2024 Update: As of February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo! will be making significant updates to their deliverability guidelines. They will be penalizing email senders who have over a 0.3% spam complaint rate. You can see how close you are to this threshold inside Google’s Postmaster tools here: https://postmaster.google.com - your email platform can’t report on this for Gmail; you have to get it straight from Google. We’ve found that many brands who previously purchased emails from 3rd parties have had to delete those emails from their system to reduce their spam complaint rates. We highly encourage every brand to audit their email sources to make sure you don’t run into timely and costly deliverability issues in 2024.

‍

Using real-time visitor identification technologies to purchase emails may seem like an easy way to expand your marketing reach, but it usually ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. Here are some key factors to consider before purchasing an email list for your eCommerce business.

1.You could be working against the terms and Acceptable Use Policy(AUP) for your ESP

Most email service providers (ESP) frown upon using purchased emails; some may even explicitly forbid it as part of their terms. While they may not find out immediately, you risk the possibility of having your email service terminated. Is it really worth risking your email marketing capabilities for emails that won’t deliver results anyways? Below are illustrative examples of relevant Acceptable Use policies from Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Twilio, and HubSpot:

2. You take on FULL risk and responsibility for compliance.

When buying emails the seller doesn’t make guarantees about the deliverability or if these emails comply with regulations. That means you and your brand are responsible for determining if you can legally send these people emails. You must ensure your messages comply with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA, and more, or face hefty penalties and, potentially, fines.

3. The quality of the emails on the list is generally poor or inactive.

Good emails generally aren’t for sale. The emails that are readily available for purchase are often low-quality: they are often inactive addresses or have been sold so many times that they’re inundated with spam and email messages. Outside of you buying a company and inheriting its email lists, most emails for sale are of low quality.

4. Your deliverability and IP reputation could nosedive.

If you decide to purchase an email list and send those people messages, you’re risking a negative impact on your overall deliverability and your IP reputation. Tying your messaging sent to existing customers to purchased emails can lower your success rates with your hard-earned existing relationships as consumers and ISPs identify your campaigns as using purchased emails. It can also cause the rate of spam complaints to rise. Gmail and Yahoo both announced that as of February 2024, each would start sending messaging to spam folders where spam complaint rates reach just 0.3%. The redirect won't just apply to purchased emails but to all emails from the same domain.  Sending messages to emails you bought likely won’t work for the reasons listed above, and you’re also putting all of your future email marketing campaigns in danger.

5. People whose emails have been purchased are less likely to convert

When you’re buying email, most recipients of those emails likely have no idea what your brand is or the value of your products. They’re likely never going to purchase from you because they have no connection to your brand or even need your product— but you still have to pay for each email.

‍

SafeOpt® vs. Purchasing Emails

The SafeOpt Email Retargeting Platform is a powerful tool that enables you to connect with interested shoppers without the risk of purchasing emails. When partnering with SafeOpt, we are responsible for deliverability and compliance here in the US. Your ads will be sent in SafeOpt emails which are sent from our own servers at safeopt.com.  This means your brand's domain and sending reputation are protected from any potential spam complaints and unsubscribes. These emails are only sent to shoppers who have shown interest in your products and/or services while they were on your site but didn't convert while there. This ensures that the emails are not only compliant but also performant.

With SafeOpt Email Retargeting, you can be confident that potential customers, who are already familiar with your brand, are only receiving relevant, targeted messages. This leads to higher engagement, increased conversion rates, lower acquisition costs, and shorter sales cycles. And with SafeOpt, there is no need to worry about your email deliverability rates, engagement diminishing, or any of the other risks that come along with purchasing an email list.  We handle all of that for you!

‍

Click here to download a PDF of this article