Can I email a competitor's customer list if they went out of business and gave it to me?

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.

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.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that acquiring an email list from a competitor (even with their permission) is generally not a good idea. Recipients haven't opted-in to *your* communications, and it can hurt your sender reputation and deliverability.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that buying or using a competitor's list is a bad idea. It violates anti-spam laws, hurts your sender reputation, and results in low engagement rates.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that bulk emailing to a list acquired from another business is likely to trigger spam filters. They suggest that any business should be following the best practice of permission and should only contact individuals who have provided consent.

Email marketer from Reddit user u/marketing_expert answers that it is never advisable to email a list acquired from another company. They state that it will violate anti-spam laws as you will be contacting individuals who have not opted in to your specific list.

Email marketer from Reddit user r/emailmarketing advises against using a competitor's list, even if they provide it when closing down. They highlight the risks of spam complaints and damage to your sender reputation, and suggest focusing on organic list growth.

Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog explains that purchasing email lists is not a good idea, even if the competitor is out of business. They highlight the importance of permission and the negative impact on deliverability and engagement if you email unconsented contacts.

Email marketer from MarketingProfs explains that acquired lists will never be as profitable as contacts that you have developed directly. They highlight the fact that these will be unengaged leads, and cause deliverability problems.

Email marketer from EmailOctopus Blog explains that buying or using a competitor's list is risky. They emphasize that these contacts have not given you permission to contact them and it can result in spam complaints, damage your sender reputation, and potentially legal issues.

Email marketer from SuperOffice explains that buying any form of email list is illegal in a lot of countries due to GDPR rules. They state that if the receivers did not specifically agree to receiving the communications from your business, it's against their email preferences.

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.

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.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that one of the biggest problems with purchased lists is that it is not sustainable and not a good ethical email practice. While the business may have been approved to be emailed previously, this does not transfer over to a new business. This is particularly relevant to businesses that are within the EU due to GDPR.

Expert from Email Geeks explains importance of understanding the reason behind the list transfer, important to understand if there was a legal transfer of assets vs just a friendly "here you go" you could in theory mail to the lists and explain the situation.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests the right approach is for the competitor to introduce the new company to their customers and encourage opt-in. At most, send a single email explaining the situation and offering an opt-in, then delete the list. Legal counsel should be consulted, especially in regions with data handling legislation.

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.

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.

Documentation from CAN-SPAM Act explains that the sender is responsible for ensuring every receiver of marketing emails has consented to receiving them. The act states that the sender must comply with preference removal from the list and provide an opt-out if individuals do not wish to receive marketing emails.

Documentation from SparkPost explains that it is bad practice to start sending emails from an acquired list. They explain it will result in hard bounces, spam complaints, and potentially being blocked from email service providers because you will be penalised for contacting addresses that did not subscribe to your emails.

Documentation from Mailchimp explains that best practice is to only send emails to people who have explicitly given you permission to do so. Using a list from another source, even with permission from that source, is against their terms and can lead to account suspension.