Is it me, or is there a trend for resellers wanting to startup a business with no risk?

I had an email yesterday that wanted to know if I could offer a $10 per month reseller account.

I said no way. He said he only had 10 accounts, 6 of them were free and the other 4 had paid for a year so all he could afford was $10/month.

I replied "No way". Then he came back and asked if I would do it for $5 with no "overselling enabled".

Am I missing something, or should I got to AtlantaNAP and ask them to cut me some slack on colo pricing since I only have one rack of servers?

This business just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier. No one seems to want to pay anything but they want billing applications, end user support, tutorials etc thrown in for free and 100% uptime to boot. Then they want to sell 50 $10 hosting accounts on a $25 buck reseller plan... go figure.

:D

First, I do know what you mean, but I bet this goes true for just about any industry out there.

Also, there's nothing wrong with asking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There's usually nothing to lose for the prospective customer. :)

PS. I bet he'll find someone who'll promise to give him what he's asking for. Promises are easy to make.

Promises are easy to make.

Very true Dan.

This business just keeps getting dirtier and dirtier. No one seems to want to pay anything but they want billing applications, end user support, tutorials etc thrown in for free and 100% uptime to boot. Then they want to sell 50 $10 hosting accounts on a $25 buck reseller plan... go figure.

:D


But can you really BLAME an end user for this? Ive said this same thing for years now, look to the provider thats OFFERING it to begin with! Honestly, they are the ones making it soooo easy to get into this business and hence why we have every kid on the block selling hosting.
I think its fine to run a promotion, etc. to attract clients but to give them everything possible and then they charge $5 month is downright crazy. :eek:
A serious web designer, developer will price his packages accordingly! That just sounds like it is good common sense doesnt it? :D

I think it's funny how he said no to $10 and why would the customer think $5 would fly? Maybe try going up in the price lol

I would say only a minority of customers are like this. I get the odd customer trying to negotiate a 50cent or $1 discount. I really do not understand why they even bother.

I can be flexible, but when it comes to negotiating prices or bargaining over a couple of dollars, then it really does make you think...

However for the majority of clients we get, they are all happy paying the full price because they know it will be justified accordingly with the quality of service we provide in return.

Let them death, we are live with competitors man!

Be thankful that this guy didn't sign up with you. Those types of customers do nothing but cause trouble anyway. You did the right thing by holding your ground. If they think they deserve special treatment on price, they will also want special treatment when it comes to billing, support, and everything else. While there is nothing wrong with giving customers special treatment in special situations, the cheapo's seem to want it all the time.