Can I email this list? Check a bought or inherited list against the rules
In short: Answer three questions about the list, optionally paste it to spot UK, EU and Canadian addresses, and get each law's rule and your email platform's policy, with the source for each. Limit: It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't cover every country; Australia, for example, isn't checked.
Whether you can email a purchased list depends on where the recipients are and which platform sends it. US law allows it if every email follows CAN-SPAM; Canada, the UK and the EU often need consent; Mailchimp and Klaviyo ban bought lists outright. Answer three questions, optionally paste the list, and see each rule with its source.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. See pricing
Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Not legal advice.
Sample result
A bought B2B list sent from Mailchimp: allowed in the US, not on Mailchimp, consent needed for Canada.
- Purchased list on Mailchimp
- Not allowed
- United States
- Allowed, with conditions
- Canada
- Consent needed
What this means for you
The law and the platform are separate tests; the platform's policy applies wherever you are.
- CAN-SPAM, CASL, PECR, GDPR
- Mailchimp, Klaviyo, HubSpot
- Countries spotted from the list
- Every rule linked to its source
- Purchased list
- Consent
- Compliance
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
Also in: Português (Brasil) · Español · Deutsch · Français
How do I check whether I can email a purchased list?
- Pick where the list came from: signups, customers, events, a list vendor, scraping or a partner.
- Pick who is on it (people at companies, individuals, or a mix) and the platform you'd send with.
- Tick the countries you know are on it, or paste the list: UK, EU and Canadian domain endings are counted and ticked for you, in your browser.
- Press Check the list. Each law and your platform's policy get a verdict, the reason and a link to the source.
Example
- You enter
- A list bought from a vendor, people at companies, to be sent from Mailchimp, with
[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]and[email protected]pasted. - You get
- 1 UK, 1 EU, 1 Canadian and 2 no-signal addresses, so Canada, the UK and the EU are ticked. United States: allowed under CAN-SPAM's conditions. Canada: needs consent the list probably doesn't carry. UK: limited companies yes, sole traders no. EU: depends on the country. Mailchimp: not allowed.
- Limits
- Runs in your browser. Not legal advice; rules as read on 5 November 2026.
Is it legal to email a purchased email list?
In the US, generally yes, if every email follows CAN-SPAM. The FTC's compliance guide sets no consent requirement and says "the law makes no exception for business-to-business email": accurate headers and subject lines, say it's an ad, include your postal address and an opt-out, and honour opt-outs within 10 business days. Elsewhere it's stricter. Canada's CASL needs express or implied consent before the first commercial email (CASL and cold email). The UK's PECR lets you email limited companies and LLPs without consent but not sole traders or consumers (PECR and cold email). In the EU, GDPR allows direct marketing on legitimate interest, but each country's ePrivacy law decides whether the email may be sent (GDPR and B2B cold email).
This is not legal advice. It applies the rules the regulators publish to your answers; a lawyer should read anything you rely on.
Can I upload a purchased list to Mailchimp, Klaviyo or HubSpot?
Not to Mailchimp or Klaviyo. Mailchimp's Acceptable Use Policy bans "purchased, rented, third-party, co-reg, publicly available data, or partner lists of any kind", even where the law would allow the email. Klaviyo's policy bans purchased, rented, borrowed or third-party lists whose contacts haven't consented to hear from you, and addresses obtained by scraping. HubSpot's Acceptable Use Policy bans harvesting addresses without consent and points to a separate anti-spam policy for list rules. Breaking a platform's policy risks the account whatever the law says.
What else goes wrong with a bought list?
Bounces and traps. A list you didn't build has no sending history with you, often carries addresses that died since the vendor collected them, and is where pristine spam traps tend to show up (how spam traps get on your list). If the rules allow the send, verify the list before the first email and start small; our guide on whether to buy email lists covers the trade-offs.
Which rules apply where?
| Where the recipients are | Consent before the first email? | Business addresses |
|---|---|---|
| United States (CAN-SPAM) | No; opt-out law | Same rules, no exception |
| Canada (CASL) | Yes, express or implied | Implied by a published business address, if relevant to their role |
| United Kingdom (PECR) | Yes for individuals | Limited companies and LLPs without consent; sole traders need it |
| European Union (ePrivacy + GDPR) | Yes for individuals | Depends on the country |
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Founders
- Check, before paying for a lead list, whether the platform you already use will even let you send to it.
- Cold emailers
- See which part of a list points to Canada, the UK or the EU before it goes into a sequence.
- Businesses that bought a company
- Work out what an inherited customer list can be used for after the acquisition.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't cover every country; Australia, for example, isn't checked.
- Countries come from domain endings, so a .com address in Canada isn't detected; tick it yourself.
- Platform policies change; the verdict quotes the policy as read on 5 November 2026.
- It can't see whether a person consented; only your records can show that.
Common questions
- Is it illegal to buy an email list?
- Buying one usually isn't the problem; emailing it is where the rules apply. In the US that's legal under CAN-SPAM's conditions. In Canada, the UK and the EU, many of the people on it can't be emailed without consent.
- Can I use a purchased list in Mailchimp?
- No. Mailchimp's Acceptable Use Policy bans purchased, rented, third-party, co-registration, publicly available data and partner lists of any kind.
- Does CAN-SPAM require opt-in?
- No. CAN-SPAM is an opt-out law: no consent is needed first, but every email needs accurate headers, a postal address and an opt-out you honour within 10 business days.
- Can I email UK businesses without consent?
- Limited companies, LLPs and Scottish partnerships, yes, with an identified sender and an opt-out in every email. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships count as individuals and need consent.
- How does the checker know which countries are on my list?
- From domain endings and providers that serve mostly one country, such as .co.uk, .de, .ca or web.de. A .com or Gmail address gives no country, so tick the countries you know about too.
Sources
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.