can a webhosting reseller actually make any money?

**leggomygreggo** · 04-06-2009 01:15 PM

I was thinking about going to one of the many web hosting companies and getting one of the resellers package in order to make some extra money on the side. Is there anything i should know about before i do this or any advice on how i could best market this?

Thanks a bunch

**Creadiv** · 04-06-2009 01:43 PM

I have a reseller web hosting account with my host and the only thing I have had to do for myself was to create the packages that I am selling to my web design clients. Outside of that everything else is handled by the hosting company.

I would say that the market for just straight reselling is going to be pretty tough to get into mainly because hosting is so cheap, and in order for you to make any real money from reselling you would have to raise the price a bit which will make you less competitive.

**leggomygreggo** · 04-06-2009 02:16 PM

So what would you suggest the best way to go about this would be in order to make money? Should i add something else besides just straight reselling?

**elliotiscool** · 04-06-2009 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by leggomygreggo

I was thinking about going to one of the many web hosting companies and getting one of the resellers package in order to make some extra money on the side. Is there anything i should know about before i do this or any advice on how i could best market this?

Thanks a bunch

The problem with this is that A LOT of people do this. Web hosting through a reseller package, "been there, done that."

There is competition out there that sells hosting for $1 a month. Lets say you decide to host some certain amount of bandwidth and space for 99 cents. On top of that you would need to get a website designed and coded, and advertising. Cheaper hosting is known to lack customer service. If you plan on giving good customer service on top of that, think about your overhead as far as time and money goes.

In order to get this to work at all, you would need some sort of new innovative idea.

**luckyviva** · 04-07-2009 05:53 AM

Never ever doubt that fact.

**singaboy** · 04-07-2009 07:06 AM

I manage a Tier-1 data center in the NYC metro, and the facility is shared by the likes of IBM, Sony etc. So, I know a thing or two about hosting...and let me chime in

If you go the 'price comparison' route, you will end up with nothing. Most of the website owners (atleast in the US) don't mind paying upto 5 $$ (3-5) for a decent (static site) hosting. This is a spare change. So, thats an optimum price range to start with. HOWEVER, you have to offer something more, something better, some value add that others aren't providing. Have a good clean professional site, good customer service, personable, and offer something extra (fill in here); then tie-up with web-hosting companies in your area and workout a partnership (affiliate), you will definitely get clients. And just surprise them with 'something (again fill in here) special' once in a while.

And, if you are looking for a reseller account, you are most welcome to contact me any time (see my signature below). Being fellow YE'ians, I can straightaway offer a discounted price

**leggomygreggo** · 04-07-2009 12:07 PM

I was thinking about definitely going over and above by provide top notch customer service but i'm looking for anything else that would be great to add on to it. If you were to buy some hosting what would you absolutely want to be included?

**singaboy** · 04-07-2009 10:58 PM

Leggo, you are asking me ? Well, I am a LARGER HOSTING provider - so, I am not buying any hosting but PROVIDING hosting - dedicated, managed, SaaS, PaaS and such.

I gave some 'directions' in my previous post to explore further...I can't spell out 'what exactly to do'. That's something every hosting provider to come up with, by themselves. Thats called 'Unique Selling Proposition'.

**chrispalko** · 04-08-2009 12:54 AM

I'm a freelance web designer and I own of a web hosting company (through reseller hosting). I find that my web design clients and those local to me don't mind paying a bit more than average for web hosting considering the "relationship" I've built with them.

So, I would say find a niche, and market to them. It would be extremely difficult to just offer "web hosting" to the general online public market.

**gracefulhosting** · 04-08-2009 01:35 PM

Here is the issue with reseller hosting these days....there are sooo many people doing it. Everywhere you turn there is someone who is offering hosting from their "cookie cutter" website. Here are the things that I have used to help build my business.

1. FORGET a resellers package if you plan on going with a larger webhost such as HostGator. In my experience service is often unreliable due to the number of people crammed onto a server. When I was with HostGator the MySQL server seemed like it was always down...(and just for reference, this is not considered downtime.....) I suggest going for a dedicated server or at least a VPS. You can normally find a VPS at prices that compare with a resellers package and you have so many more options and way more control.

2. Get a custom webdesign or at least a template that will catch potential clients' eyes. As I said earlier, so many people are out there offering hosting service because they see it as a way to get rich quick. They go on ebay, purchase reseller hosting packaged with a website design and start selling. Set yourself apart from these people by showing your professionalism and uniqueness through your web design and marketing materials.

3. You need a good domain name. Because of the number of these "get rick quick resellers" out there, it’s hard to procure a domain name that is short, memorable, and easy to market. Trust me, take your time and find a domain name that covers all of those qualities. Avoid a hyphen if possible.

4. Find other ways to set yourself apart. Custom software (which is what I have done) is always great. Develop something that your clients can’t get anywhere else.

5. Dedicate yourself. 1 client or 1,000 clients, you’ve got to provide support. Keep that in mind. You want to give your clients a reason to stay. It gets really tiring providing support to 40 people if all you’re making is $3 per client. You need to decide NOW if you can handle providing great support no matter how much you’re making or how many clients you have.

I am sure there are tons of other things I could add but these are some of the ones that stick out in my mind. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. I would be glad to help.

**leggomygreggo** · 04-08-2009 09:37 PM

GracefulHosting: COuld you please elaborate more on the whole VPS/dedicated server? How is this better than a reseller package? Do you think you could give me some links to some useful information or maybe PM me and you could give me a little advice? Thanks

**gracefulhosting** · 04-08-2009 09:53 PM

Send me an email. agrace(at)gracefulhosting.com .

**alextyler** · 05-20-2009 08:56 PM

reseller hosting is easy.. there are many benefits..

you can quickly build your own online business with this..

what happens is that you take your own website space and then resell it to others..

this fits people who wanted to work online and at home