Perhaps this is you right now: You’ve built an incredible EdTech solution, but getting it in front of the right people feels like shouting into the void. It’s frustrating, right?

You know that email marketing is the megaphone you need. What you may not realize is that using it the wrong way isn’t just ineffective — it’s actively sabotaging your brand’s reputation, email deliverability, and engagement rates.

A word of advice — if you’re considering a shortcut by purchasing an email list, just pump the brakes.

Would you cold-call a random stranger and expect an instant friendship? Probably not. Buying email lists might seem like a fast track to growth, but in reality, it leads to endless headaches, credibility damage, and wasted resources. Buying email lists is not the fast track to growth you wish it were. In actual practice, it leads to endless headaches, credibility damage, and wasted resources.

Email marketing is one of the most powerful sales and marketing tools for all businesses, including EdTech companies. When used correctly, you can connect with educators, administrators, and decision-makers. But here’s the catch: it only works when it’s built on trust and meaningful interactions, not when you’re blindly blasting inboxes with unsolicited messages.

I mean, you’re not likely to walk into a crowded room and start handing out flyers to random strangers, hoping they’ll care about your product. The same principle applies to edtech email marketing. If you want real engagement, you need real connections.

Let’s dive into why buying email lists — or using someone else’s data—is a disaster waiting to happen and how ethical, sustainable strategies can drive far better results.

What Are Purchased Email Lists?

Purchased email lists are collections of email addresses sold by third-party vendors who promise access to “targeted” audiences. They claim these lists will fast-track your marketing success, but here’s the catch—those email recipients didn’t sign up to hear from you.

What happened the last time you crashed an intimate dinner party where you didn’t know anyone, not even the host? Not that you would ever do that, I’m sure. But if you use your imagination, I expect you would get awkward silences, disapproving glances, and a one-way ticket to the “Do Not Invite” list.

That’s exactly how recipients feel when they receive unsolicited emails. Instead of meaningful engagement, you’re met with immediate distrust, a spam complaint, or worse, a total block from future communication. Awkward, right?

Many EdTech companies turn to purchased lists hoping for instant results, only to realize they’re sending messages to people who have no idea who they are—and worse, don’t care. Instead of building trust, at best, you become just another name in a spam folder. At worst, you’ve permanently cemented your brand’s reputation in the mental blocklist of recipients—right alongside robocallers, aggressive sales emails, and that one company still sending you “Last Chance!” deals from 2017.

Why It’s Tempting but Risky

The Appeal

• Speed: A purchased list provides immediate access to thousands of email addresses.
• Convenience: Saves time compared to organically building an email list.
• Perceived ROI: Some marketers mistakenly believe that the broader the reach, the better the results.

The Reality

• Low Engagement: Recipients on purchased lists are unfamiliar with your brand, leading to poor open and click-through rates. No one wants to open an email from an unknown sender, especially when they haven’t opted in. Since engagement plays a crucial role in email deliverability, low interaction signals to email providers that your content isn’t relevant, which in turn reduces inbox placement (that is, you’re now headed to the Spam folder) for all future campaigns.
• Reputation Damage: Sending unsolicited emails can harm your sender reputation and make your brand look untrustworthy. Email service providers (ESPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor sender behaviors, and repeated low engagement, spam complaints, or high bounce rates can lead to your domain (also known as your website address) being flagged as a spammer. Once your sender reputation is damaged, recovering it requires months and months of concerted effort, including improving email hygiene, manually requesting delisting from blacklists, and demonstrating a commitment to better practices.
• Legal Risks: Non-compliance with data privacy laws can result in substantial fines—more on that in the next section. Regulations such as CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA, and CASL require explicit consent before sending marketing emails, and failing to comply can lead to fines reaching millions of dollars. Additionally, legal trouble isn’t just about fines—class action lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny can permanently tarnish your company’s credibility.

Legal and Ethical Risks

Legal Compliance

Using purchased lists isn’t just bad marketing—it can land you in serious legal trouble. Here’s why:

• CAN-SPAM Act (USA): Requires marketers to provide an opt-out option and prohibits the use of harvested email addresses. Fines can reach $53,088 per violation.
• General Data Protection Regulation — GDPR (EU): Explicit consent is required before sending marketing emails. Non-compliance can lead to fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual revenue.
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation — CASL (Canada): One of the world’s strictest anti-spam laws, requiring clear consent before sending commercial emails. Penalties go up to $10 million per violation.

