COLD EMAIL AGENT · FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS · LEAD SEARCH
I bought 10k leads and only got 4k — why?
What to check when you bought 10k leads and only got 4k — why.
The platform only delivers leads it can find and verify live. It does not store old email addresses and hand them back later. When you request 10k leads, some matching people will be dropped because their current email cannot be found or verified.
Why leads get dropped
| Drop reason | What happens |
|---|---|
| Email not found | The person matched the search, but no current work email could be found. |
| Invalid email | The address no longer resolves — old account, closed mailbox, or the person moved company. |
| Duplicate | The email already exists in another campaign in your workspace (workspace-wide deduplication) |
| Unverifiable | The email server doesn't respond to verification checks — risky to send to |
| Catch-all rejected | Some catch-all domains accept all emails but won't deliver them — filtered out by default |
A typical drop is 40–60% for hard niches, 15–30% for common B2B niches. Ultra-niche (e.g. superyacht captains) can drop higher.
This is a feature, not a bug
The platform would rather give you 4,000 verified emails than 10,000 half-bad ones — bounces above 5% damage your sender reputation and tank deliverability for every campaign on that inbox.
What to do about it
- You usually spend credits on verified delivered leads. Dropped leads don't cost you anything when the email cannot be found or verified. If Instantly is connected, duplicate leads can still consume credits before the final campaign upload blocks them.
- Bad ratio is worse for niche markets. If you're seeing 60%+ drop, your niche might be on the edge of what the scraper handles well. See How do I get niche/hard-to-find emails?.
- Use the live preview to sanity-check first. AI Lead Search shows a count and a sample of matching companies before you import — if the pool looks small, widen filters before spending credits.