i am considering offering reseller accounts

[LaurenStephens]

anyone want to share some pros and cons?

i will for sure make it clear that our reseller accounts are not for newbies, as we really dont have time for training people

does anyone require signed contracts?

thanks

 

[webfreak08]

For customers...
They get a fully managed, generally low-cost account in which they can start their own hosting business. However, they don't have as much flexibility as they would with a dedicated server. A reseller can remain invisible from their host if they receive their own nameservers.

For the host...
They have to manage their reseller's accounts. There is no need to train people, only provide them with support. These customers are still your customers, and even though they are starting their own hosting company, it is necessary you give them the same suppport that you would give regular clients.

Signed contracts...
I've never heard of signed contracts and I don't think there is a need for them. I would think that the host providing the reseller would give a 30-day money back guarantee and a 99% uptime guarantee. Perhaps a support guarantee as well.

You may also want to read the Resellers sticky in this forum.

 

[ANMMark]

As far as contracts, the only agreement ALL of our clients are bound by is our TOS.

A con of offering reseller accounts is the fact that you cannot control who your reseller let's on the server.

While you may have a process in place for keeping your server clean, your resellers may not have the same practices in place, or even in mind. Thus, they may not screen a spammer before allowing them on the box, etc..

 

[Equinox]

Yes, control over what the reseller account is used for is very legally limited. Very often the account is used for SPAM-ming and it gives your company a very bad name. It can be a liability as much as it can be an asset.
Very good post webfreak08, just btw

 

[webfreak08]

If someone is debating whether they should offer reseller hosting, perhaps they should focus more on the way they handle their shared hosting services. If they provide excellent support and at least a 99% uptime, then they can easily provide reseller hosting. However, if they find that shared hosting is a struggle and find that they can't even handle that, then there is absolutely no way I could see them offering reseller hosting.

 

[jswf]

Webfreak08 - if a host can't provide 99% uptime at least, they shouldn't even be looking at shared hosting. 99% allows for 87.6 hours downtime per year, if you're going above that with your downtime, you need to reconsider your services seriously.

 

[webfreak08]

Webfreak08 - if a host can't provide 99% uptime at least, they shouldn't even be looking at shared hosting. 99% allows for 87.6 hours downtime per year, if you're going above that with your downtime, you need to reconsider your services seriously.

I agree. In my post, I was simply trying to help LaurenStephens decide whether he should offer reseller accounts.

 

[jswf]

I agree. In my post, I was simply trying to help LaurenStephens in his decision whether he should offer reseller accounts.

Ah You must really have a decent SLA for resellers, as they depend on you to keep their clients online - 99+ % uptime, quality support (some need a lot of hand-holding) and a usable, self-explanatory control panel is needed.

 

[Blue]

I you are not prepared to "train" people, (some of us call that customer service) then don't offer it.

 

[pmhoran]

I you are not prepared to "train" people, (some of us call that customer service) then don't offer it.

Most instances I would take that statement as "a given" ... but I have been running across more and more companies offering "reseller hosting" for the experienced web host that offers "no support" (other than the reseller hosting provider keeping the servers up and running properly) ... at discounted prices.

Kind of a "no frills" offering.

Peter

 

[jswf]

Kind of a "no frills" offering.

And at the other extreme end of the scale, you get webhosts offering to support your resold clients anonymously

 

[pmhoran]

And at the other extreme end of the scale, you get webhosts offering to support your resold clients anonymously

So true ... but ... that service is usually reflected in the pricing they charge.

 

[Exon]

I find that I am able to provide top notch support with a staff of 3 (myself included). 2 dedicated, and one that jumps on when it gets busy/when one is on vacation.

 

[vito]

You might want to consider offering "multi-domain hosting" as opposed to reseller hosting. So your customer must own all the domains in the account.

This is sort of "half-way" to reseller hosting. It allows the customer to have multiple domains (you could just cap it at 5, 10, 20 domains, whatever you set for that particular plan). But you are in essence getting *cleaner* business IMHO than if you offered reseller hosting. You'll have less chance of spammers, scammers, or resource abusers.

The point is that if you offer reseller hosting, the reseller could conceivably allow anyone to set up on your server, thereby potentially compromising your server. But if your customer is simply someone who runs multiple web properties, there is a much greater chance that the customer will be more responsible with what goes onto your server.

Oh, and regarding the customer service comment, while I appreciate that you prefer to have more experienced users rather than newbies signing up, you really do need to be prepared for the eventuality of having to provide "basic" support to your users. Otherwise, your support business model is flawed.

Good luck.

Vito

 

[ldcdc]

Otherwise, your support business model is flawed.

Unless he makes it clear what kind/level of support he's offering.

This is sort of "half-way" to reseller hosting. It allows the customer to have multiple domains (you could just cap it at 5, 10, 20 domains, whatever you set for that particular plan). But you are in essence getting *cleaner* business IMHO than if you offered reseller hosting. You'll have less chance of spammers, scammers, or resource abusers.

Excellent advice Vito!

 

[Simon]

I must say, I do hate to see this type of thread.

Reseller hosting is one of the speciality niches of the hosting market. There is honestly nothing more annoying, to me, than seeing someone asking about basically fleecing the market for a few bucks, and getting away with as little work as possible.

Heck, I'll encourage anybody to get in to the reseller sector, but only if they actually seem like they genuinely want to earn their keep, as opposed to just using it as something to scrape a few extra bucks out of each month.

If you can't support resellers, then simply do not offer reseller accounts.

Simon

 

[pmhoran]

As ldcdc says ... unless they make it clear what kind/level of support they are offering.

Saying that all webhosts that offer reseller accounts must offer support (and thereby charge more for the accounts) ... is like saying every grocery store must bag your groceries for you ... you cannot go to a "no frills" store, pay less and pack your own groceries. Or that you have no choice but to buy the extended warranty on the next electronic device you purchase.

There are experienced resellers out there that would gladly pay less for their accounts and have no support ... rather than pay the few extra bucks for an account that has support that they are unlikely ever to use. Or worse still, paying more for an account that includes support only to find getting actual support is almost impossible.

Just as with every other type of hosting account ... there are multiple niches for reseller accounts as well. And there are actually resellers out there that want a reseller account without support. The web host offering that type of account just has to be really on top of keeping their servers and the accounts all up and running at peak performance.

The only thing I take exception to is ... companies that are selling "no support" accounts but do not emphasize that fact in their marketing info.

JMHO
Peter

PS. The sites I have seen that do sell "no support" websites are not usually totally NO support. Most have a forum where tech issues can be raised and addressed.