlight the fundamental incompatibility of purchased lists with ethical email marketing practices and the detrimental effects on campaign performance.
Key opinions
- Immediate red flags: Many marketers experience an immediate sense of alarm when the use of a purchased list is mentioned, recognizing it as a severe deviation from best practices.
- Systemic issues: It is widely understood that email service providers (ESPs) and ISPs are designed to flag and filter emails originating from purchased lists, meaning the systems are working as intended when these emails fail to deliver.
- Reputation risk to platforms: Marketers express concern that platforms allowing the use of purchased lists are playing with fire, as one client's poor practices can negatively affect the deliverability of all users on that platform.
- Ineffective for marketing: Email marketing to purchased lists is generally ineffective due to low open rates and high spam complaints, failing to yield desired results. This is one of the main reasons not to buy email lists.
- Quality over quantity: The consensus is that organic, opt-in lists, though slower to build, offer far superior engagement and deliverability. It is critical to understand how email list quality impacts deliverability.
Key considerations
- Client education: It is crucial to educate clients and internal teams about the significant risks and negative consequences of using purchased lists before they proceed.
- Long-term impact: Consider the long-term damage to brand reputation and email program viability versus any perceived short-term gains from a large, but unengaged, audience.
- ROI analysis: Account for all costs, including list acquisition, platform issues, deliverability remediation (e.g., after sending to a purchased list), and the potential negative impact on existing house list metrics.
- Platform accountability: Marketers should assess their ESP's stance on purchased lists, as providers that permit this practice may put all their users at risk.
Marketer view
Email Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that as soon as they hear about a purchased list being used, it raises significant alarms. There's an immediate recognition that this practice deviates heavily from established best practices in email marketing.
Marketer view
Marketing Professional from Kickbox.com states that a high delivery rate with good metrics is virtually impossible to achieve when using purchased lists. Platforms actively work to prevent such poor-quality traffic from reaching inboxes, rendering purchased lists ineffective.
What the experts say
Deliverability experts consistently advise against using purchased email lists, emphasizing that they are fundamentally incompatible with established best practices. Their insights often delve into the technical mechanisms by which ISPs and anti-spam systems identify and penalize such sending behavior. Experts highlight that these systems are designed to detect unsolicited mail, and purchased lists inherently fall into this category, regardless of sender intent.
Key opinions
- Violation of best practices: Purchased lists are considered outside the framework of email best practices, meaning efforts to improve deliverability while using them are largely futile because the core problem remains unaddressed.
- System design: Email filtering systems, including those at major providers like Gmail and Spamhaus, are designed to identify and flag unsolicited emails, making purchased lists prime targets for blocking. This means how email blacklists actually work is tied to these unwanted sends.
- Statistical bias vs. deliverability: Some organizations may claim non-opt-in lists are necessary for statistical validity in surveys, but this conflicts directly with email deliverability requirements.
- Hidden costs: The true cost of purchased lists extends beyond acquisition to include damage to sender reputation, potential for long-term deliverability recovery challenges, and the diversion of resources.
- Lack of consent: Without explicit consent, recipients are more likely to mark emails as spam, triggering negative feedback loops that harm sender scores.
Key considerations
- Prioritize consent: Always ensure emails are sent only to recipients who have explicitly opted in. This forms the foundation of good deliverability.
- Focus on data quality: Invest in tools and processes for continuous list validation and hygiene to minimize bounces and spam traps.
- Long-term strategy: Advocate for a long-term email marketing strategy built on organic list growth and consistent engagement, rather than quick, risky tactics.
- Transparency: Be transparent with stakeholders about the risks and the inevitable negative outcomes of using purchased lists to manage expectations and steer them towards sustainable practices. Further insights can be found regarding expert deliverability insights.
Expert view
Deliverability Expert from Email Geeks asserts that purchased lists fundamentally cause deliverability issues and cannot be integrated into a best practices framework. They emphasize that there's little a consultant can do to improve the situation when the underlying data source is inherently problematic. If ISPs flag these emails, it signifies that their systems are effectively working as designed.
Expert view
Deliverability Expert from Word to the Wise advises that email marketers must understand the importance of consent in email marketing. Sending to a list where explicit permission has not been granted significantly increases the risk of spam complaints and damage to sender reputation.
What the documentation says
Official documentation from email service providers, anti-spam organizations, and regulatory bodies universally warns against the use of purchased email lists. These sources emphasize that such lists violate terms of service, lead to significant compliance risks, and actively contribute to the spread of spam. The documentation provides clear guidelines on consent and data acquisition, reinforcing that only permission-based email marketing is acceptable and effective.
Key findings
- Terms of service violations: Most legitimate email service providers explicitly prohibit the use of purchased, rented, or third-party email lists in their terms of service, leading to account suspension if violated.
- Legal non-compliance: Major data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, strictly require explicit consent for email communication. Purchased lists inherently lack this consent, exposing senders to legal penalties.
- Increased complaint rates: Recipients on purchased lists are highly likely to mark unsolicited emails as spam, which negatively impacts sender reputation metrics monitored by ISPs.
- Spam trap exposure: Official documentation from anti-spam organizations confirms that purchased lists are primary sources of spam trap hits, which are designed to catch senders of unsolicited bulk email.
- Data quality issues: Documentation often highlights that purchased lists are typically of poor quality, containing invalid, outdated, or dormant addresses that lead to hard bounces and deliverability problems.
Key considerations
- Adhere to consent models: Always prioritize opt-in consent. Build your list through transparent and legitimate methods, ensuring compliance with relevant privacy laws.
- Understand ISP policies: Familiarize yourself with the sending policies of major ISPs and email platforms. Many provide specific guidelines against purchased lists to maintain high deliverability standards across their networks.
- Implement DMARC, SPF, DKIM: While not directly addressing list quality, proper email authentication (like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM) is critical for sender trustworthiness, especially when dealing with any deliverability challenges.
- Review ESP contracts: Before signing with an email service provider, confirm their stance on purchased lists to ensure alignment with best practices and avoid future account issues. A good ESP will enforce strict anti-spam policies, as detailed by Higher Logic's deliverability best practices.
Technical article
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) documentation stipulates that organizations must obtain explicit consent from individuals before processing their personal data, including email addresses for marketing purposes. Using purchased email lists, which typically lack such consent, constitutes a direct violation of these regulations, leading to substantial fines and legal repercussions.
Technical article
RFC 5321 (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) implies a principle of permission, stating that mail servers should act responsibly to prevent unsolicited bulk email. While not explicitly banning purchased lists, the standard's spirit promotes a sending environment where recipients expect and welcome the mail they receive, which is directly contradicted by sending to non-consenting purchased lists.
Related resources
10 resources
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