NetGuy
Hello everyone, please excuse my ignorance but I'm in the process of developing a buisiness plan for a new web hosting company and thought I could potentially find some answers on this forum.
I've seen that many hosts offer what they call "reseller" programs. Many of which seem to offer eveything a startup might need. Such as billing systems and integrated control pannels. However it appears on closer investigation that these hosts also control much of your pricing and plan configerations.
The alternative approach seems to be simply purchase a dedicated server, control pannel and billing software and go it alone. At least that way you can remain in control of your business model.
Am I missing something here, or is this a realistic top level appraisal of my options? (Excluding simple affiliate and referrals schemes)
Another question that concerns me is over the definition of a reseller itself. I have read a lot of negative feedback on resellers over tier 1 hosting providers and again i'm a little confused. Surely a host that locates a server within another larger hosts data center isnt classified under the same definition as one that is merely reselling a top level hosts plans?
Not sure if I've explained myself very well here, but this is all a little new to me.
Any help welcomed!
ResellerChoice
Just my suggestions:
A lot of start ups will use reseller web hosts to get started since it’s a quicker and cheaper solution then buying a dedicated server. This is also a good idea if you don’t have a system admin or the time to manage the server.
Once you build up your client base then you may want to then consider a move to a dedicated server.
I hope you find this information helpful, Good luck.
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ResellerChoice.com
NetGuy
Quote:
Originally posted by ResellerChoice
Just my suggestions:
A lot of start ups will use reseller web hosts to get started since it’s a quicker and cheaper solution then buying a dedicated server. This is also a good idea if you don’t have a system admin or the time to manage the server.
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That explains a lot thanks. We have some substantial backing so we are already leaning towards going it alone rather than selling someone elses packages.
Quote:
Originally posted by ResellerChoice
Yes,
If you are buying directly from the host then you are on the top level, I think this is the best solution.
You will find resellers that buy from the top level hosts and then resell that space. In this scenario you are 3rd tier and are relaying on the 2nd tier for support.
I would rather buy directly from the host and then buy from a reseller.
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So if i buy a dedicated server from a provider like Rackspace or Affinity, and then resell that space under my own brand. Would you clasify me as a reseller? What if we owned our servers and then colocated them in a top tier datacenter.
ResellerChoice
If you own or lease the server in a datacenter and then sell bulk accounts I would consider you the host and your customers are the resellers.
NetGuy
One final question for you (thanks for all your help by the way). I can see that most hosts offer a dedicated server option to their clients, how is this possible when most hosts are actually resellers. Are they simply pre renting a server in another hosts data center and selling it on to their own clients?