As Seattle-based Web site development experts, we get a lot of questions about buying email lists. Everyone is looking for an easy way to meet new clients and access new customer bases. On the surface, buying or renting an email list is the way to go. After all the company is offering 300,000 recipients for only $49 (that’s an actual offer)!

Should you do it?

In a word, no.

Here are some reasons:

• The gold standard for advice in my field is advice that is self-evident. Have you ever signed up to “opt-in” to getting unsolicited email from unknown companies? Do you know anyone who has? Does it seem at all likely that anyone would sign up to receive such email knowingly? The answer to all of these questions is almost always no. So these lists must have been constructed without people’s informed consent. Now when you send an email to someone who isn’t expecting it, what will at least some people do with it? They will mark it as spam, which will have negative consequences (see below). It is self-evident that “opt-in” lists for sale can’t really exist.
• The next best thing in advice in the Web site development field is advice that comes from people or organizations that goes against their profit interest. For example, if Curvine said “don’t hire a Web site developer” that should mean a lot — as we are Web site developers and it would be in our interest to tell you to hire us. In this case, large companies that help small businesses send out emails all say the same thing:
  • MailChimp: Is purchasing or renting an email list against the law, or unethical? Not necessarily. But it’s definitely a waste of money, and will more than likely get you reported for spamming (not to mention it’s a violation of the MailChimp terms of use)
  • Constant Contact: you cannot use purchased email addresses with Constant Contact.  Constant Contact has a very strict permission-only policy, and it is a violation of our policy to use such lists with our service.
  • iContact: Purchased lists may not be used within the iContact system, regardless of the source or permission status.

I won’t even go into all of the reasons purchasing or renting email lists are a bad idea, as the evidence above is so convincing. Don’t buy email lists!