ok... I am starting a hosting company as more of a hobby than a buisness, so i dont want to have to invest an incredible amount in the beginning.

heres what i want to do:
i only want the customer to enter their info once, for sending to me, 2checkout, and a domain reseller, but i do not know how to do that...

is there a way to have the info sent to me and then the info passed to 2checkout, and then i can set up the domain myself?

I do not currently have a domain registrar reseller account because i do not know which one will fit my needs better/

If 2checkout.com will not work for this which registrar will?

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Thanks in Advance
-Aaron
*Sorry for the spelling errors :)

Originally posted by n0vice
ok... I am starting a hosting company as more of a hobby than a buisness, so i dont want to have to invest an incredible amount in the beginning.
You and every man and his dog by the looks of it. :eek:
heres what i want to do:
i only want the customer to enter their info once, for sending to me, 2checkout, and a domain reseller, but i do not know how to do that...
Why bother with reselling domains? Most folks have a domain and want your hosting services. Keep things simple. :)
Any advice is greatly appreciated
:D
*Sorry for the spelling errors :)
We'll let it go this time, but next time we won't be so merciful. :D

Becoming a domain reseller generally requires an investment up front. Aussie Bob is right, you should probably bin that idea for the moment.

For automated account creation, if you're using a server with Cpanel/WHM, there is some software freely available at http://www.nixt.org that might help out.

Otherwise, if you're not into the instant creation thing, it's quite easy to use php and a mysql database to store such information, so you can verify it yourself and create the account manually.

wow, thank you for the quick replies...

Why bother with reselling domains? Most folks have a domain and want your hosting services. Keep things simple.
Becoming a domain reseller generally requires an investment up front. Aussie Bob is right, you should probably bin that idea for the moment.

It is pretty important that i am able to sell domains because most of my customers will be local small buissnesses that do not have a website or domain yet. How much of an investment would it be.

For automated account creation, if you're using a server with Cpanel/WHM, there is some software freely available at http://www.nixt.org that might help out.

Yes i am using Cpanel/WHM and nixt looks very interesting. I would like to know more about it but their site does not have much info, just a download and i do not have a server to test it on yet (just ordered a reseller account)..what exactly does nixt do? does it automatically charge through 2checkout and set them up with an account?


Otherwise, if you're not into the instant creation thing, it's quite easy to use php and a mysql database to store such information, so you can verify it yourself and create the account manually.

If nixt isnt what i am looking for, do you mean i should take their info on my site and put it in a database, and then goto 2checkout and sign them up, then register a domain name, all with their info? Im not against that idea, but wouldnt i need an SSL cert, and would other security risks would be involved?

Thanks again...
sorry for so many questions, i am a newbie

Here's a really good place to look for becoming a domain reseller:

http://resellers.tucows.com/opensrs/

What I meant with the mysql database was that you create a script to grab their info for their account with you (not credit card info) so there's no SSL cert necessary. then you pass them on to 2checkout (considering the mess that's been going on with 2checkout lately, you may want to look at other avenues) for credit card processing.

http://onlinenic.com for domain name reselling. You can back it into your site easy as pie etc. But I don't know about intergrating it into an auto-signup. You'd probably need a custom script etc..

You may want to have a look at PHP Manager (http://www.phpmanager.com).

Dixiesys (http://www.dixiesys.com) has decent domain reseller accounts through them. $25 setup for the lowest and $100 deposite to eNome gets you started. Kinda beats most of the others. Also, a really cool feature is you can have sub-resellers under you and you get a commisson off of it. :D ;)

Jay

Ok thank you guys .. OpenSRS looks really nice, and so does onlinenic. What I like about onlinenic.com is that you can get a refund on your deposit, even if you deposit 700$ (there is like a 15$ fee, but thats not bad) .. What kind of deposits do you have to make with OpenSRS, and are they refundable? Aslo how does enom compare to these two. Id rather be a reseller of enom instead of a reseller of a reseller of enom (if i went with them).

Originally posted by n0vice
What kind of deposits do you have to make with OpenSRS, and are they refundable?
Taken from http://resellers.tucows.com/opensrs/payment:
"Pre-payment
Prior to registering domains using OpenSRS, the Registration Service Provider must establish an account balance with OpenSRS. We recommend pre-paying at least one month worth of credit in advance. Please note that our minimum pre-payments are $250.00 US for a full access implementation, and $500.00 US for a Quickstart implementation."

yes but do they offer the same type of refund as onlinenic.com does:
If I stop being a member do you refund any unused funds?
We will refund any unused funds in your account, minus a $25 processing fee. However, there may be an additional adjustment charge to reflect higher prices you would have paid for a lower volume of registrations. For example, if you originally prepaid $669 for 100 gTLD domains (Platinum level), but decide to close your account after registering 10 gTLD domains (Bronze level), you will still have $602.10 remaining in your account. After a processing fee of $25 and a price adjustment fee of $13.00, $564.10 will be returned to you. The $13.00 charge reflects the $1.30 price difference between Bronze and Platinum level members for the 10 gTLD domains you registered. Please e-mail us at feedback@OnlineNIC.com, or fax OnlineNIC (415-775-1686) if you wish to close your account. Refunds take six to eight weeks to process.

From the FAQ at onlinenic.com [http://www.onlinenic.com/english/faqs/reseller_faq.html#09]

Originally posted by n0vice
Id rather be a reseller of enom instead of a reseller of a reseller of enom (if i went with them).
From experience of doing it both ways I'll tell you that it really doesn't matter all that much and honestly there's no difference. Of course you don't want to pick a reseller who isn't responsive, however enom isn't always responsive either, so I don't think the difference matters. Personal opinion.