I would like to know what a reasonable setup fee is? $25?

normally hosts set the setup fee as the same price as the package so if you have a package for $19.95 you charge $19.95 its like getting a month in advance :-).

Well if thats the cost for setting up a dedicated server, I will get one from you know! :)

I think it mostly depends on the package you refering to.

Well i did that on the basis of virtual servers.

I think that if the dedicated server costs $199 a month i think that a setup fee of $99 and a deposit of $50 is a good price but i know some people will say that is a stupid price.

I don't see why hosts should put a setup fee. I mean how long does it take to setup an account? If you use Alabanza, it's automatically done for you. I think it's understandable if you charge setup fee for a dedicated or a colocated server, but not for a regular account.

I just hate setup fee :) Ask DanielP :)

I've got to agree about no set up fees for virtual accounts. It takes so little time to set up an account (less than 5 minutes BC - before coffee, less than 2 AC), that it just isn't warranted. It's just almost entirely profit for the hosting company, which is why so many charge it. Allowing 2 minutes for a setup of $25, it's the equivalent of $750 hourly. Even at 5 minutes, it's $300 hourly.

Set up fees for dedicated servers is an entirely different story. While there are some companies that don't charge, and others that have specials wherein they waive set up fees, reasonable charges are legitimate. The server must be assembled, configured and connected. Even with duplicated hard drives containing the programs, some work must be done.

I would say up to about $200 for a dedicated server set up is reasonable. Anything much over that (I've seen some at $500+) is exorbitant (except maybe for RAID systems).

I personally understand why ther are set up fees... In fact, they are named set-up but theya re mainly used for the 'beginner help'. About every new customer has some *cough* stupid *sough* questions on how to set up their e-mails, where to upload their files, etc... when it is all written in the FAQs already :)

Since you spend more time with them at first, I only see it fair to charge for that... Some hosts also have more to do than Alabanza-based ones. Setting up an accoutn can take from 1 minute to 10 minutes, depending on what you are setting up.

Overall, it is also a security because the clients willing to pay a set-up fee is generally also willing to stay more than 1 month, thus bring you more money and stability. clients leaving after 1 month are not very healty for a company.

Everyone has their business plan

and not everyone has Alabanza which is automated

so setups are not necessarily bad

David

What if the setup fee doesn't just cover the actual account setup but also other features that need to be setup on the side? For example: MX record mods, extra FTP accounts, FP setup, etc.

I think $20-$25 is reasonable, but you have to take a look at what the specific host is offering.. if there are a bunch of freebies included I could bet you anything that setup fee is covering that portion of your account. Make sure to notice if the setup fee is included if they have a money back guarantee.. some hosts won't include that!

I've never seen setup fees as a bad thing when looking for a host... and not every hosting company is automated like Alabanza hosts. You just have to consider what you are getting in return. Why do most people get virtual hosting? They don't know one thing about running their own server, that's why! What we pay for this service is super cheap in my eyes...

I spent $25 on pizza this last weekend that has already left my bodily system. I just paid the same amount some hosts charge you for months of service and that being only a one-time fee (plus, don't most of us make profit from our websites?.. I never made any profit from paying Pizza Hut.. maybe just some heartburn! :sickface:

I guess with all the competition these days.. no setup fees do look appealing... but will that host really provide you with the best when they don't have the funding to do so? I guess the same could go for companies that charge setup.. but that is the Internet, making a gamble everyday with the services we choose.

"It's just almost entirely profit for the hosting company"

I doubt that setup fee is profit at all, it is usually just a one time fee when the customer is probably getting freebies including free tech support (where are the funds coming in to pay the employees needed? no wonder support issues with hosting companies is such a biggie - what do they have 2 people covering 200+ clients? minimum wage being $5+ and most hosts having 24/7 support hours, hmm?).

