How do most wholesaler/reseller billing relationships work? In other words, does the wholesaler bill the reseller's customers in the reseller's name? Does the wholesaler generally stay completely away from billing, and simply provide the reseller with a list of customers and what accounts they have and let the reseller deal with it however they can?

What's generally done, and what would be better?

It depends on the type of reseller account in question.
If it's one where you buy in bulk and divide that up however you wish, then the answer to your questions are generally, yes.
But, if you're talking about reseller accounts where you purchase plans at a discounted rate, it could work either way.

Which is better, depends on your needs.

Oh...this is confusing. My (possibly soon to be) web host's support team don't know the answer to that question =(

Usually the host will not handle the affairs of their resellers. It is usually up to the reseller to provide support, billing etc to their clients.

Most hosts are annonymous, and so it would be up to the reseller to maintain all the client information.

In the discounted account reseller model, are there any wholesalers that actually collect the monthly fee from the end-user customer and then pay the reseller?

A good affiliate program would provide a payment to the reseller. Is this what you are looking for?

Actually I'm part-owner of a hosting company trying to figure out a workable reseller system with co-branded control panel, discounts off our existing plans, etc. None of us have any direct experience reselling, so we're trying to gather a picture of the current marketplace. Thanks for any info.

Most reseller plans allow you to perform your own billing method. If you are charged per-account set up, then your provider charges you, not your client, in most cases.

So in the charged-per-account model, what information is stored by the wholesaler for the reseller? Signup date, plan type... what else? Payments made? Current balance?

We are struggling with the question of how robust the (billing) tools available to resellers need to be.

Thanks,