Bounce rate is the fastest way to burn an outbound domain. Unverified purchased lists routinely bounce 10 to 30 percent.
Mistake 1: Trusting a vendor's 'verified' label from months ago#
Why it hurts: this undermines lead email verification at the point where mailbox providers make their decision, and it is rarely surfaced by your own tooling until placement drops.
Fix: Verify every address through an API before it enters a sequence.
Mistake 2: Treating catch-all as valid#
Why it hurts: this undermines lead email verification at the point where mailbox providers make their decision, and it is rarely surfaced by your own tooling until placement drops.
Fix: Segregate catch-all domains and send to them at lower volume.
Frequently asked questions#
What bounce rate is safe for cold email?
Under 2 percent. Above 5 percent, pause and re-verify the list before continuing.