You may have encountered the Amazon SES sandbox environment after creating an AWS account and then attempted to use AmazonSES for email marketing for the first time. The SES sandbox restricts the number of emails you can send and the recipients you can send them to prevent misuse of the service by spammers and maintain your reputation as a sender.
First, however, you must move out of the Amazon SES sandbox to fully leverage SES’s capabilities and gain SES production access.
This guide will discuss the requirements for gaining SES production access, the benefits of doing so, and how to get started.
What is the Amazon SES Sandbox?
Amazon SES sandbox is a limited environment where new SES users are placed when they sign up for the service. This environment prevents spammers from misusing the service and maintains the platform’s integrity.
In the Amazon SES sandbox, users can send 200 messages daily. However, they can only send emails to verified email addresses.
Additionally, the sandbox restricts users from sending emails to more than one recipient at a time.
However, once you meet specific criteria, you can request production access to SES, which removes these restrictions and allows you to leverage SES’s capabilities fully.
How to Get Out of the Amazon SES Sandbox?
Ready to take your email communication to new heights? In this guide, you’ll learn how to request sandbox removal and transition to a full-fledged SES account for maximum email-sending capabilities.
Then, let’s break free and unleash the full power of Amazon SES!
The below video might help request your sandbox removal in Amazon SES.
1Sign In to AWS
To sign in, go to the AWS home page and click the below button.
Next, select “Root user” and insert your email address into the “Root user email address” field. Then, click on the “Next” button.
A password field will appear to you now. Insert your password, then click the “Sign in” button like the one shown below.
Now it’s time to choose your targeted region.
2Choose Your Region
Amazon SES is accessible in various AWS Regions globally. Within each Region, AWS operates multiple Availability Zones. They are physically separate but connected through private, fast, reliable network connections. These Availability Zones ensure exceptional availability, redundancy, and minimal latency.
Select the “Oregon” section like the below one, as we chose the Oregon region. Let’s change a bit for clarification. Suppose you want to choose the first one: US East (N. Virginia).
3Enter into Amazon SES
You will find a search bar on the AWS site. Search for “SES.”
Several results will appear to you. Choose “Amazon Simple Email Service” among them.
4Request Production Access
You are now in the Amazon SES.
Now click on the menu bar on the page’s upper-left side, like the one below.
After that, click on the “Account dashboard” section.
A page like the one below will appear to you now. Click on the “Request production access” button on the upper right side of that page.
A request form will appear to you this time, containing “Mail type,” Website URL,” “Use case description,” “Additional contacts,” and “Preferred contact language” sections.
In the “Mail type” section, select “Marketing.”
In the “Website URL” section, insert your domain.
In the “Use case description,” write to AWS about your plan on how you want to use Amazon SES for your business.
The “Additional contacts” field is optional to fill out. Even then, you can fill it with your additional contact.
And in the last one, the “Prefered contact language” field, you will be able to select your preferred language.
After providing all the required information, checkmark the “I agree to the AWS Service Terms and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).”
Finally, click the “Submit Request” button.
5Check Your Support Case
In the Support Case, you need to write to the AWS team, which is required if you want to gain SES production access.
To do so, click on the question mark button like the one below.
After that, click on “Support Center.”
A page like this will appear. Click “Your support case” on the left side of the page.
You will find a section named “Case history.” Click on “SES: Production Access.”
Now you will find a page which is showing information about your Id. By scrolling down, you will find the conversation between you and the AWS team. Here is the place to convince AWS why you want your account to move out of the Amazon SES Sandbox.
6Write to AWS
You must start a conversation with the AWS team when filling in the “Use case description” field in the “Request production access” form. It is worth mentioning that these are not live conversations but written according to AWS.
Here is a text we sent to AWS that might be helpful to you.
Hi AWS Team,
I hope you’re doing well. I’m sharing details about our use case in a simple Q&A format to make things easier to review:
- What does your business do?
We are eBusiness Scholar, offering online courses, live training, and workshops on topics such as e-commerce, digital marketing, and content creation. Our email list is primarily built through student sign-ups for these courses.
Here is the website link for our domain: https://ebusinessscholar.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebusinessscholar.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ebusinessscholar.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ebusinessscholar.com
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugLs9YKyMEe4WvWZ454mzA
- How big is your email list?
Our list has over 10,000 emails collected over the last two years. However, we’ll start by emailing those who registered in the past six months and gradually include the rest, ensuring we maintain a healthy bounce rate. - How often will you send emails?
We plan to send approximately 30,000 emails per month, but we haven’t finalized a daily limit yet. - What is your use case for sending emails?
We send emails to our recipients for the following purposes:- Course Updates: Informing users about new courses, updates to existing courses, and important notifications related to their enrolled courses.
