What happens to emails sent to love.com now that the domain is sold?

Summary

When a domain is sold or expires, such as love.com, emails sent to those addresses will bounce, often with a '550 5.1.1' error or a Non-Delivery Report (NDR). This is a permanent failure indicated by SMTP 5xx errors. These are classified as hard bounces, signaling that the email addresses are no longer valid. Email marketers and experts agree that it's critical to have a robust process for monitoring and removing these invalid addresses from your email lists. Continuing to send emails to these addresses can severely damage your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues and potential blacklisting. Maintaining a clean and engaged email list through regular cleaning and validation practices is essential for preventing spam complaints and protecting your sender reputation.

Key findings

  • Bounces & NDRs: Emails to sold/expired domains result in bounces or NDRs.
  • 5xx Errors: SMTP 5xx errors indicate permanent delivery failures.
  • Hard Bounces Identified: These bounces are classified as hard bounces.
  • Reputation Damage: Sending emails to invalid addresses damages sender reputation.

Key considerations

  • Regular Cleaning: Regularly clean email lists and remove invalid addresses.
  • Monitoring Processes: Implement robust processes for monitoring bounces.
  • Prompt Removal: Immediately remove hard bounces from email lists.
  • Validation: Verify accuracy of old or purchased email lists before sending.

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

When a domain like love.com is sold, emails sent to that domain will typically bounce, generating a non-delivery report (NDR). Continuing to send emails to these addresses negatively impacts your sender reputation and deliverability. Cleaning your email list by removing invalid or inactive email addresses, including those from sold or expired domains, is crucial. Monitoring bounces and ensuring your email lists are accurate helps to prevent potential spam complaints and maintain good email list health.

Key opinions

  • Bounces: Emails sent to sold or expired domains bounce back to the sender.
  • Sender Reputation: Sending emails to invalid addresses damages your sender reputation.
  • Deliverability: Poor sender reputation results in deliverability issues.
  • List Health: Bounced emails are a key indicator of email list health.

Key considerations

  • List Cleaning: Regularly clean email lists to remove invalid or inactive addresses.
  • Bounce Monitoring: Monitor bounces and remove hard bounces immediately.
  • Accuracy Verification: Verify the accuracy of purchased or old email lists before sending.
  • Reputation Maintenance: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is vital for protecting sender reputation.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum warns against sending emails to purchased lists or very old lists without verifying their accuracy. Domains can change hands, and previously valid addresses can become invalid, leading to bounces and potential spam complaints.

February 2025 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice emphasizes the importance of cleaning your email lists regularly to remove invalid or inactive email addresses. This includes addresses from domains that may have been sold or abandoned, as sending to these addresses hurts your reputation.

December 2021 - SuperOffice
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains that after a domain is sold, emails sent to that domain will typically bounce back to the sender, generating a non-delivery report (NDR).

July 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that sending emails to invalid addresses due to domain changes or sales negatively impacts your domain reputation. Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is vital for protecting your sender reputation.

August 2022 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from Constant Contact highlights that maintaining a clean email list is essential for deliverability. Sending emails to outdated addresses or domains that no longer exist (because they were sold) can lead to high bounce rates and damage your sender reputation.

May 2024 - Constant Contact
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that love.com bounces from Google with a '550 5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist' error.

November 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailOctopus blog shares that if a domain expires or is sold, emails sent to addresses at that domain will likely bounce, and continuing to send emails to these addresses can negatively impact your sender reputation.

March 2023 - EmailOctopus Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sender explains that bounced emails are a key indicator of email list health. A high bounce rate can significantly damage your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. They recommend immediately removing hard bounces from your list.

March 2025 - Sender.net
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that bounced emails, including those resulting from invalid or non-existent domains, should be handled carefully. Continuously sending to these addresses can harm your sender reputation and deliverability. Cleaning your email list is crucial.

December 2021 - Mailjet

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

When a domain like love.com is sold or expires, email experts confirm that the associated email addresses become inactive, leading to bounces. Email senders must monitor for these bounces and remove the invalid email addresses from their lists to avoid negatively impacting their sender reputation. There's a risk that emails could be rejected or even received by spammers, emphasizing the need for robust bounce handling processes.

Key opinions

  • Inactive Emails: Emails to sold/expired domains become inactive.
  • Bounces Occur: Emails sent to inactive domains are likely to bounce.
  • Spam Risk: Mail could be received and processed by spammers.

Key considerations

  • Bounce Monitoring: Monitor for bounces and remove invalid addresses.
  • Reputation Protection: Handle bounces to avoid impacting sender reputation.
  • Robust Process: Ensure a robust process for handling bounces.
Expert view

Expert from Wordtothewise.com explains that once a domain is no longer active, emails sent to that domain are likely to bounce. Senders need to ensure they have processes to handle bounces so they are not negatively impacting their sender reputation.

December 2022 - Wordtothewise.com
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks confirms that love.com emails are dead and will write a blog post about it.

March 2025 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource.com recommends ensuring you have a robust process for monitoring for bounces and removing invalid email addresses from your list. When a domain expires, any mail sent to the old domain may be rejected or could even be received and processed by spammers.

September 2024 - Spamresource.com

What the documentation says
5Technical articles

Official documentation confirms that emails sent to domains that are no longer valid (e.g., sold domains like love.com) result in bounce messages or Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs) for the sender. The SMTP protocol uses 5xx error codes to indicate permanent failures. These are considered hard bounces and should be removed from email lists immediately to maintain good deliverability and prevent blacklisting.

Key findings

  • Bounce Messages: Invalid domains trigger bounce messages/NDRs.
  • Permanent Failure: SMTP 5xx errors indicate permanent failures.
  • Hard Bounces: Emails to sold domains are considered hard bounces.

Key considerations

  • Immediate Removal: Remove hard bounces from email lists promptly.
  • Deliverability: Managing bounces is critical for deliverability.
  • Blacklisting: Continuous sending can cause blacklisting.
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost states that emails sent to inactive or invalid domains will result in bounces. Managing these bounces and suppressing those addresses is critical for maintaining good deliverability. Continuously sending to them can cause blacklisting.

December 2024 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from DigitalOcean defines hard bounces as permanent delivery failures, often due to invalid email addresses or non-existent domains. Emails sent to love.com after domain sale would likely result in hard bounces. These should be removed from your list immediately.

September 2023 - DigitalOcean
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor explains that the SMTP protocol uses reply codes to indicate the outcome of a mail transaction. A 5xx error code (e.g., 550) typically indicates a permanent failure, meaning the email address is invalid or the domain no longer exists, and the mail should not be retried.

October 2024 - RFC Editor
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that if you receive a Non-Delivery Report (NDR) for an email you sent, it means the message could not be delivered. This can occur if the email address is no longer valid because the domain has been sold or is defunct.

May 2023 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from Google explains that if an email address is no longer valid (e.g., the domain is sold), the sender will receive a bounce message indicating the email could not be delivered.

February 2023 - Google