Excuse my ignorance, but I have a few questions about eNom reselling. I want to know how much it costs to get started, and also the monthly costs. And how much it costs me per domain a client registers.
Thank You.

I know that you apply for an enom account in three tiers. One is the $8.95 level with 55 domains prepaid. One is the $7.95 level with 500 domains prepaid, and finally one is the $6.95 level with 1000 domains prepaid. (you can do the math to figure out the initial investment.) This is if you apply directly to enom.

There are no other setup fee or monthly fee. Although if you refill using your credit card there is a 3% fee plus a minimum of $100.

The other option is to go through with enom resellers. Basically, by going through them, you don't have to prepaid that much (although it varies by reseller). All other terms applies. (CC fee and minimum, features, etc...)

You can setup a free account to take a look at the features and help files at enom.com,

<edit>edited to correct typo, it is 1000 for the $6.95 level, not 100. Thanks hostjet.</edit>

Peter

the $6.95 level with 100 domains prepaid.
a small typo, should be 1,000 domains

Originally posted by iamdave
Excuse my ignorance, but I have a few questions about eNom reselling. I want to know how much it costs to get started, and also the monthly costs. And how much it costs me per domain a client registers.
Thank You.
Why not ask eNom directly? Sounds like a question best answered by their sales staff.

-t

enom sales are extremly slow :(

Really?

I am just about ot send in my first refill via check, do you think the processing would be slow?

Peter

I know that you apply for an enom account in three tiers. One is the $8.95 level with 55 domains prepaid. One is the $7.95 level with 500 domains prepaid, and finally one is the $6.95 level with 1000 domains prepaid.

$8.95 x 55 = $492.25

$7.95 x 500 = $3975.00

$6.95 x 1000 = $6950.00

. (you can do the math to figure out the initial investment.)

Is my Math correct? If it is, ENOM may be just out of my financial range :(

Yes, your math is about right. (didn't check, but it looks right).

If you can't afford it, you should find an enom reseller. They can provide comparable price with a much lower initial investment. This is definitely something you should investigate further. It is my understanding that the free account on enom.com is only the retail account. See if you can find a reseller who can get you a demo reseller account; you would be impressed. (I know I liked it)

Although, common-sense will tell you that if you want the lowest price you still have to go directly to enom, since any reseller will have to make some kind of profit. (or charge you a huge setup fee).

Peter

Ok ckpeter, then that get's me back to my original thread.

How will I be able to distinguish an enom reseller:

Enom -> Reseller -> Me

from and enom reseller reseller:

Enom -> Reseller -> Reseller -> Me

Obviously, I want to be as high up on the food chain as possible. ;)

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61283&highlight=enom+resellers

I see AQHost may be what I'm looking for :D
I'll have to take some time to digest their FAQ.

Thanks for your help ckpeter

Actually, the beauty (or drawback) or enom's system is that you don't know how many levels you are at. Unless you yourself apply to enom directly. you really don't know for sure. Its good because every reseller appears as the first chain, even if, for example, they are 5 levels down.

There are two ways you can find out. One is to ask your parent reseller, but then again, they may not want to tell you, and even if they want to, they may not be able to (they don't know either, since they also have parent reseller).

The other way is to infer from the price. For example, if you see a price that's $7, then you can be pretty sure that you are:

Enom -> parent reseller -> you

However, this is completely a guess, because there could still be an unlimited amount of reseller in between:

Enom -> reseller A (who earn no profit but charge a high setup) -> reseller B (who earns $0.02 on each domain) -> reseller C (who earns no profit but charge a high setup fee) -> a friend of reseller C -> .........-> you

So, the only way you can do is just try to guess. However, I don't think you should be concern about the depth of the chain, because afterall, all reseller accounts are from enom, so no risk of losing an account because of an unstable parent reseller(support is another problem). And now that you know the base price, you can shop around for the best price.

Peter

Originally posted by ckpeter
However, I don't think you should be concern about the depth of the chain, because afterall, all reseller accounts are from enom, so no risk of losing an account because of an unstable parent reseller...