- Educational Newsletters: Providing subscribers with valuable educational content, tips, and industry insights related to skill development and career advancement.
- Promotional Offers: Notifying users about discounts, offers, and events to enhance their learning experience.
- Customer Support and Engagement: Addressing queries, providing learning assistance, and enhancing the overall user experience.
- How do you collect your email list?
- Website: Most emails come from students registering on our website (https://ebusinessscholar.com/student/register), where we use a double opt-in process.
- Social Channels: Some users connect with us via Facebook, Messenger, or WhatsApp and agree to receive emails.
- In-Person: Others register manually at our office, and we always get their permission before adding them to the list.
- Do you have permission to send them emails?
Yes, we have explicit permission from all our recipients to send them emails. Each individual has voluntarily provided their email addresses through our website forms, with clear consent given during the registration or subscription process.
- How do you handle bounces and complaints?
For tracking bounce and complaints, we have configured SNS. When any bounce or complaint event happens, SNS sends notification to our tracking endpoint. If the event is Complaint or Hard bounce, We will remove the email address from subscriber list, no further email will be sent to those email addresses. Also, we have enabled the SES suppression list so that if any hard bounce or complaint happens, those email addresses will be added to the suppression list.
We have proper DKIM, SPF, DMARC records setup. Also we will be using auto pause email sending using configuration set reputation metrics by CloudWatch alarm for reputation metrics bounce rate and complaint rate.
We will not send a huge volume at once, sending volume will increase gradually day by day.
Each email message we send, there will be a valid postal address for the business at the footer, and an unsubscribe link so that the user can opt-out from receiving further emails, if any user unsubscribes by clicking on the unsubscribe link, We will not send further email to those email addresses.
At ebusinessscholar.com, we prioritize delivering a seamless and respectful communication experience. To ensure better user satisfaction, we have implemented robust mechanisms for handling bounces, complaints, and unsubscribes.
We actively monitor and resolve delivery issues, ensuring that emails reach your inbox without disruption. If an email bounces, we promptly investigate and take corrective action to maintain the integrity of our communication.
Any complaint received is treated with utmost priority, allowing us to address concerns swiftly and improve overall experience.
Easy Unsubscribe Options: We respect users’ preferences. If users wish to stop receiving updates, our one-click unsubscribe option makes it simple and hassle-free, ensuring users remain in control of communication preferences.
- How can recipients opt out?
We value our users’ preferences and make it easy for them to manage their communication choices. Every email includes an easy unsubscribe link, allowing recipients to opt-out with one click. For manual removal, users can also contact us by phone, and we will promptly process their request. - How do we maintain our reputation?
With MailBluster, we adhere to AWS’s best practices for email campaigns:- Proper formatting and compliance with industry standards help us maintain a strong sender reputation.
- Before launching any campaign, we use auto-bounce checking feature using third party tool to remove invalid addresses.
- Are we compliant with email regulations?
Yes, we comply with all legal requirements, including GDPR (where applicable) and CAN-SPAM regulations. - What kind of emails do we send?
We’ve attached a sample email to provide an idea of the content we share. It reflects our professional approach and adherence to AWS guidelines.
Our mail type is Marketing, and our website is https://ebusinessscholar.com.
If you need any additional information or clarification, feel free to reach out. Thanks for your time and consideration!
Best regards,
Nabonita Biswas
Marketing and Sales
eBusiness Scholar
What if Your AWS SES Production Access is Denied?
It is still being determined if AWS will be convinced by your first message. You might need more information AWS wants about your business and planning.
Here is a reply AWS sent to us after sending the above message when submitting the request.
All you need to do is to follow their responses, precisely what they want to know, and then provide accurate information.
After several tries, you will get your desired production access.
Here is an example of how to get out of Amazon SES Sandbox after several denials from the AWS team. It might give you more clarity on the whole process. Before sending emails through Amazon SES, confirming ownership of the email address or domain you intend to use is necessary.
The verification requirements vary across different AWS Regions. For instance, if you verify a domain in the US West (Oregon) Region, you can only utilize it to send emails in the US East (N. Virginia) Region if you complete the verification process specifically for that Region once more.
Wrap Up
Amazon SES is a cost-effective platform because you can send thousands of emails through it once you move out of Amazon SES Sandbox.
Not only its cost-efficiency but also its security structure helps you higher your business reputation. AWS provides various suggestions to keep your account healthy and protect it from all potential threats. You can learn how to secure your AWS account by yourself from here.
It may seem limited that you will be able to send 50k emails per day; you can always request AWS to increase the sending limit.
Here is a guide on requesting for increasing SES Limits.
Contents
