Being charged for several days in a row after disabling VDM - is it normal?

I hear you, unexpected charges after disabling a feature are stressful.

I was able to locate your support case and have added context to help our team prioritize your concern. You're in good hands, and our billing team will follow up through your case with next steps.

- Randi S.

Hi there,

I understand your concern.

We're unable to discuss any account-specific info here, so it's best you reach out to our Support team directly for an accurate answer: go.aws/support-center

- Reece W.

VDM billing on the per-email plan works on a short lag, so charges you see over the days right after disabling almost always reflect emails that were processed while VDM was still active. AWS bills in arrears and the usage data can take 24-48 hours to show up in your Cost Explorer or invoice, so a few days of residual charges is expected behavior rather than a bug.

One thing worth double-checking: if you have configuration sets that had VDM options enabled at the configuration-set level (engagement tracking or optimized shared delivery turned on per config set), those overrides can keep charging you even after you hit Disable at the account level in Virtual Deliverability Manager Settings. The account-level disable and the config-set-level overrides are independent controls.

If charges are still appearing well beyond that 2-3 day window, it is worth opening a billing support case to get a line-item breakdown for those specific days. That will show exactly which resources generated each charge and confirm whether the disable actually took effect at the right time.

Happy to take a closer look at the config-set override angle if that seems to fit your setup.

Im also facing the similar issue, the bill date is near and don't know what to do, Created ticket before 9 days and waiting for the engineer assigned for my ticket.

When you disable Virtual Deliverability Manager (VDM) in Amazon SES, charges should stop accruing for new activity. However, there are a few reasons why you might see charges continue for several days after disabling the feature. VDM charges are based on the number of emails sent with engagement tracking enabled, and billing data can take time to process and appear in your account. AWS billing typically operates on a delayed reporting cycle, so charges from emails sent before you disabled VDM may continue to appear for a few days as the billing system catches up. To verify what's happening with your charges, I recommend checking your AWS Cost Explorer or billing dashboard to see the specific line items and dates associated with the VDM charges. This will help you determine if the charges are from emails sent before you disabled the feature or if there's an ongoing issue. Since you've already created a support case through the AWS Support Center, that's the right approach. The support team will be able to review your specific account activity and billing details to explain the charges and help resolve any issues. If you haven't received a response yet, you can add additional correspondence to your existing case through the AWS Support Center at https://console.aws.amazon.com/support/. You might also want to review your AWS Support plan, as different support tiers offer different response times for billing inquiries.