Need Help Reducing High Email Bounce Rates in Custom Waterfall

Clark G. · 2025-08-01T20:57:30.357Z

Hey clay team, I'm getting a pretty high bounce rate on my emails, not sure where I'm going wrong. Would you be able to take a look? I have a pretty extensive custom waterfall. Table in the thread :thread:

Need Help Reducing High Email Bounce Rates in Custom Waterfall | Clay

11 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clark G.
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https://app.clay.com/workspaces/369580/tables/t_0t04jye4Ntx5vADu6r4/views/gv_0syag58hy9xbXb9qspA
Mike R.
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Not all bounces are due to invalid emails (if you’re using SmartLead checkout uplifty.io). Be sure to not send to catch all emails unless you’re using a verification provider like Enrichley in Clay that can verify those. Can let Clay chime in on your table but those are some high level basics
Hasnain R.
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Hey Mike R.! High bounce rate is usually from unverified emails in your waterfall. Make sure you're using NeverBounce, Clay Email Verification or Apollo verified emails at the end of your waterfall. Happy to take a look at your table if you drop it here!
Mike R.
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Incorrect you can bounce for like 50 different reasons so if you’re not parsing your bounces you won’t know the actual reason for high bounce rates which is what uplifty does. Also neverbounce doesn’t verify catch alls, and you should always verify Apollo emails regardless if they say it’s verified. That’s why Apollo has a validation waterfall with Enrichley in it
Sourabh
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Please share bounce rate, anything within 5% should not hurt your sending reputation... we have worked on improving delivery rates for a large number of clients. Please let me know if I can be of nay help.
Vinit
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Clark G. two type of bounces mainly.
1.
Due to invalid leads. I used MV + BB and my bounce rate never above 1%
2.
Due to something wrong with technical setup which is sender bounce rate.
If it's 1, make sure you're not sending to catch_all emails and if you wanted to make sure to verify it using BounceBan or something similar. If it's 2nd, you need to send 3 or 5 bounce report to ChatGPT to ask what's the main reason or patten in this. Once you figure out what's the problem, act accordingly. I hope this helps.
Clark G.
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Thanks for the notes guys. anybody online today to chat through it?
Clark G.
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how do you guys feel about lead magic verifier?
Vinit
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never used it Clark so can't say much about it.
Clay
APP
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LeadMagic is available as an email validation provider in our platform. It validates email addresses by checking syntax, domain existence, and mailbox availability. Like other validators, LeadMagic has an "Only Safe To Send" option that excludes catch-all emails if you want to be more conservative. We also support other validation providers like ZeroBounce (our default), NeverBounce, Emailable, and Enrichley. For your waterfall setup, ensure you're using email validation and consider excluding catch-all emails to reduce bounce rates.
Sources: Validate Email with LeadMagic Enrich People (Waterfalls) [Clay 101] - Clay University Data points: Email Validity Status | Clay.com
Channeled
APP
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Clark G.
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https://app.clay.com/workspaces/369580/tables/t_0t04jye4Ntx5vADu6r4/views/gv_0syag58hy9xbXb9qspA
Mike R.
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Not all bounces are due to invalid emails (if you’re using SmartLead checkout uplifty.io). Be sure to not send to catch all emails unless you’re using a verification provider like Enrichley in Clay that can verify those. Can let Clay chime in on your table but those are some high level basics
Hasnain R.
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Hey Mike R.! High bounce rate is usually from unverified emails in your waterfall. Make sure you're using NeverBounce, Clay Email Verification or Apollo verified emails at the end of your waterfall. Happy to take a look at your table if you drop it here!
Mike R.
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Incorrect you can bounce for like 50 different reasons so if you’re not parsing your bounces you won’t know the actual reason for high bounce rates which is what uplifty does. Also neverbounce doesn’t verify catch alls, and you should always verify Apollo emails regardless if they say it’s verified. That’s why Apollo has a validation waterfall with Enrichley in it
Sourabh
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Please share bounce rate, anything within 5% should not hurt your sending reputation... we have worked on improving delivery rates for a large number of clients. Please let me know if I can be of nay help.
Vinit
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·
Clark G. two type of bounces mainly.
1.
Due to invalid leads. I used MV + BB and my bounce rate never above 1%
2.
Due to something wrong with technical setup which is sender bounce rate.
If it's 1, make sure you're not sending to catch_all emails and if you wanted to make sure to verify it using BounceBan or something similar. If it's 2nd, you need to send 3 or 5 bounce report to ChatGPT to ask what's the main reason or patten in this. Once you figure out what's the problem, act accordingly. I hope this helps.
Clark G.
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Thanks for the notes guys. anybody online today to chat through it?
Clark G.
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how do you guys feel about lead magic verifier?
Vinit
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never used it Clark so can't say much about it.
Clay
APP
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LeadMagic is available as an email validation provider in our platform. It validates email addresses by checking syntax, domain existence, and mailbox availability. Like other validators, LeadMagic has an "Only Safe To Send" option that excludes catch-all emails if you want to be more conservative. We also support other validation providers like ZeroBounce (our default), NeverBounce, Emailable, and Enrichley. For your waterfall setup, ensure you're using email validation and consider excluding catch-all emails to reduce bounce rates.
Sources: Validate Email with LeadMagic Enrich People (Waterfalls) [Clay 101] - Clay University Data points: Email Validity Status | Clay.com
Channeled
APP
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