By default, the emails ReferralCandy sends for you — referral invites, reminders, reward emails — come from a default ReferralCandy address (for example, postman@candymail.co), with your store's name shown as the sender name.
Setting up a custom email domain lets ReferralCandy send these emails from your own sender email address instead (for example, hello@yourstore.com). Emails sent from your own domain are more recognisable to your customers and improve deliverability. The setup is optional — your emails send fine on the default ReferralCandy address without it.
Looking to put your own domain on your referral links and pages instead? That's a separate setting — see Setting up a custom domain for your referral portal. This article covers the email sender domain; that one covers the domain your referral links and pages use.
Important: Your emails switch to your own address only once all three steps on this page are complete — verify sender email, DMARC verification, and DKIM authentication. Until then, emails keep sending from the default ReferralCandy address, and your referral program keeps running normally — an incomplete setup never stops your emails.
Before you start, two things to know:
Your sender email must be at a domain you own. Personal email addresses like
@gmail.comor@outlook.comare not allowed.Steps 2 and 3 involve adding records to your domain's DNS settings. If someone else manages your domain or website, you may want their help with those steps.
Where to find your Custom email domain settings
The setup lives on the Custom email domain page. Depending on how you access ReferralCandy, here's how to reach it:
If you use ReferralCandy on Shopify
In your Shopify admin, go to: Apps → Referral Candy → Account → Custom email domain
Or open:https://admin.shopify.com/apps/referralcandy/account/custom-email-domainIf you use ReferralCandy on other platforms (or log in directly)
Log in to ReferralCandy and go to: Account → Custom email domain
Or open:https://my.referralcandy.com/account/custom-email-domain
The page lists the setup as numbered steps. Steps 2 and 3 only appear after your sender email from Step 1 is verified.
Step 1: Verify your sender email
To verify your sender email address:
Open your Custom email domain page using the steps in the section above.
In the Sender (from) email address field, enter the address you want your emails to come from.
Replies from customers go to this same address by default. To receive replies at a different address, uncheck Use this as your reply-to email and enter it in the Reply-to email address field that appears.
Click Send verification email.
Open that address's mailbox and click the verification link in the email from ReferralCandy.
Back on the Custom email domain page, a green Verified check appears next to "Verify sender email" once the address is verified (refresh the page if you don't see it). You'll also receive a confirmation email, and Steps 2 and 3 appear on the page.
To change or remove your sender email later, click Remove email next to the address field, then add and verify the new address. To change the reply-to choice later, make the change and click Submit.
Step 2: DMARC verification
Once your sender email is verified, ReferralCandy checks whether your domain — the part after the @ in your sender email — has a DMARC record. DMARC is a small DNS record that tells email providers how to handle messages claiming to be from your domain, and email providers expect legitimate senders to have one.
Many domains already have a DMARC record. If yours does, this step passes without any action on your part — any valid DMARC record qualifies, including the minimal monitoring-only policy shown below.
If your domain doesn't have a DMARC record yet, add one in your domain's DNS settings:
Create a new TXT record.
In the record's Name/Host field, enter
_dmarc(some providers want the full form,_dmarc.yourdomain.com).In the Value field, enter
v=DMARC1; p=none;— a minimal monitoring-only policy. If your team already uses a stricter DMARC policy, that qualifies too.
ReferralCandy re-checks your domain's DMARC record daily, and a green Verified check appears on the Custom email domain page once a record is found (refresh the page if you don't see it). You can look up your domain's current DMARC record with a tool like MXToolbox.
Important: Google's sender guidelines require bulk senders to have a DMARC policy for email to reach personal Gmail accounts — so beyond this setup, a DMARC record helps all email sent from your domain land in inboxes.
Step 3: DKIM authentication
DKIM authentication is the step that activates your custom domain. You'll add three CNAME records to your domain's DNS settings — these let ReferralCandy send emails that are verifiably signed by your domain. Once the records validate, your emails switch from the default ReferralCandy address to your verified sender email.
Note: You'll need access to your domain's DNS settings and the ability to add CNAME records. If you're not sure where those live, whoever manages your domain or website can help.
To set up DKIM authentication:
In the Start DKIM authentication section, click Create keys.
Three CNAME records appear (CNAME 1–3), each with a Name and a Value you can copy. They look like this:
Name:abcd1234._domainkey.yourdomain.com
Value:abcd1234.dkim.amazonses.comIn your domain's DNS settings, create a new CNAME record for each one: paste the Name into the record's Name/Host field and the Value into the Value/Target field. Add all three records.
Wait for validation — it can take ReferralCandy up to 72 hours to validate the records. Once complete, you'll receive a confirmation email, and a green Authenticated check appears on the page.
Important: The CNAME "Name/Host" format depends on your DNS provider
When adding the CNAME records, your DNS provider might automatically append your domain name to the Name/Host field.