Exactly. It really doesn't matter who you sign up with, because you're actually just using the reseller to sign up directly with eNom.

If you find a cheaper price somewhere else, you can always just send an email to eNom and they'll move your account so it is "under" the other reseller (with the cheaper price).

Even if your parent reseller goes on a long holiday.. your domains will not be affected, because they really have nothing to do with the reseller. They can't touch them.

Originally posted by mrzippy

If you find a cheaper price somewhere else, you can always just send an email to eNom and they'll move your account so it is "under" the other reseller (with the cheaper price).


Actually that's a little misleading. You can move your account if you're a direct eNom reseller, however if you're a sub-reseller for someone else you need your parent reseller's permission to move. You can open another account under the cheaper reseller, however you will not be able to keep the same login ID or move any sub-accounts that you had created for your own customers.

Simon.

With the permission of the parant reseller, can an account be moved along with the sub-accounts?

Peter

I believe so, yes, but you have to ask yourself how likely a parent reseller is to give you permission. You're essentially asking them to help you take your customer base away from them to one of their competitiors :)

Simon.

Can a reseller simply moves all his sub-accounts without the permission of his parent reseller?

Peter

Nope. He can push domains that are directly in his existing account to his new account, but that's it. Any move of the account itself or sub-accounts contained therein requires the permission of the parent reseller.

Simon.

Interesting, so the only way to do so without the permission of the parent reseller is to ask each sub-account to request a move manually?

The complexity of Enom's system is facinating.

Peter

Originally posted by ckpeter
Can a reseller simply moves all his sub-accounts without the permission of his parent reseller?

Peter

Yes. However, you would need to explain in detail to eNom exactly the situation. They won't move anything unless they are absolutely 100% sure of the authenticity of the request, and know all the facts.

Ultimately, you have your own reseller account (sub-account off your "parent reseller) and even if your parent reseller doesn't want you to move.. they can't really stop you, since you can deal directly with eNom to explain your situation.

However... you really should email eNom and get this in writing. Then, you can use that if a problem ever occurs.

Cheers!

Again, not true. I'll quote directly from an email I received on this very subject from an eNom higher-upper (names hidden):

"I cannot take sub-accounts away from resellers without their permission. You have two choices...you can either ask (parent reseller) to send me an email to authorize the move of this account...or you can create a new sub account directly under (new reseller)."

When I replied asking if it was possible to just move the sub-accounts from within the sub-reseller's existing account to his new one:

"I won't be able to move anything, but he has the option to PUSH domains from one login to another"

Therefore what I stated earlier was perfectly correct - a sub-reseller cannot move either his own account or any of his sub-accounts without the permission of his parent reseller. He can move domains that are registered within his own account, but sub-accounts and the domains within them stay put.

This is quite logical when you think about it. A lot of time, money and effort goes into recruiting new resellers, explaining the system to them and selling them on eNom pricing and services vs the other choices, and quite substantial networks can be built. Would it really be fair for eNom to rip a hard-earned network away from the reseller who built it because someone else is offering a deal 10 cents cheaper? Of course not. A wholesaler couldn't move one of their reseller's customer base to a different reseller in any other industry, so why should this one be any different?

Simon.

Originally posted by AQHost
Again, not true.

Hi Simon. I'm not sure how to respond, because I actually did have an actual case where I moved my own account away from a reseller... without their permission.

It was a while ago when I first started reselling for eNom. I signed up under someone, who gave me a terrible price. (I didn't know any better.) Once I realized I was getting screwed, I asked them to either lower the price or let me move somewhere else.

They refused.

So I contacted eNom, explained the situation.. and after MANY email exchanges back and forth (including faxing my drivers license, several bills, and my passport for authentication), they moved my account away from my parent reseller.

So, having experienced this situation myself.. I know for a fact it can be done. But I do believe the circumstances will need to be exceptional and you'll have to convince eNom to go against the policy AQHost has shown us above.

their sales dept is not slow at all, from my experience. Support is a bit slow, that is for sure!