How to Send Affiliate Emails from a Custom Domain

By default, Simple Affiliate sends affiliate emails from noreply@simple-affiliate.com. Connecting a sender on your own domain changes the From address on those emails to an address you choose, such as affiliates@example.com, so partners see your brand in their inbox.

This guide covers what you must have in place, how to add the DNS records, and what can go wrong during setup or after the sender is verified.

Availability: This setup appears on Settings > Emails as Custom sender address. If that card is not visible, it is not enabled for your store yet.

1. How sending from your domain works

Simple Affiliate sends from your domain only after both of these checks pass:

1. Domain ownership: a TXT record proves you control the domain. Simple Affiliate looks this up once. After it is Verified, the TXT record is not checked again.
2. Email authentication (DKIM): three CNAME records let receiving inboxes confirm that mail from your domain is authorized. These records must stay in place. If they are removed or changed later, sending from your domain pauses.

Until both badges show Verified, affiliate emails continue to send from noreply@simple-affiliate.com. The display name on affiliate emails is your store name. When an affiliate replies, the reply goes to Reply-to email on the same settings page, not necessarily to the connected sender. Emails Simple Affiliate sends to you (payout reviews, pending-affiliate alerts) still come from Simple Affiliate. Two emails to affiliates also always send from noreply@simple-affiliate.com, even after your domain is verified: the Stripe account alert (Stripe needs more information from the affiliate) and the Stripe payment failed notice (a payout to the affiliate's bank failed). Those messages are signed by the Simple Affiliate team because Simple Affiliate, not your store, supports Stripe onboarding.

This sender is for automated affiliate mail from Simple Affiliate. It is separate from marketing campaigns you send with Shopify Email, Klaviyo, or Mailchimp. For those, see How to Email Affiliates (using Shopify, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or other platforms).

2. What you are required to do

Before Simple Affiliate will send from your domain, you need all of the following:

• A domain you can edit at your DNS host: the registrar or DNS provider for the domain in the sender address, not a mailbox provider you cannot configure (personal Gmail, Outlook.com, and similar).
• A sender address on that domain: any address on the domain, for example affiliates@yourstore.com. The mailbox does not have to receive mail. Use an address you are willing to show affiliates as the sender.
• Four DNS records, copied exactly from the app: one TXT record for domain ownership and three CNAME records for DKIM. Do not invent hostnames or values.
• Both checks verified in the app: click Check status after the records are live. Domain ownership and Email authentication (DKIM) must both show Verified.
• Keep the three DKIM CNAME records published: leaving them in DNS is required for sending to stay on your domain.

3. How to connect a sender

1. In Simple Affiliate, go to Settings > Emails.
2. Open the Custom sender address card.
3. Enter the Sender email you want affiliates to see, on a domain whose DNS records you can edit. The field help text is "Use an address on a domain whose DNS records you can edit."
4. Click Connect.

If the address is not a valid email, you will see "Please enter a valid email" and no DNS records are created. After a valid connect, the card shows Verification in progress. Affiliate emails keep sending from noreply@simple-affiliate.com until setup is complete. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours.

4. Add the required DNS records

The app lists Required DNS records with copy buttons for each Name and Value. Add these exact entries at your DNS provider. For a sender on example.com, the four records look like this (your token and DKIM hostnames will differ):

Copy the three distinct CNAME pairs from the app. Each CNAME has its own hostname under _domainkey and points at a matching dkim.amazonses.com target.

How to enter the host name at your DNS provider

• Full hostname: some providers want the name exactly as shown, including your domain (_simple-affiliate.example.com).
• Host only: others already append your domain. In that case enter only the left part, such as _simple-affiliate or TOKEN._domainkey. If you paste the full name into a host-only field, the published record becomes _simple-affiliate.example.com.example.com and verification will not pass.
• DNS only, not proxied: if the provider can proxy records (for example Cloudflare's orange cloud), set the three CNAME records to DNS only. A proxied CNAME will not authenticate mail.
• Quotes and spaces: paste the TXT value as shown. Extra quotation marks or a different token will not match.

You can leave other mail records (MX, SPF, DMARC) as they are. Simple Affiliate does not ask you to add SPF or DMARC records for this sender.

Several stores can verify the same domain. Each store has its own TXT token. Multiple TXT values can exist on _simple-affiliate.yourdomain.com at the same time.

