Hello everyone!!

I'm going to start my web hosting company soon and am wondering how much someone would pay for this kind of features:

333MB Web Space
5 GB Transfer
5 Free subdomains
MySQL
PERL, C++, TCL, Python, PHP4
Frontpage 2000 extension
Personal CGI-BIN
SSI
Password Protect Directories
Site Search Engine
Graphical Hit Counter
Unlimited EMail Accounts
Custom 404 Pages
Online Control Panel
Web Site Statistics
SMTP Server
24/7 FTP Access
NO Porn or SPAM etc etc etc... you know the list

Thanks everyone for your reply!!

8$/mo.

How about the networkk... dont tell us you locate in China isp..

and .. which cp do you use.

Originally posted by Omni

333MB Web Space

Question from a mathematically-challenged reader: ME.
Out of curiosity, why that particular number? Was it based on any kind of research/calculation? And am not saying it with tongue in cheek, I really wanna know :D

And if your plan said 3-4 MySQL databases, I'd say $9.95. The market has gone potty. I guess that depends on whether you are wearing the hat of the host or the hostee. I still remember paying $75 for 25 megs of space :bawling: several years back.

Anyway, good luck buddy!

Hehe, queensoul, touchee :)

You might have trouble getting people to price out your packages. you can't just say "whats this worth", you've got to cut out your resources, and expenses, and see what *you* as the host can afford to provide, then come back and say "would you pay $###.### for this?

Btw, I just offered a package similar to this just yesterday, for free, so you might have trouble selling that this week :p

Thanks everyone for reply!

Xingan,
Well... after 1997 yes it's from China... (Hong Kong to be more precise). Why? Would people prefer it to be away from China? The control panel is custom-built... Thanks for your comments.

queensoul,
hehe No it wasn't based on any research or calculations or anything. I'm a reseller and since the host provide this amount of disk space it's this amount of disk space I'm reselling... Thanks for your comment about MySQL, we are offering up to 5 MySQL databases on each account sold.

porcupine,
Makes sense what you said, thanks for your comment.

To EVERYONE:
Would you pay $150/Year for this? Or would you consider it too high? Please fire all your comments on the price!

People won't pay yearly for a new host in general. Also, 150/year for that plan is mighty steep, esp considering thats a yearly payment (usually they're 10-25% off from monthly costs)

I see your point.

What about $12.50 per month if paid monthly...
and $120 per year?

and if 10 days trial accounts are provided?

I still remember paying $75 for 25 megs of space several years back.
I have a Pentium 100 with 16 megs of Ram and a 1 GB hard drive on the floor behind me which I paid $3100 for years ago too. Luckily technology gets better and more accessible as the years go by.

Would you pay $150/Year for this? Or would you consider it too high? Please fire all your comments on the price!
Right now I see two options for hosting - very inexpensive hosting where the quality may or may not be great but there is lots of disk space and bandwidth, or 'premium hosting' with a 'proven' host like FutureQuest for those who are willing to pay top dollar for top of the line service you can absolutely count on. What quality of support will you offer? Pictures of the NOC? How are you connected? How many accounts per server? What are the server specs? (Ram/CPU/Disks)? Do you provide backup services? Can you answer questions and resolve issues within 15 minutes no matter what time of day it is? How many techs do you have available? How much time until you can be at the NOC to reset the server (or how much can you count on your host to do so?) Maybe your package has a niche - those that need a good amount of disk space but not much bandwidth and who also need MySQL. But I myself would probably choose either a proven host like FutureQuest for proven quality of service or a host that offered a lot more bandwidth (e.g. 10 GB). I also would not be wild about signing up with a reseller unless they provided value added services since I would tend to believe I would get better response times dealing directly with those who have physical access to the servers if something bad happened.

scott2,

Thanks for your comments, to answer your questions:

1) support is done through a ticket system or emails... the clients' pick and yes they can be answered within 15 minutes as I have direct contact with the host provider (24hr support)
2) pictures of the NOC can be found at iadvantage.net, which is where we're connected a well...
3) backup are done every 24 hours
4) the max accounts per server is 500
5) server specs: Pentium 4, 1800MHZ, 73GB SCSI, 1536MB DDR RAM
6) techs available at the host provider => 1 at non-peak times, 3 at peak times
7) reboot can be done by Telnet or it's possible to call the NOC to do the reboot in 1 to 2 minutes

If support isn't too good, I'm considering partnering up with bobcares.com to get a max 6 hours response support system.

Thanks again for your comments, please everyone all your comments/criticism.

Omni,

I have been in the forum for a while and I have to tell you, although it's a good idea to get comments and suggestions from this forum, you must altimately make up your own mind.

This is what I mean. One host can sell the same plan you have for $5 a month and make a profit. One can even afford to give several away and make profit and another host can sell that same plan for $15 a month and make profit. This is all going to depend on couple of things such as customer base, target market, your investment etc. You have to make money, you have to consider your expenses. Your time is money, your techs aren't free.

So what I'm saying is don't worry too much as to what others are selling hosting for. You're not going to build your business soley on this forum. This is a good place to get some ideas so take those ideas and formulate your own. At the end, what ever you think is fair for your hosting packages is what you should go with.

Good luck, just a thought. BTW, I've see this same packge sell for more than $20 a month even $30. Probably not in this forum but then again like I said hosting isn't just done here. :)

Originally posted by porcupine
People won't pay yearly for a new host in general. Also, 150/year for that plan is mighty steep, esp considering thats a yearly payment (usually they're 10-25% off from monthly costs)


Actually in our first month only one person ordered the package monthly (the rest chose yearly)

cahostnet,
Thanks for your advice. I've searched around everywhere as well and I have seen 20 to 30 myself also. Just needed to see what everyone thinks around here (or least a few people)

Relyc,
I went over to your website and took around the packages. Regarding what you said about most people choosing to pay yearly for the first month, which plan did they choose? (majority)

Thanks everyone this forum has been a great help:)