Resellers

[Rewdog]

Just thought I'd talk a bit about them.
For those who don't know, resellers are companies that resell hosting for a larger company.
Being a reseller does not make a company bad.

Let's look at a couple reasons resellers are good.

• Resellers are smaller companies. This means less customers. The company can spend more time and attention per customer, because the customers are more valueable.
• Resellers don't have to worry about the server they are on. They don't have to administer it, install upgrades, stop attacks ect. That is the job of the parent company. The reseller can spend more time working with customer satisfaction and promoting their service.
• Resellers have less hassle than a full hosting company. Although support should be 24/7, they don't have to constantly monitor traffic, bandwidth and the server.
• Resellers can also offer you the same quality of servers and connectivity as the parent company, at many times a lower price.

Things that can make resellers bad

• Resellers are the lowest on the chain. The resellers many times have to go through their parent company, the parent company has to go through their dedicated provider (Unless they are co-located themselves) and then to the datacenter. If the client needs something upgraded on the server, or something installed, it could take a long time if it even happens.
• Becoming a reseller is too easy. Any 12 year old can start a web hosting company up by becoming a reseller. Because pretty much anyone can become a reseller, means the expertise in the area may be next to none. They may not know what the heck they are doing or how to help the customers. They bloat the hosting industry and give resellers a bad name.

Before ever commiting to a web hosting company, TALK TO THEM! CALL THEM! The client should test them, it is the clients money, make sure you don't get scammed.

What to look for and what to know.

• Ask the host straight up if he is a reseller.Honesty is key in the web hosting industry. If they can't be honest up front, how do you know that they won't lie about why there was downtime, or what was the problem? Many resellers believe that being a reseller is a "BAD" thing. Many people believe the same, because of point #2 I made above. If the reseller says, "Yes, we are a reseller" compliment them for their honesty and proceed. If they say "No, we own our datacenter" or something like that, be suspicious.
• If the company denies being a reseller, there are many things you can do to see if they are telling the truth. www.domainwhitepages.com will give you some information, chances are if the nameservers for the host's domain name are pointing to another hosting company, they are probably a reseller. You could also just type in the hosting names on google and come up with some info. There are many other things to do as well, but I won't go into that.
• Test their knowledge. Have a techie friend (If you don't have one, get one) write down a batch of questions that any good host should know, and test the company. IE- What is their connectivity, where is the datacenter located. Make sure they are knowledgable. Just like mechanics, the company is the expert and should know more than the client about the product or service they are selling.
• Find out who their parent company or companies are and research them. The resellers can only be as good as them. I've seen resellers who resell for resellers of resellers.

In closing, don't make decisions or stereotypes about resellers without proper research. Many great hosting companies start out as resellers and move up.

I probably left a ton out, feel free to add your opinions and comments.

 

[Vibe]

Hey Rewdog

You summed that whole thing up pretty good. Most resellers really want to make the money and they are amazing support

Just something I have noticed

 

[BarbaraC]

Hi Rewdog,

Nice post. I feel sorry for the masses of hosting clients who don't know better. Most just seem to care about price, support, hard drive space and bandwidth allowance without taking a lot of what you said in consideration.

I'd also add that they should avoid resellers who only take annual payments. Many clients have gotten stranded by 'take-the-money-and-run' thieves.

Actually, the resellers who virtually host from dedicateds, do have a lot of responsibility in keeping their servers as secure as possible by keeping on top of security patches, monitering, backups, etc.

 

[musso]

I am a reseller and I am finding it really difficult. I can provide basic support with scripts and installing things and basic stuff but more complex issues my parent company is basicly useless. I am left with a down server (Other resellers reset Apache in WHM and don't let it restart before changing pages) and crashing MySQL and no help from the parent company :'(

 

[Artashes]

This is a great post, Rewdog.

<< MOD NOTE>> We're making it a sticky.

Best,

 

[wsdg]

My recomendation

Becarful with FDCSERVERS.NET
If wish more info email me to pilo@asia.com

I have a bad expenrience with they now, I am trying that they return my money because they charge my credit card and never setup my account

 

[Artashes]

My recomendation

Becarful with FDCSERVERS.NET
If wish more info email me to pilo@asia.com

I have a bad expenrience with they now, I am trying that they return my money because they charge my credit card and never setup my account

Have you used their Reseller hosting?

 

[UnitHosting]

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[BestReseller]

Rewdog, great post! Very informative, and very helpful to those looking into hosting.

 

[pcsteve]

Excellent post. I wish there were more resources to inform customers about selecting the right web host.

As in any industry, you will always have a few bad apples and so it's important for customers to empower themselves through information.

Research the web hosting company, see if any websites are linking to them, (some customers will link to their host if they've received great service), etc. because you don't want to be left out in the cold. :shaky:

Again, great post

 

[justahost]

Great post - and as for the yearly payment thing, we do (at the mo - its changing!) do yearly payments, with a promise that if people leave without being thrown off due to TOS / AUP etc we will refund their remaining subscription. Only happened once thankfully.

And yes, if asked we do say we are resellers...people do seem happy if you are straight up, just like you said!
Ryan

 

[EvilHaider]

justahost: yes, people do like it if you are honest with them, and I'm glad you let them know that you are a reseller.

I've got a reseller account myself and currently only use it to host sites for my web design clients. They know I don't own a datacenter or a dedicated server or anything of the sort. They are still willing to host with me because they trust me and believe I will be there to provide support when they need it.

I'd recommend all resellers to be honest with their clients about this. Tell them the benefits of hosting with a reseller and your honesty will go a long way.

 

[rambo6376]

I commend you on the great post Rewdog. I would have to agree that when asked if you're a reseller, you should say that you are. Nothing will lose you clients faster than dishonesty!

 

[Keston E.]

"Nothing will lose you clients faster than dishonesty!" Thats basically the case through out the internet you have resellers saying they own servers and they don't and the buttom line of it all is $$$.

 

[Exquisite]

"Nothing will lose you clients faster than dishonesty!" Thats basically the case through out the internet you have resellers saying they own servers and they don't and the buttom line of it all is $$$.

Its always best to own your own server in my opinion, lots of things can go wrong unless you have a great hosting company backing your Reseller account. I would have to agree with Keston that I've also seen Reseller claiming to have their own servers, and having problems with the hosting company.

 

[rrandjic]

Just thought I'd talk a bit about them.
For those who don't know, resellers are companies that resell hosting for a larger company.
Being a reseller does not make a company bad.

Agree, and there is no shame in being reseller. They own the shop not the building. There is no need to hide the truth.

 

[rrandjic]

I am surprised that no one mentioning the complex chain of supply and interconnected dependency in web hosting business.

 

[sina]

I agree and also I must add : Resellers companies can establish outside us : no tax & very low personal charge = high quality at lowest price .

 

[James Lee]

I agree.
I am a reseller.
I find that resellers have a lot more to offer to the clients in terms of support, if they know what they are doing..

 

[Sergio965]

I agree.
I am a reseller.
I find that resellers have a lot more to offer to the clients in terms of support, if they know what they are doing..

Agreed.

You can't have a host that will have no clue as to was PHP, mySQL, Perl, Java, etc. is. They atleast need to have a basic understandment of what a server is/does/can do.

I also suggest you ask them untill what extent their knowledge goes.

Thanks.