Send purchase emails from your branded domain

Overview

When a reader buys one of your meal plan products, Allspice emails them their plan. Product Email Delivery lets that email come from your own sending subdomain instead of from Allspice. For example:

• Sally <hello@mail.yoursite.com>

You enter your sender details, add a few DNS records, and Allspice checks them. Emails still go out while you wait for verification. They're sent from an Allspice address until your subdomain is verified.

Where to find this setting

In the Publisher Portal, go to Integrate, click your domain, and open the Connections tab. The setting is the Product email delivery card.

The card shows the sender status next to its title: Not set up, DNS setup required, Verified, or Needs attention.

What buyers receive

Buyers get one email for each meal plan in the product they bought. It contains the plan's days, its recipes, and a shopping list. See Meal plan products.

Until your sending subdomain is verified, the email comes from:

Replies go to your reply-to address in either case. Allspice needs DNS verification before it can send as your domain. This proves you control the subdomain and stops anyone else from sending as it.

What you need before starting

• Access to your domain's DNS settings
• A sender name for buyers to see
• A reply-to address where buyer replies should go

The sending domain must be a subdomain of your site, such as mail.yoursite.com. The portal rejects your root domain (yoursite.com) and domains that aren't under your site's domain. We recommend mail., which the form fills in for you.

Fields

When you first open the card, it fills in your brand name, logo, and widget color from your domain settings. It also sets the from local part to hello and the sending subdomain to mail.yoursite.com. Fields marked * are required.

Brand name *

Your site or brand name, e.g. JustRecipes. It appears in every email, and in the From line before verification (“JustRecipes via Allspice”).

Sender name *

The name buyers see in their inbox after verification, e.g. Sally.

From local part

The part before the @, e.g. hello. With the sending subdomain mail.yoursite.com, the sender address is hello@mail.yoursite.com. Letters, numbers, and . _ % + - only.

Reply-to email *

Where buyer replies go, e.g. support@yoursite.com. Use your normal support or contact address. It doesn't need to be on the sending subdomain.

Sending subdomain

The full subdomain Allspice sends from, e.g. mail.yoursite.com. Enter the whole name, not just mail.

Logo URL

Optional. A logo image for the email, e.g. https://yoursite.com/logo.png.

Large logo URL

Optional. A wide wordmark for the email header.

Primary color

Your brand color as a hex value, e.g. #3093f3. It's used for buttons and accents in the email.

Below the fields, From preview shows the sender address as it will appear, and a note shows what buyers see before and after verification.

Step-by-step setup

1. Enter your sender details

Check the pre-filled values, then add a sender name and reply-to email. Example:

• Brand name: JustRecipes
• Sender name: Sally
• From local part: hello
• Reply-to email: support@yoursite.com
• Sending subdomain: mail.yoursite.com

2. Click Set up sender

Allspice creates the sender and shows the DNS records for your subdomain. After this first save, the button changes to Save sender, and Check DNS and Send test email appear.

3. Add the DNS records

Add each record wherever your domain's DNS is managed, copying the values exactly as shown. The table lists each record's type, host, value, purpose, and status, with a copy button for each value.

4. Click Check DNS

DNS changes can take anywhere from minutes to hours to show up. Once the records are live, click Check DNS. When they're found, the status changes to Verified. If they're still pending, wait and check again.

5. Send a test email

Enter an address and click Send test email. Before verification, the test comes from the Allspice fallback sender. After verification, it comes from your own sender.

Before verification

You can sell products while verification is pending. Buyers still get their emails, sent from the Allspice fallback sender with your reply-to address:

• From: JustRecipes via Allspice <delivery@mail.allspicelabs.com>
• Reply-To: support@yoursite.com

After verification

Once your sender is verified, new emails go out from your own sender:

• From: Sally <hello@mail.yoursite.com>
• Reply-To: support@yoursite.com

Understanding the DNS records

Allspice sends through Mailgun. The records below prove you control the sending subdomain. Your exact values are in the portal; the examples here are only a guide.

SPF (TXT)

Authorizes Mailgun to send for the subdomain.

• Type: TXT
• Host: mail.yoursite.com
• Value: v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all

If that exact host already has a TXT record starting with v=spf1, add the include to it rather than creating a second SPF record. Don't merge it into your root domain's SPF record unless the hosts are the same.

DKIM (TXT)

Lets inboxes check that the email was authorized and wasn't changed in transit.

• Type: TXT
• Host: something like k1._domainkey.mail.yoursite.com
• Value: k=rsa; p=...

CNAME

If the portal lists a CNAME, it points a host such as email.mail.yoursite.com at Mailgun. Add it as shown.

Recommended setup

• Sending subdomain: mail.yoursite.com
• From local part: hello
• Reply-to email: your normal support or contact address

Buyers see hello@mail.yoursite.com, and their replies go to your usual inbox.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an inbox on the sending subdomain?

No. The subdomain is used only to send. Replies go to your reply-to address.

Can I send from my main email address?

No. The sending domain has to be a subdomain of your site. Use hello@mail.yoursite.com instead of hello@yoursite.com.

What happens if DNS isn't verified yet?

Emails still go out from the Allspice fallback sender with your reply-to address. After verification, new emails come from your own sender.

Where do I add the records?

Wherever your domain's DNS is managed. That might be your registrar, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, WP Engine, or another DNS provider. It isn't always your web host.

Will this affect my website or existing email?

Not if you use a dedicated subdomain like mail.yoursite.com. Don't replace existing DNS records unless they're for the exact same host.

Can I change the sender later?

Yes. Edit the fields and click Save sender. If you change the sending subdomain, you'll need to add new DNS records.

Troubleshooting

Status says “Not set up”

No sender has been saved yet. Fill in the required fields and click Set up sender.

Status says “DNS setup required”

The sender exists, but its DNS records haven't verified yet. Check that:

• the records are at the DNS provider that actually serves your domain
• host names match exactly (some providers add your domain automatically, so mail.yoursite.com.yoursite.com is a common mistake)
• TXT values were copied in full
• the CNAME is DNS-only if you use Cloudflare
• there's only one SPF record for the host

Then wait a few minutes and click Check DNS again.

Status says “Needs attention”

The sending domain was disabled or failed on the email provider's side. Check the records, click Check DNS, and contact Allspice support if the status doesn't clear.

Status says “Verified”

You're done. Product emails now come from your own sender.

The test email didn't arrive

Check spam and promotions folders, then confirm the address and try again. If the sender is verified and the email still doesn't arrive, contact Allspice support.