We are thinking about leasing some RIPE IPs, having only ever used ARIN IPs before. Can anyone share their experience with deliverability over RIPE IPs (or other non-ARIN sources, LACNIC, etc) vs ARIN? Assuming the IPs are clean, is it harder to achieve inbox at Yahoo/HM/AOL/etc? Much appreciated.
We actually find better delivery during warmup to TLDs (namely Y! and AOl) using a squeaky clean RIPE range.
RIPE, ARIN, LACNIC, APNIC all work fine as long as they are clean and you manage the reputation effectively. Some seem to be weighted differently depending on the ISP/TLD but there is nothing that is an always or never. If you're mailing clean data and know how to manage you space, then you should have no issues.
I should mention that Romanian IPs are no good since they are all hard blocked at AOL as far as I understand.
That is correct and has been the case since Jan 15, 2013. They may be open everywhere else (Yahoo/HM/cables). But AOL has them blocked as country.