Hello,

Ok, I need to validate what enom told me ...

I opened an account at enom under the my enom page. I have three domains there. You logon with your email address and password.

I also have 8 other domains through enom. Those domains do not show up under my enom and to administer them you logon with the domain name and the password.

I wanted to know how to push those domains into the my enom account. I sent an email to enom and they told me that the reseller I bought them from had to do it and they probably wouldn't do it. My only other option was to pay enom to transfer the domain name into the my enom account.

Does this sound right? Why?

Originally posted by pgrote
I opened an account at enom under the my enom page. I have three domains there. You logon with your email address and password.

I also have 8 other domains through enom. Those domains do not show up under my enom and to administer them you logon with the domain name and the password.

I wanted to know how to push those domains into the my enom account. I sent an email to enom and they told me that the reseller I bought them from had to do it and they probably wouldn't do it. My only other option was to pay enom to transfer the domain name into the my enom account.

Does this sound right? Why?
It sounds like the three domains you reference in your first paragraph are registered directly on the the eNom web site (http://www.enom.com)...

...except that you say you logon using your email address and password. Something's wrong there. On the the actual eNom web site (http://www.enom.com), one logs-in using a log-in ID and password. So, when discussing the three domains referenced in your first paragraph, it's critical that we make sure that you are, in fact, logging-in to the actual www.enom.com (http://www.enom.com) web site, and not that of an eNom reseller. Double-check that first.

For our purposes, here, let's assume that your first paragraph really does refer to the actual eNom web site (http://www.enom.com); that you have a direct eNom retail account there; that only the last sentence of your first pragraph was in error, and that you actually log-in using a log-in ID and password, not an email address and password. And you have three domains registered there.

In addition, it sounds like the 8 domains you describe in your second paragraph were purchased through an eNom reseller. And it sounds like for those 8 domains you are using the tan Registry Rocket interface (http://register.domainlightning.com) as the place where you log-in to control your domains, OR, you are using the generic, tan http://access.enom.com interface as your control panel. One or the other.

If the above things I have written are correct, then for the three domain names referenced in your first paragraph, you are an eNom customer directly.

And for the 8 domains referenced in your second paragraph, you are the direct customer of an eNom reseller, and only an eNom customer indirectly.

And, if so, then there's the problem. The 8 domains referenced in your second paragraph are in the direct eNom account of the reseller from whom you bought them just the same as if he had registered them himself. The only difference is that he then put your name and address into the "registrant" field of the WHOIS record, and then gave you a password to access the tan control panel.

Those 8 domains are yours, but they're in the reseller's eNom account, just like the three domains in your first paragraph are yours, but they're in your eNom retail account. Using the reseller account that he logs-in to directly on the eNom web site, he has the same control over those 8 domains as you have over the three that you control in the retail account the you log-in to directly on the eNom web site.

Unfortunately, the tan interface that he's given you to control your 8 domains that are in his reseller account does not contain the "push" feature... as you've discovered.

What eNom is telling you is that from their perspective and as pertains to this situation, they're viewing that eNom reseller who has your 8 domains in much the same manner as they would view a competing registrar. And eNom is essentially saying that it will not simply snatch your 8 domains out of the reseller's account and "push" them into your eNom direct retail account unless you're willing to treat it like a transfer from one registrar to another -- hence the transfer fee that eNom was talking about.

I'm an eNom reseller myself. I love eNom, as my posts elsewhere will evidence. But I must confess that I'm a little troubled by what eNom is saying to you. I understand eNom's position. But the bottom line is that eNom has already been paid for those 8 domains (albeit via the reseller's account), and charging you a transfer fee to do what amounts to little more than a shuffling of paper seems a bit like double-dipping to me.

But then again, not really. And that's because if you did decide to pay eNom to "transfer" (technically just "push") them, you would get a year added to their lives just as any person transferring a domain name to eNom from another registrar would get. So it's not like eNom is taking your money for the transfers and not giving you anything in return. So it really isn't double-dipping. But it still doesn't feel quite right to me somehow.

When any of my customers contacts me and asks me to "push" their domains to another eNom account, I look at it like a transfer -- the same as if my customer wished to transfer away from eNom altogether and over to... say... GoDaddy, for example. Or to any other registrar. I first verify that they are who they say they are, and that they truly own the domain, and that they truly want it pushed. Those things having been determined, I then "push" it to the specified eNom account and that's the end of it. That, I believe, is how ICANN intended for all registrars to behave. And so I enthusiastically comply with the spirit of that without a second thought.

If you can convince your reseller that he should be looking at the situation in the same way, then you may be able to get him to just "push" your 8 domains and that will be the end of it. All he would need to know in order to do that is your direct retail eNom Log-in ID.

But if you cannot get him to do that, and if you cannot also convince eNom that they should waive the "transfer" charges, then it just may be that your only recourse will be to go ahead and pay eNom 8 "transfer" fees, whereupon eNom will forcibly "push" your 8 domains from the reseller's eNom account and over into your direct retail eNom account.

But there's something else to consider...

The reseller who is holding your 8 domains probably charged you less per domain than eNom is charging you directly. So if you have those 8 domains "pushed" to the direct retail account where your other three are, and if you pay the transfer fees to eNom, you'll really pay a lot ($29.95 each) to get those 8 domains over to your direct eNom retail account. And then, later, you'll pay eNom's full retail price ($29.95) times 11 domains to renew them for another year. Yikes!

It would almost make more sense for you to "push" the three domains in your eNom direct retail account over to the reseller's lower-priced account. But not so fast... there's a downside to that, too, to wit:

If you did that, you would lose the kind of complete control of those three domains that can only be had via an account that is logged-in to directly on the eNom web site.

So there's the rub.


A Nice Compromise

Here's a nice compromise that you may be able to get the reseller who has your 8 domains to agree to: Ask the reseller to use the "sub-account" feature of his eNom reseller account to create a brand new, direct retail (sub-)account for you on the eNom web site. Ask him to set your prices for transfers, renewals and new registrations to the same thing he charged you for the 8 domains you already registered with him. Then ask him to "push" those 8 domains into that new, direct eNom retail (sub-)account he just created.

Then you go log-in to the direct retail eNom account that you created yourself and that you referenced in your first paragraph. "Push" those three domains names from that account and into the new sub-account that your reseller created for you as described in the previous paragraph.

That will leave one single eNom retail account that can be logged-in to directly on the eNom web site, and which has all 11 of your domain names in it. Said account will actually be a sub-account beneath your reseller's account, but it will afford you the kind of control over your domains that can only be had via an account that can be logged-in to directly on the eNom web site.

But there are even more benefits -- for all concerned...

Since the new account is still beneath your reseller's account, he doesn't lose those domains as he would have had he "pushed" them away as you originally wanted. So he will still derive revenue from their renewals later.

Plus, he ends-up with three additional domains beneath his reseller account from which he will also derive revenue at renewal time. So it's a net gain for him.

And you benefit not only from having the additional and enhanced control capabilities, but you also would then have all 11 domains in one, easier-to-manage place. And, finally, you would benefit from the reseller's lower (than eNom's) pricing at renewal time.

If you think about it, that's really the best solution for all concerned. It's win-win for everyone -- even eNom. Try to talk your reseller into that and you'll have completely alleviated this problem. Refer him to this thread if you want to so he'll understand exactly what you need.

And good luck!