Hi there all

I am a webdesigner and have not had much to do with hosting .
I am now getting more requests from clients re hosting and feel it's maybe time to get into reselling.

Upon looking through piles of stuff I still ( probably stupidly ) have some very basic questions?

Is this how it works ? : for example

Sign up on a multi domain plan, say $30 per month with say 10 domains (accounts).

I put my sites (clients) on the system and charge them whatever I can get .

So in a great world I have ten clients I charge $10 per month.

Very simplistic but do I make $70 per month.? .......OR

from what I have just maybe realised do I have to pay an account charge every time I put on another domain even though nobody I have seen says in their information that is what they intend doing? ie . my other domains cost say $25 per month and I make $5 on it ?

This seems very unclear. Surely if I stick to my normal singular domain plan, say $5 per month for what I need and then add another domain as I acquire clients them is it any differen?

There is room for confusion and dishonesty here.

( I am having trouble with a hosting company already and I only signed up three days ago )

Why is nobody very clear about this specific aspect in their plan information?

I apologise for what is a very basic question and appreciate I am not understanding some very obvious points but any help would be appreciated

Thanks

I am fairly new to this business as well, but I think this is how it goes:

there are two options (depends on the webhost):

1. either they offer you to buy a big chunk of server space for a set price, let's say 2 GB for 30 US$/month. You can divide the server space up into whatever you want. In your example it's 10 domains (possibly of different server space plans). You charge what you want and get the profit.

2. the host gives you a rebate on the normal plans he has. If the host normally offers an account/plan for 10 US$/month, he might give you a 5% reseller rebate. You sell that account on to your clients and try to make a profit out of it. If you sold it for 10 US$, you would make a 5% win.

I found it quite confusing as well, but I think this is how it is.

It depends on what you sign up for:

Reselling accounts usually come in 2 flavours:

1. Bulk space / bandwidth (which you carve up how you please)
2. % Discount off plans the supplier sells

I prefer 1 myself.

Originally posted by jopub
. . . Why is nobody very clear about this specific aspect in their plan information? . . .
Sounds like you're looking for a Bulk style Reseller plan, where you buy disk space and data transfer, and it's up to you as to how many domains you create in that account. You then charge whatever you want to your hosting clients, and pocket the profits. :)

Not sure where hosts are not clear "about this specific aspect of their plan information", but maybe you're looking in the wrong places.

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
Sounds like you're looking for a Bulk style Reseller plan, where you buy disk space and data transfer, and it's up to you as to how many domains you create in that account. You then charge whatever you want to your hosting clients, and pocket the profits. :)

Not sure where hosts are not clear "about this specific aspect of their plan information", but maybe you're looking in the wrong places.

Thanks for the prompt replies guys.

And Aussie Bob seems you're right, bulk space is maybe what I need.

With regards to my looking in the wrong places . You're probably right about that too BUT if as this thread shows there are two ways that are not very clear then there IS some confusion and maybe the hosting companies should be more specific about exactly what they are selling bulk space or percentages.

But thanks for your help anyways I now know what I am looking for ;)

Incidentally are there any price differentials between the two ?

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
Not sure where hosts are not clear "about this specific aspect of their plan information", but maybe you're looking in the wrong places.

I think as a newbie you just feel that you have to be extremely careful with what plan to go with if you have never dealt with reselling before. And the fact that there are two different ways to go just makes it confusing.

What I would suggest to webhosts that really want to get new resellers on board is to show a mathematical example of fees and profit involved. It will make people much more comfortable that there aren't any hidden fees that they overlooked.

Originally posted by Necron
I think as a newbie you just feel that you have to be extremely careful with what plan to go with if you have never dealt with reselling before. And the fact that there are two different ways to go just makes it confusing.

What I would suggest to webhosts that really want to get new resellers on board is to show a mathematical example of fees and profit involved. It will make people much more comfortable that there aren't any hidden fees that they overlooked.

Good idea

Absolutely. It does seem a bit 'dark' if you ask me.

You do feel you should not having to be looking out for this. I have now got to trawl through god knows how many to find who does EXACTLY what ( in fact I'll open up a thread to that effect )

Hosting comps should be more upfront about it imo

The other difference to bear in mind with Bulk plans is whether you can 'oversell' the space you've been given or not.

A company like Dathorn (www.dathorn.com) does not allow you to allocate any more space or bandwidth to your clients than the limits they set on your reseller account. For example you could only create ten 200Mb accounts within a 2Gb reseller plan.

Other companies like HTTPme (www.httpme.com) allow you to allocate as much space & bandwidth to your clients as you wish, only requiring you to upgrade your reseller account when your clients have used all available space or bandwidth. For example you could create fifty 200Mb accounts so long as your clients only used 2Gb of space total (just be careful when overselling not to overdo it).

Each of those methods has pros and cons. It's about finding the way which will suit you and your business best :)

Thanks guys

This is great, I am finding out more in the last half hour on here than in the last week trying to pick my way through

Please keep it coming

:)