Move Amazon SES out of the sandbox

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Move Amazon SES out of the sandbox

New SES accounts can only email verified addresses. Request production access to email customers.

A new Amazon SES account starts in a sandbox. In the sandbox you can send only to verified addresses (or the SES mailbox simulator), at a low daily and per-second limit. To email real customers you must ask AWS for production access.

Before you start

  • A verified domain in SES. AWS says verifying a domain first tends to speed up approval.
  • A working website and a clear idea of what you send.

What AWS asks for

Item What to enter
Mail type Marketing or Transactional (the type that describes most of your mail)
Website URL Your business website
Additional contacts Up to 4 email addresses
Contact language English or Japanese
Acknowledgement You send only to people who asked for email, and you handle bounces and complaints

Steps

  1. Open the SES console in your region. The sandbox is set per region.
  2. Choose Account dashboard.
  3. In the sandbox warning banner choose View Get set up page, then Request production access.
  4. Fill in the fields above and choose Submit request.
  5. Wait. AWS says it replies within 96 hours at first. It may ask for more details.

Honest answers matter

VisionScaper sends marketing email on behalf of contractors. Say that. Describe how contacts agree to receive email and how unsubscribes work. VisionScaper adds an unsubscribe link and a one-click unsubscribe header to each marketing message, and records unsubscribes.

Tips

  • While you wait, test with verified recipient addresses or the mailbox simulator.
  • You cannot edit the request after submitting until the review is done.
  • The sandbox limits AWS lists today are AWS’s and can change.

If something goes wrong

  • Request denied. Add detail about consent and bounce handling and apply again.
  • Still limited after approval. Check that you changed the right region and that the account dashboard no longer shows the sandbox banner.

Sources

  • AWS, request production access: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/request-production-access.html (read 2026-10-15)

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