I'm facing some major frustration with Amazon SES while trying to get production access for my new AWS account. I'm working on a legitimate SaaS product called VVERO, and I've set up a live, public website for it. I specifically created this AWS account for my project and requested SES production access in the eu-west-1 region (Ireland).
Here's what I have done so far:
- Verified my domain identity
- Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
- Implemented bounce and complaint handling through SNS with least-privilege policies
- Sticking to low-volume, strictly transactional emails (like invites and password resets)
- Avoiding any marketing emails, newsletters, or purchased lists
- Using a clear opt-in model where users register or are invited
- Made my privacy policy and terms of service publicly available
- Added a notification preferences link in my email footers
- Provided a thorough explanation to the Trust & Safety team, including a screenshot of a sample transactional email.
Despite all these measures, SES Trust & Safety sends back a generic denial indicating that my use case could impact deliverability, without providing further details for security reasons. I'm perplexed because I have a new account, a clean setup, and I'm only sending a maximum of 200 emails a day. I'm starting to wonder if there's a crucial requirement I'm overlooking or if SES just isn't a viable option anymore for early-stage SaaS products. Has anyone experienced something similar? Is there anything else I can try, or is SES just not suited for small transactional cases?
3 Answers
It sounds like creating a brand-new AWS account might actually be working against you here. Older accounts or those with a good standing in an organization tend to have better chances of getting approved. Maybe consider using a transactional email service like Mailgun for now; establish some reputation with your domain there and then apply for SES later with proof of solid usage.
Totally agree, just getting a solid reputation established somewhere else before going back to SES could save you a lot of hassle.
One option is to talk to your account manager and mention your existing account. This could help with getting the approval you need. Alternatively, you might consider adding your new account to your organization as that could help too!
Honestly, a lot of people recommend not using SES for production emails straight away. An external email service might be a better route initially, especially if you want to avoid the headaches.
That's pretty harsh advice though. SES can work fine; it might just take some more effort early on.
That’s interesting to know! I initially tried with an older style AWS account but got denied. I hoped starting fresh would help, but I guess the account's history plays a bigger role than I thought.