Understanding Klaviyo $source and Subscription Method with Dataships

Why does $source change to “Dataships” in Klaviyo?

Klaviyo controls the behaviour of the $source property.

The $source field always reflects the most recent subscribe event, not the original one.

Example:

• A customer initially subscribes via a Klaviyo form → $source = Klaviyo Form

• The same customer later completes checkout with Dataships enabled

• Klaviyo records a new subscribe event

• $source is updated to “Dataships”

This is expected Klaviyo behaviour and applies to any tool or flow that triggers a new subscribe event.

What does not change: the original subscription method

While $source may update, the original subscription data is preserved.

The “Subscribed to Email Marketing” event in Klaviyo still shows:

• The original Method

• The original source of sign-up

This is the best place to check where a customer first opted in, even if $source has since changed.

Dataships does not claim existing subscribers

Dataships does not:

• Take credit for subscribers who were already opted in

• Override or replace original subscription attribution in Klaviyo

At checkout, Dataships automatically recognises when an email address is already subscribed in Klaviyo at the time of verification.

How Dataships identifies net new subscribers

Dataships tracks whether a subscriber was already opted in using its own internal property:

Dataships Net New Marketable – Email

• true → The subscriber was newly unlocked via Dataships

• false → The subscriber already existed in Klaviyo

This allows Dataships to clearly distinguish between existing subscribers and newly unlocked ones, without affecting Klaviyo’s native subscription history.

Key takeaways

• $source updating to “Dataships” is expected Klaviyo behaviour

• The original subscription method remains unchanged and visible

• Dataships does not take ownership of existing subscribers

• Net new subscribers are tracked using a Dataships-specific property