But wait — there’s more. As of February 2025, 20 U.S. states have passed their own data privacy laws. These include California (CCPA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Texas, and Florida, among others. Each state has unique rules, making compliance a logistical nightmare if you’re using a purchased list.

Practical Risks of Using Purchased Lists

1. Low Engagement Rates

Sending emails to people who never signed up for your content is like yelling into a void. Here’s what happens:

• Poor Open Rates: Recipients ignore or delete your emails because they don’t recognize your brand.
• High Bounce Rates: Many addresses on purchased lists are outdated or inactive, further harming your campaigns.
• Minimal Conversions: Since these contacts never opted in, they are far less likely to engage, let alone convert.

Low engagement rates don’t just hurt your metrics—they make all your future email campaigns less effective. Email providers like Gmail and Outlook use these signals to decide whether to send your emails to the inbox or the spam folder.

2. Damage to Your Sender Reputation

Imagine you throw a party and send out invitations—but instead of inviting friends, you randomly pull names from a phone book (or, if you’re not from the mid-20th century, from random internet pages). The result? Confused guests who have no idea who you are, awkward small talk, and a party that fizzles out before it even starts. Worse, word spreads, and the next time you host an event, nobody shows up.

That’s exactly what happens when you email people who never opted in — except instead of awkward silence, you get spam complaints, email blocklists, and a permanently tarnished sender reputation. The outcome? Confusion, frustration, and people actively avoiding your brand, ensuring your future emails get ignored, unsubscribed, or flagged as spam before they’re even opened.

Email service providers (ESPs) like MailerLite and HubSpot monitor sender reputations. Poor engagement signals (spam complaints, high bounce rates) can lead to:

• Blocklisting: Your domain or IP address may be blocked, preventing future emails from reaching inboxes.
• Account Suspension: Many ESPs prohibit the use of purchased lists and will shut down accounts that violate their policies.

Regaining a clean sender reputation after being blocklisted is a long, uphill battle that can take weeks or even months to fix. First, you need to pinpoint the root cause—whether it’s high spam complaints, poor engagement, or sending emails to a purchased list—and take immediate corrective action. Next, you’ll have to reach out to blocklist operators individually, plead your case, and prove that you’ve addressed the issue.

But the damage doesn’t stop there. You’ll need to thoroughly clean your email list, remove disengaged contacts, and implement stricter opt-in measures. Then comes the slow and tedious process of rebuilding trust with email providers—gradually increasing your sending volume while working to improve engagement rates. Meanwhile, your marketing efforts take a massive hit, with emails struggling to land in inboxes, delayed campaigns, and lost potential conversions. Even with a flawless recovery plan, restoring your sender reputation isn’t an overnight fix—it’s a long, painful process that’s far easier to avoid than to repair.

The Smart Way to Grow Your Email List

Instead of taking shortcuts, focus on building an engaged audience through ethical and sustainable list-building practices:

1. Create Valuable Lead Magnets: Offer high-quality eBooks, whitepapers, or webinars to encourage sign-ups.
2. Leverage Social Media: Use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to promote your lead magnets and build awareness.
3. Optimize Website Subscription Forms: Place sign-up forms strategically (homepage, blog posts, resource pages).
4. Partner with Industry Influencers: Collaborate with EdTech leaders to co-host webinars and share content.
5. Host Free Webinars: Provide valuable insights in exchange for email addresses—your audience gets something useful, and you get qualified leads.

The Importance of Trust in Email Marketing

Email marketing isn’t about blasting as many inboxes as possible—it’s about building relationships. When recipients trust your brand, they are far more likely to engage, explore your offerings, and ultimately convert into customers.

In EdTech, lead nurturing is critical. Decision-makers don’t impulse-buy software or courses; they need multiple touchpoints before making a commitment. Ethical email marketing allows you to send personalized, relevant content at the right stages of their journey—without risking your reputation.

Conclusion

Purchasing an email list might seem like a shortcut, but it’s actually a dead end. On the other hand, building an organic list ensures that you’re reaching an audience that genuinely wants to hear from you—leading to higher engagement, stronger relationships, and better conversion rates. Ethical list-building takes longer, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the quick but costly pitfalls of purchased lists. Between legal risks, low engagement, and damage to your reputation, the costs far outweigh the benefits. Instead, invest in ethical, long-term strategies that foster genuine relationships and drive sustainable growth.

Want to build an engaged, high-quality email list the right way? Check out our guide: 10 Proven Strategies to Build a High-Quality Email List for EdTech for actionable tips!