Is it normal for service companies to send emails on behalf of actual vendors?

It is a common practice for service companies to send emails on behalf of actual vendors, driven by various motivations, including brand recognition, outsourced operations, and affiliate marketing. This is seen across multiple industries, especially in B2C financial services and co-branded campaigns. However, this practice presents risks, including potential reputational damage from questionable senders, increased vulnerability to compromised accounts, and deliverability challenges. Authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for ensuring compliance and preventing emails from being flagged as spam or phishing attempts. Transparency, careful vetting of third-party senders, and strict oversight of their practices are vital for maintaining trust and safeguarding sender reputation. Proper contracts and enforcement mechanisms are also critical, particularly in affiliate marketing scenarios. Additionally, this approach can serve as a workaround for DMARC challenges, but only with meticulous configuration and attention to security.

It is a common practice for service companies to send emails on behalf of actual vendors, especially in B2C financial services, affiliate marketing, co-branded campaigns, and outsourced email marketing. This practice allows companies to maintain brand recognition, expand reach, focus on core operations, and leverage specialized expertise. However, it introduces risks related to sender reputation, deliverability, transparency, and potential liability. Proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), strict oversight of third-party practices, clear disclosures, and relevant content are crucial to ensuring compliance and maintaining trust.

It is a common practice for service companies to send emails on behalf of actual vendors, often seen in scenarios such as outsourcing marketing or transactional emails and in affiliate marketing. This practice is sometimes a DMARC workaround to avoid giving authentication access to vendors. Experts emphasize the importance of vetting third-party services and maintaining oversight to protect sender reputation, as poor sending habits of these services can negatively impact deliverability. Monitoring affiliate practices closely and ensuring proper contracts and enforcement are also critical.

When service companies send emails on behalf of vendors, proper email authentication configuration is crucial. SPF records, as defined by RFC 4408, authorize these vendors to send emails using your domain and prevent spam flagging. DMARC policies also require careful setup to ensure emails are authenticated and not marked as phishing. Platforms like Office 365, Sendgrid, and Google Workspace provide mechanisms for authorizing third-party senders, emphasizing the importance of correct configurations for email delivery, security, compliance, and managing sender identities with DKIM and SPF.