I'm having a tough time getting my AWS SES account out of the sandbox. The purpose is for a sports fan loyalty game where users can collect athlete cards and earn rewards. The emails I want to send are purely transactional, like account verification, password resets, and game notifications. Everything is done correctly – all opt-in, no purchased lists, proper bounce and complaint handling through SNS, and SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all set up. Every sender address is individually verified too.
AWS rejected my request saying they believe my use case might affect my deliverability and reputation. However, they provided no specific reasons, just a generic response. Right now, I'm in alpha testing with only a dozen test users, but I can't even send a password reset email due to sandbox restrictions.
I'm really frustrated! Has anyone been successful appealing this situation? Here are a few specific questions I have:
* Is there language that might set off their spam filters during the review?
* Should I clarify the transactional nature and avoid mentioning anything about announcements or broadcasts?
* How can I escalate beyond the standard support ticket? Can I reach out to an account manager?
* Would switching regions make a difference, or would it just reset the process?
I'm considering alternatives like Postmark or Resend but would prefer to stay within the AWS ecosystem since I already have the infrastructure set up. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
I had a similar experience. I thought I explained everything well, but it was still denied. I finally reached a breaking point and just switched everything away from Amazon services entirely. Felt like the right move after the hassle!
Dealing with AWS SES rejections is super frustrating! It's honestly pretty common for them to give vague rejections about deliverability, even for transactional emails. For your alpha stage, I'd recommend looking into alternatives like Postmark or Resend that are friendly for developers.
I've been through this too. Even with fully transactional and opt-in emails, I got denied. I tried to reduce the number of emails by showing notifications in-app, but it didn't matter. After a couple of appeals, which were also denied, I finally switched to Sendgrid. It was a hassle, but sometimes you just have to move on.
You might want to give Resend a shot while you work on appealing. They provide great service.
If you're not working for AWS, don't feel obliged to stay in their ecosystem. There are lots of vendors out there competing for your business. You're not alone in this struggle; a lot of developers face AWS SES rejection.
I've got Resend as a backup too. It's a solid choice, especially for reliability. But since I primarily support clients on AWS, I was hoping to stick with them. Might need to discuss moving to Azure with my clients!