Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : How can they do it for so cheap?

[dbbrock1]

I have asked myself this question about 20 some times now. How do the people that registar domains do it so cheaply? I see some offering to register it for 10 bucks. the 2 ways i can come up with is that:

1. They buy in bulk
2. They put adds on the clients site

If anyone knows please share
Thanks!

[AQHost]

Hi there,

You're closest with (1) - I don't know of any reputable registrar that would dare to put ads on a client's site! Maybe if they offer a parking page while you're not using the domain it will say something cheesey like "Registered by another satisfied customer of blah blah", but once you're using the domain no way.

You can buy reseller packages in bulk from a number of companies, though you usually (not always) have to give a fairly hefty deposit. For example you can buy domains wholesale from eNom at $6.95 a pop, but you have to hand over $6,950 as a deposit first...

I believe the current rate charged to accredited registrars is $5.99 which is why companies like eNom, GoDaddy et al can offer domains to resellers for so little.

There's more information on the accreditation process at: http://www.icann.org/registrars/accr...on-process.htm

Best wishes,
Simon.

[mrzippy]

Typically, a company will pay the large enom fee and then get the excellent pricing.

Then, they'll turn around and create their own reseller packages which they sell for a small profit. This is why there's so many companies offering domains anywhere from $8 - 12.

They get their domains (often from enom) for maybe $7.. and they're content to make only a few bucks per domain profit. It's a numbers game.

If you have 3000 people under you all selling domains, and you make $1 per domain.. that's pretty decent.

PM me if you're interested in learning more.

[HostInspect]

$6.69 from OnlineNic.com ... just in case

[mrzippy]

Originally posted by HostInspect
$6.69 from OnlineNic.com ... just in case

Ya, but only if you prepay $669. You'd have to sell a lot of domains to make it worth the upfront cost. Most people only sell the odd domain here and there...

If you prepay $79.90, then it's $7.99 per domain, which is pretty standard for a decent reseller.

[mrzippy]

And onlinenic.com also charges an extra fee for URL forwarding, cloaking, DNS services, and email forwarding.

All these services are FREE if you resell for enom. (Or sign up under an enom reseller.)

Cheers!