If your DNS provider auto-appends your domain, enter only the prefix (everything before your domain).
Example: if ReferralCandy shows abcd1234._domainkey.yourdomain.com, enter abcd1234._domainkey.
If your DNS provider does not auto-append your domain, paste the full hostname exactly as shown.
Example: abcd1234._domainkey.yourdomain.com.
A quick way to spot the issue: if the record ends up looking like ...yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com, the domain was appended twice — remove the extra yourdomain.com.
Always copy the Value/Target exactly as shown (don't shorten it). Some providers explicitly warn that they assume your domain and you should avoid duplicating it.
The exact steps for adding CNAME records differ by DNS provider. Official guides for common providers:
If your provider isn't listed, search its help center for "add CNAME record".
What success looks like
Once all three steps are complete, the Custom email domain page shows a success banner confirming that your emails will be sent from your verified address:
And from then on, the emails ReferralCandy sends on your behalf show your store's name with your own sender email address:
Frequently asked questions
Why are my emails still sent from postman@candymail.co?
Why are my emails still sent from postman@candymail.co?
Until all three setup steps are complete — sender email verified, DMARC verified, and DKIM authenticated — ReferralCandy sends your emails from its default address, postman@candymail.co, with your store's name as the sender name. Completing only some of the steps (for example, just verifying your sender email, or sender email plus DMARC) does not change the sender address — there's no in-between state.
To see what's left, open your Custom email domain page and check which step doesn't have a green check yet — that's what's holding the switch back. Once all three are green, your emails send from your verified address.
Depending on your account, the default address may end in candymail.co, candymail.cc, or candymail.ch — they're all the same ReferralCandy sending service.
What do I do if DKIM is unsuccessful?
What do I do if DKIM is unsuccessful?
If DKIM isn't validating, check the three CNAME records in your DNS settings against what ReferralCandy shows — each record's Name and Value must match exactly. The most common issue is the Name/Host field: if your DNS provider auto-appends your domain, the record can end up duplicated (...yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com) — see the "Important" callout under Step 3. Validation can take up to 72 hours after the records are corrected. A DNS lookup tool can also show you what's actually live in your DNS — see "How do I check whether my CNAME records were added correctly?" below. If everything matches and it still hasn't validated after 72 hours, let us know and our support team can take a look.
How do I check whether my CNAME records were added correctly?
How do I check whether my CNAME records were added correctly?
You can confirm your CNAME records are live yourself with a DNS lookup — useful if someone else, like your developer or domain provider, added the records for you and you want to verify them without waiting for ReferralCandy's validation.
Open a CNAME lookup tool, such as MXToolbox's CNAME Lookup.
Look up each of the three Names exactly as shown on your Custom email domain page (for example,
abcd1234._domainkey.yourdomain.com).Each lookup should return its matching Value (for example,
abcd1234.dkim.amazonses.com).
What the results mean:
All three return their matching Values — the records are set up correctly. ReferralCandy's own validation can still take up to 72 hours, so the page may show DKIM as not authenticated for a while even though the records are right.
A lookup returns no record — that record isn't live: it may not have been added yet, may still be propagating (DNS changes can take a few hours), or may have been added with a duplicated name — see the "Important" callout under Step 3 about providers auto-appending your domain.
A lookup returns a different value — the Value was copied incorrectly. Re-copy it exactly from the Custom email domain page and update the record.
Can ReferralCandy configure my DNS for me?
Can ReferralCandy configure my DNS for me?
No — DNS records can only be changed by someone with access to your domain, so ReferralCandy can't make these changes for you. You may need developer assistance to complete the steps, and your domain provider can answer questions about their own DNS dashboard.
Why is my DNS provider rejecting the CNAME "Name/Host" value?
Why is my DNS provider rejecting the CNAME "Name/Host" value?
Some DNS providers expect only the hostname prefix in the Name/Host field and automatically append your domain. If you paste the full hostname, your provider may treat it as duplicated (for example: …yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com) or "invalid."
Try this:
If your DNS UI already shows your domain separately (or you select the domain first), paste only the prefix (for example:
abcd1234._domainkey).If it does not, paste the full hostname (for example:
abcd1234._domainkey.yourdomain.com).Keep the Value/Target exactly as shown.
I send my referral emails through Klaviyo — does this setup still apply?
I send my referral emails through Klaviyo — does this setup still apply?
Emails sent through your Klaviyo flows use your Klaviyo sender settings — the setup on this page doesn't affect them. This page applies to the emails ReferralCandy sends directly. Even if your referral, reminder, and reward emails all go out through Klaviyo, ReferralCandy still sends a few emails itself (for example, advocate password resets), so a custom email domain still applies to those. See Integration: Using ReferralCandy with Klaviyo for what the integration covers.