I need some help on how to properly re-sell. I am not planning on doing this to make huge profits, but mainly as a hobby.

I was thinking of purchasing a reseller plan at Voxtreme, MCHost, or somewhere similar.

If I were to get a plan that offers 1 GB webspace and 12 or so GB of bandwidth, how would I structure my plans?

I realized that If I wanted a growing customer base, I would have to keep my plans low, or order more reseller plans. (Which would be too costly for my budget.)

So, how can I re-sell yet offer plans like 200 MB of webspace and 5 GB of bandwidth? And I don't want to be spending more than $30 US per month, plus I'd like to have the ability to create my own plans.

If you get ~ 1GB webspace and ~ 12GB bandwidth, you should have plenty of room to play around with how your plans will be created.

You can sell your packages for whatever you want, giving whatever features you want. There is no right way to build your plans. Many companies have different strategies for the way they build their plans. For example,: Company A might provide 2 or 3 different packages to customers because they feel that having too many plans will confuse people, which Company B might provide 5 or 6 plans which could confuse people but it gives them more of an option (for those looking for more options).

I would price your hosting according to what its worth to someone. Also, remember not to short change yourself. If your going to be offering hosting, customers will expect some kind of support from you, so build that into your pricing structure. Also, don't get to the point where the more you grow, the more money you lose. You need to be able to get more resellers packages (if needed) in the future to be able to hold more clients. Don't put yourself in a Lose-Win situation.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Originally posted by Piano
I need some help on how to properly re-sell. I am not planning on doing this to make huge profits, but mainly as a hobby.

I was thinking of purchasing a reseller plan at Voxtreme, MCHost, or somewhere similar.

If I were to get a plan that offers 1 GB webspace and 12 or so GB of bandwidth, how would I structure my plans?

I realized that If I wanted a growing customer base, I would have to keep my plans low, or order more reseller plans. (Which would be too costly for my budget.)

So, how can I re-sell yet offer plans like 200 MB of webspace and 5 GB of bandwidth? And I don't want to be spending more than $30 US per month, plus I'd like to have the ability to create my own plans.
Get your reseller account setup first, build a simple site that will take credit cards with maybe - http://revecom

Offer sensible plans and start your client base with your family, friends and associates. Work out from that point and let word of mouth do the promotion for you. Start small and build up your client base very slowly. When you have enough clients, get a dedicated server and grow out from that point.

You'll pay $350 to $500/mth for a really good dedicated server and you'll pay around $20/mth for a reseller account.

Have fun and enjoy the journey. :)

Thanks to the both of you. Your posts were helpful. :)

Now, about offering support... Obviously I alone will not be able to provide 24/7 support. In that case, would it be a wise decision for me to hire say 1 tech person? Or would I be getting ahead of myself? Since I'm just starting out and all..

Originally posted by Piano
I need some help on how to properly re-sell. I am not planning on doing this to make huge profits, but mainly as a hobby.

I was thinking of purchasing a reseller plan at Voxtreme, MCHost, or somewhere similar.

If I were to get a plan that offers 1 GB webspace and 12 or so GB of bandwidth, how would I structure my plans?

I realized that If I wanted a growing customer base, I would have to keep my plans low, or order more reseller plans. (Which would be too costly for my budget.)

So, how can I re-sell yet offer plans like 200 MB of webspace and 5 GB of bandwidth? And I don't want to be spending more than $30 US per month, plus I'd like to have the ability to create my own plans.

Hi, just an advice : since you'll do it as a hobby, try to not get mad and stressed with this new experience, because believe me you'll need neurones made by iron to handle all the "surprises" the "others" will offer you. You should know, that you have no chance to live a calm experience (except if you're really lucky). There are good companies and people around but you'll see (almost 100%) an experience of ups and downs, with every company. Normal? usually happens this way...doesn't mean that it should be that way and that is normal. But this is the way things work, so you'll have to get used to it and don't put much pressure on you.

The 1GB space and 12-15GB tranfer/month is a good plan to start. Make sure that they'll give you the ips for your nameservers (it's important , even if some people see it differently). Go with plans that come with Plesk or Cpanel, it will be easier for you. With almost all the reseller plans you'll be able to create your own plans...always remember that overselling isn't good...but almost always necessary. Also check all the details of the plan, like how many domains they'll allow you to host, ftp, mysql, emails..etc

I would suggest you to offer normal to medium plans...this way you'll be able to create a small base of customers, that will help you to make the next steps (mouth to mouth promotion is the most valid). Plans like 50MB, 75MB, 100, 150, max 200, and logical amounts of data transfer. For having some more customers than your real resources allow you, you'll have to oversell, but always be ready to provide to your customers what they have bought. (Plesk won't always be your better overselling "partner" ;) )

I wish you good luck

Originally posted by Piano
Thanks to the both of you. Your posts were helpful. :)

Now, about offering support... Obviously I alone will not be able to provide 24/7 support. In that case, would it be a wise decision for me to hire say 1 tech person? Or would I be getting ahead of myself? Since I'm just starting out and all..

If you can afford hiring a person, the get your dedicated server, get an admin and make business (and forget the reselling).

It would be better doing everything alone, just to keep down the expences. You should not advertise 24/7 if you can't provide it...then try to check your emails more often possible.

Thank you...

One last thing: Would anyone be able to tell me what payment system this host is using: http://www.dynastyhost.com/bill/order ?

I like its process and am interested in having something similar.

Originally posted by Piano
Thanks to the both of you. Your posts were helpful. :)

Now, about offering support... Obviously I alone will not be able to provide 24/7 support. In that case, would it be a wise decision for me to hire say 1 tech person? Or would I be getting ahead of myself? Since I'm just starting out and all..
Just provide support yourself and be at your PC as much as possible etc. If you can have a 12hr turnaround on all support, that's still pretty good.

Originally posted by Piano
Thank you...

One last thing: Would anyone be able to tell me what payment system this host is using: http://www.dynastyhost.com/bill/order ?

I like its process and am interested in having something similar.
That's probably their own custom setup. Just use something like http://revecom [we use them :)] and setup your accounts manually. Keep is simple is my motto. :agree: :D

Remember that although you have an allowance of diskspace and bandwidth, most customers will not use anywhere near their allowance - so it is perfectly legitimate to oversell.

Matt

Without a doubt this has been the best thread in a long time and the hosts that replied are the nucleus of maintaining the type of image this industry deserves. More power to you guys!! you have restored this ol aussies faith.
Bob Mike Matt and Troy - you're legends - If Piano didn't learn something I made up for it;)

Originally posted by voxtreme-matt
Remember that although you have an allowance of diskspace and bandwidth, most customers will not use anywhere near their allowance - so it is perfectly legitimate to oversell.

Matt
Oops, someone said the "O" word. :buck: :D