Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Domain Names : Reseller: OpenSRS vs. eNOM

[joelmoss]

We are currently using OpenSRS and are very happy with them, but they don't offer the best prices. However, I see that eNOM offer them at $6.95 which is a considerable saving.

What I need to know is, is Enom any good? OpenSRS and Tucows are very good at what they do and I need to know that Enom are the same.

Anyone have any good/bad experiences with them?
Is their API any good?

Thanks.

[eddie]

I find ENOM quite good, but I had a bad experience if one of the domains expired and you don't renew it they charge a reactivation fee of $20 on top of the cost of the yearly fee.

[greggish]

Joelmoss, could you tell me where you found the reseller pricing info for Enom? Also, for that $6.95 price how many domains do they reqire you to purchase at once? Thanks.

[joelmoss]

A $20 re-activation fee!!?

You have to email sales@enom.com for prices. But you have to purchase $6,950 worth of domains in advance.

[clemzonguy]

You can't find it on the website even after signing up for a free account. The only way I obtained it was to email them. I posted that information about the pricing structure in another thread. In order to get down to 6.95 you gotta buy like 1,000 domains which is like $7,000 upfront which i'd say is a sizeable investment when you may only sell like 200 the first year if you are lucky. I mean I can't even get my site with 2,000+ visitors per day listed in a search engine. I've seen others offer lower prices with lower capital up front but their interfaces sound very difficult to use. I'm still debating who do go with on both domain reselling and hosting and it's very confusing. I'm looking for as low of a price as possible (enough to have a price someone will want to buy at), easy interface, directly with a registar. Dotster looked like it had a friendly interface but just a so so discount. Directi is the right price but bad interface.

[joelmoss]

I wouldn't be happy with a $20 reactivation fee, but thier prices are good. Spending $7000 up front is not a problem for us as we sell nearly 1000 domains a month, but i would have a beef with the $20 thing.

If you are looking for a good reseller system, go with OpenSRS. You can't go wrong with them.

[brandon]

Joelmoss, could you tell me where you found the reseller pricing info for Enom? Also, for that $6.95 price how many domains do they reqire you to purchase at once? Thanks

I am paying 9.95/domain because I have less than 100 domains with them.

[4solutions]

I don't have $7,000 to front to enom, so I was thinking about going with these guys:

http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread...threadid=46950

But, I currently don't have any experience with them.

Just a thought...

[coight]

Enom offered us domains for $5.95 (I don't think that is possible).

[thewitt]

Originally posted by Myacen
Enom offered us domains for $5.95 (I don't think that is possible).

That would be selling at a loss.

It's OK to do that sometimes - if you believe you can make it up in additional services or later charges.

There has been more than one Registrar who has tried this, charged more later for renewals and charged to transfer away.

If someone is losing money on domain registrations, it's to build a large customer base they can get more money out of later.

You can't lose money on each registration and simply make it up in volume...

-t

[TheOp]

Actually, eNom did offer a domain name for 5.99 at the beginning of this year. The domain name was parked and you had to pay 3.95 (i think?) to activate the domain name.

[thewitt]

This cheap domain was supposed to appeal to the speculator, and required a fairly large commiment as I recalled. That fact that it undersold eNom resellers made me shy away from them and stay with OpenSRS.

My wholesales costs are higher, but I know that OpenSRS will never compete with me for my customer. I did not get that same feeling from eNom and I was not interested in building a business only to have them take it away from me.

-t

[clemzonguy]

So what happens when you decide that you don't want to be a partner with your reseller anymore? Do you then loose all of your renewal fees to them? How is one able to keep their business clients and move to another service (if possible) in the future?

Oh and the fact OPENSRS doesn't compete with you is a no-brainer. I always love sitting back and getting 3 bucks for something someone else sells for me. This ads up over time.

[thewitt]

Since Resellers are not Registrars, they have no claim to the clients they have signed up should they leave that Registrar and go resell for someone else - or set up as a Registrar themselves.

If you are providing excellent service however, you may easily be able to convince your current customer base to move with you. You can't force them of course, but you may be able to convince them.

-t