5. Check status

1. After the records are saved at your DNS host, return to Settings > Emails.
2. Click Check status.

You will see one of these messages:

• "Sender verified": the card lists the Sending address and both Domain ownership and Email authentication (DKIM) show Verified. Affiliate emails are now sent from your connected address.
• "Verification still pending": one or both checks are still Pending. Wait for DNS to propagate (up to 48 hours), confirm the records against the table in the app, then click Check status again.

After verification, use Show DNS records if you need the three DKIM CNAMEs again. The ownership TXT is no longer listed there because it is not re-checked.

Confirm delivery by triggering an affiliate email you can receive, for example a welcome email to a test affiliate. Check that the From address is your connected sender and that replies go to Reply-to email.

6. What can go wrong

• No DNS access: connecting a Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or other mailbox whose domain you do not control will never verify. Use an address on a domain you manage.
• Invalid address: a value that is not an email shows "Please enter a valid email" and does not create records.
• Duplicated domain in the host field: publishing _simple-affiliate.example.com.example.com (or the same mistake on a DKIM CNAME) leaves the badge Pending.
• Wrong record type: the ownership record must be TXT. The three DKIM records must be CNAME, not TXT or A.
• Proxied CNAMEs: a CDN or proxy in front of the DKIM hosts prevents authentication from succeeding.
• Checking too early: DNS can take up to 48 hours. "Verification still pending" is normal until the records are visible on public DNS.
• Only one of the two badges verifies: sending from your domain requires both. A correct TXT with missing CNAMEs (or the reverse) is not enough.
• DKIM records removed after you went live: the usual cause of a later failure is that the three DKIM CNAME records were deleted or edited. Simple Affiliate then pauses sending from your domain. Affiliate emails keep going out from noreply@simple-affiliate.com, they just no longer carry your domain. You receive "[Action Required] Emails from [your domain] are paused". Restore the three CNAMEs from Show DNS records, then click Check status.
• Changing the sender address: connecting a different address on the same domain keeps the DKIM records but domain ownership must be verified again. Connecting an address on a different domain issues a new TXT token and a new set of CNAME records. Add the new records before you expect verification to pass.
• Reply-to does not match From: connecting a sender does not change Reply-to email. Update that field separately if replies should land in the same mailbox as the From address.

7. How to disconnect

1. On Custom sender address, click Disconnect.
2. Confirm. You will see "Sender disconnected". Affiliate emails are sent from noreply@simple-affiliate.com again.

If you connect a domain later, its DNS records need to be verified again. You can remove the old TXT and CNAME records at your DNS host after disconnecting, unless another store still uses them.

Important Rules to Remember

• Four records, two checks: one TXT plus three CNAMEs. Both Domain ownership and Email authentication (DKIM) must show Verified before affiliate mail leaves from your domain.
• Copy from the app: hostnames and values are unique to your store and domain. Do not reuse examples from this article on a live domain.
• ⚠️ Leave the DKIM CNAMEs in place: removing or changing them after verification pauses sending from your domain. Affiliate emails continue from noreply@simple-affiliate.com until you restore the records and click Check status.
• From is not Reply-to: the connected sender is the From address. Affiliate replies go to Reply-to email.
• Affiliate mail only: this setting does not change emails Simple Affiliate sends to you, and it does not send marketing campaigns. Use your email platform for affiliate newsletters.
• ⚠️ Stripe account alert and payment failed: these two affiliate emails always send from noreply@simple-affiliate.com, even when your domain is verified. Their subjects are "[Action required]: Stripe requires additional information" and "[Action required]: Your last affiliate payout failed". Simple Affiliate supports Stripe onboarding, so they are signed by the Simple Affiliate team. Replies still go to Reply-to email.

What Happens Next?

After both checks are Verified, welcome emails, payout notices, and the other affiliate notifications you have enabled go out from your connected address, with your store name as the display name. Two exceptions stay on noreply@simple-affiliate.com: the Stripe account alert and the Stripe payment failed notice. If verification later fails, the rest of those emails keep sending from Simple Affiliate's address until you restore the DKIM records.

Sending from your domain helps affiliates recognize your program in their inbox. Keep the DNS records published so that recognition stays in place.

Related articles

• How to Email Affiliates (using Shopify, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or other platforms)
• How to set up the Klaviyo Integration
• How to translate Simple Affiliate into my language
• How to set up autopay
• How to onboard new affiliates (New customer accounts)