I am looking for a reseller host these days. I 've narrowed it down to few hosts. There are some differences between them that will decide for me which one is more suitable for me.
The first difference is resellers with overselling enabled and ones with not.

I don't really need overselling. I consider it unethical to get paid for something you aren't actually giving even if they don't use it at all. But I know business wise it can work great, specially if most of the customers are ones that want alot for "just in case" but never gonna use it.
But again I don't "need" overselling. But I won't mind to have the option. I think the ones who allow overselling are atleast not overselling themselves to resellers. Well I sure hope not. That will be a disaster!

But, what I need is to have the ability to arrange my packages that in the end will amount to more space than I am allocated. Now I won't actually use more amount then I am allocated. But my unused packages will be set up in way that will amount to more space.

To further elaborate, imagine this scenario:

I have 20 GB space & I divide it into 12 accounts. 10 accounts of 1Gb each and two accounts of 5 GB each. So this will complete my 20 Gb of allocated space.
20 = 5+5+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
But I get only 3 customers for 1 GB packages and 3 customers asking for 5 GB packages. Overall my requirement will be 18 Gb i.e within my allocated space but not adjustable to how I organised my packages. Since I only have 2 available accounts of 5GB space.
My customers requirement
5+5+5+1+1+1 = 18 Gb
Since I cannot predict which packages will sell more then others
my question is;
How will this work with no overselling resellers?


or am I getting it all wrong?

Some overselling is ok and nothing wrong with it. Offering people a data center worth of bandwidth and space from a shared account/reseller is a scam.

I've had good service from Dotable.com http://dotable.com/reseller-accounts/804-dotable-reseller-accounts.html and Digitally Justified http://digitallyjustified.com/multi-domain.php

From what your saying you will need to choose a host with overselling enabled, you have come to the right place though and I'm sure you'll find one.

If your looking for reccomendations, I'd suggest you post what you want in terms of space/bw and your budget. That will help people reccomend hosts that might be a good fit.

Personally I would go with one that doesn't have reselling enabled. It is risky for your customer base and they will not thank you for it.

You need to build up customer loyalty to maximise your profit and this is a very good method of doing so.

Hope this helps

Overselling allows you offer larger packages, and therefore appeal to more clients.

Done correctly, its a brilliant marketing tool.

If you find your account usage is getting near its limits then upgrade your package. If you've oversold correctly you'll be making enough money to make this viable.
If you've reached the maximum limits of your hosts top reseller package then you can either buy another account, get a custom quote, or upgrade to a VPS or dedi.

Overselling isn't unethical if you allow the client to use it and not just booting them off when you don't like their resource usage. We have clients using their full quotas, and we have clients using less than 5% - it all evens out.

Looks like a split decision. Personally I would go with whatever you feel is right for your business. We have provided you with some information it is now time for you to make up your own mind.

The hosting industry is very competitive and you will not grow by always taking other peoples advice. Business is all about making decisions.

Best of luck in your decision making and good luck with your hosting business.

kind Regards

It's definitely about what feels right for the OP and not what our personal feelings are against overselling. I believe hosting companies offer "Overselling Enabled" as a way to promote freedom for their resellers, so they do not feel constrained, but in reality they are. Any hosting company that actively monitors the usage of their resellers and hostees can keep a close eye on those that walk the line of abuse.

Be sure you find a reliable hosting provider with a good track record for service. Going with a fly-by-nighter can be dangerous so be sure to find one with the credentials and recommendations that comes with a host that actively monitors it's business.

:)

ok so what I am looking for can't be done with reseller host like hostgator?

for me the freedom of making packages is absolute must since I don't know which packages will sell more.

Again I want to make clear that what I want is freedom to arrange packages so that if one package is selling more and the other package is selling less, they can be automatically adjusted.


What I am reading from you guys is that I will be stuck to the initial setup arrangement. So my package B isnt selling then the space allocated to package B is wasted. Am I right?
Even if the total amount of sold space is below my limit?

No overselling means you can't create packages with more space or bandwidth than with the plan and you cannot for example,

You have 5GB Space
You set up a 1GB Space Plan
With overselling not enabled you can only sell 5 of those plans.

Having overselling enabled just gives more freedom to you the reseller.

Hope that helps.

So I can't re adjust plans on the fly?

by the way, do i have to divide my space before actually selling them?

eg i get 5 gb space

i make two packages;

package A = 1GB
package B - 500 mb

then 9 customers buy package B and no one buys package A. if i do not have to divide it before hand, my customers will use 4.5 gb of space i.e within my limit.

but if i have to divide my packages before selling them, then wat will happen to the space I allocate to package A. Is that wasted? If no one buys it?

So I can't re adjust plans on the fly?

by the way, do i have to divide my space before actually selling them?

eg i get 5 gb space

i make two packages;

package A = 1GB
package B - 500 mb

then 9 customers buy package B and no one buys package A. if i do not have to divide it before hand, my customers will use 4.5 gb of space i.e within my limit.

but if i have to divide my packages before selling them, then wat will happen to the space I allocate to package A. Is that wasted? If no one buys it?

In WHM, you make packages A and B. Then you make accounts using a particular package.

Overselling isn't unethical if you allow the client to use it and not just booting them off when you don't like their resource usage.But, as a reseller you'd have no say in the decision to boot an end user off or not. If your provider says it's a resources hog, that's that.

by the way, do i have to divide my space before actually selling them?No. You just create packages, which is basically an account template so that you don't enter the account's allocations every time you create one. The space is not used until you actually create accounts -- when you sell them.

Watch some of the tutorials here: http://onlinesupport.org/tutorials_whm_x.php. They may be of help.

Just to confirm that, in WHM there's no requirement to specify in advance how many of each package you will sell. So taking your original example, if you have a total of 20GB and you define packages of 1GB and 5GB you can continue to create accounts with either package as long as the total of all accounts remains within 20GB.

But I get only 3 customers for 1 GB packages and 3 customers asking for 5 GB packages. Overall my requirement will be 18 Gb i.e within my allocated space but not adjustable to how I organised my packages.Should be perfectly ok.

When you guys say "create accounts", I reckon you mean when the customer actually buys a package.


If my reseller space isn't used till the customer actually buys any of the packages then it means I can make as many types of different "packages" as I see fit.

So my limit will only be reached when the accounts that have been "sold" reach the space advertised.

I hope I got it.

Thanks for all the help guys. My next inquires will be in different thread/s.