Sometimes those $$ don't add up to me... unless hosting companies are all run by very rich people, I don't see how they can provide so much for so little without either over-crowding their servers or provide crap for tech support. :smash:

I guess you should also look into cancellation fees because some hosts may have em'(read the fine print in the TOS even if it is boring as hell! it will save you lots of time and money)... can you believe EarthLink is trying to charge me money for cancelling their crap dial-up service... geez! I don't want to spend more money on a service I'm not getting so I have to pay them money in order to get that done? What in the world!?! :eek:

Wow.. did I really type that much? What a boring Tuesday afternoon, well it is a good enough excuse for now! :stickout

Holy Cow! Those two posts above mine weren't there when I first started my previous post. How pathetic... please people, don't go with Earthlink as your dial-up provider... you'll be waiting forever just for things to get going once you actually connect (if you ever do get to connect).

Sorry, I just had to post something because my post doesn't make much sense now that two other people have posted just about the same thing I was ranting about before me. :(

Originally posted by diyoha
so setups are not necessarily bad Of course they're not, but that doesn't change the fact that -some- potential customers will pass you by without a moment of consideration if you charge a setup fee (for virtual hosting).

But your real point is most valid: there is no amount at which you can say "this is the amount a setup fee should be." The question posed in this thread is as pointless as would be "what is a reasonable monthly charge for web hosting? $25?"

Well
Some hosts charge quite a large set up fee and then low monthly amounts. I know that when I started pricing my gosting plans I was keen to have one at $6.95 but most of the $6.95 hosts have big set up fees (Hostsave has 35 dollars) so I opted for $7.95 and no set up fee.

The reason many hosts give is that in the first month customers may need a lot of support.
This is true. Most of my customer support is in the first week or so and usually to do with CGI problems and domain transfer issues with Network Solutions.

However, I have always seen the support as what I am actually charging money for. The support is what adds value to my product, so I can't really add a set up fee on top. It just doesn't make sense either morally or financially.

Just my personal opinion.

Gordon

That should read "hosting" not "gosting".......

Just saw this further up:

>Sometimes those $$ don't add up to me... unless hosting >companies are all run by very rich people, I don't see how >they can provide so much for so little without either over->crowding their

I use a formula:

Amount I need to earn per month from the business divided by average monthly profit per plan = number of hosting accounts I need to have active.
My hosting business only provides part of my income (the rest comes from http://www.hudson.nu/

Also, I am not in the USA. Our tax system is different here and I can get substantial tax relief on promotional and other business activities so I don't need to earn as much as a person who was employed by someone else in a "normal" job.

Yes, there is very little profit on a $7.95 plan but there is a large profit on a $40 plan and its the average that counts. Many people starting at $7.95 will upgrade their account later on.

Business is a funny thing. Sometimes you wonder how it can possibly make a profit, but it does.

Gordon

Gordon,

As you're a registered member, if you make a boo-boo in your post, you can hit the 'Edit/Delete' button which appears underneath your published post and re-edit it to your specifications, instead of having to post extra posts (which equals extra reading :))

Personal opinion : setup fees depend partly on the rationale behind setting up the fees in the first place. Are they purely for profit, or are they acting as a buffer for tech support, or what? If I, as a customer, find out that it's the latter, then I'd negotiate to waive the setup fee in return for a specified no. of tech e-mails etc. (e.g. no 'Please help me setup this stuff!' or 'Help! I accidentally deleted MySQL on my server!' questions - simply the more urgent tech questions and others which may be more obscure). I actually tried this once (with an old host) and succeeded. Pity the host died 6 months later... :rolleyes:

Sometimes just dealing with the outdated terrible DNS system is worth the setup fee anyways. When we setup an account we have to go in change their dns servers either with the dreaded Internic or obtain a username and password and do it through some control panel. Then we have to of course set it up on our dns servers, then you have to explain why it takes 48-72 hours for it to propogate, which in itself takes hours on end :) Then if your lucky enough to have a customer with a ISP who caches everything and doesnt clear it out, then you get to explain how they might be able to see their page in an hour or maybe not for a month. Then when the customer gets upset you get to go into another long lengthy expression about once again how propogation works and how caching works. And then the customer wants you to call the ISP and get the problem fixed and the ISP usually is not a large one and its impossible to get ahold of a technical contact, so you play phone tag, if your lucky enough to get a call.

Is it worth 25.00 I think so :)