reseller web hosting

[Sarah James]

Hi there lovely people :-)

How are you? I am writing because I am considering buying a reseller web hosting package from one of the many reputable companies who provide this service in Australia. Has anyone had any experience reselling web hosting? 

I thought it was a bit of a no brain decision, because for every new client that I sell web hosting to, I could cover the costs of my own web hosting and make a small profit, however, I was talking to a salesperson at one of these companies, and he suggested that I would become a customer centre touch point for people who are having technical problems with their hosting, and this would take away from my role as a web developer.

He said that I would be better acting as an affiliate for his company and getting a commission every time I sell web hosting through them.

I also suggested that if something happened, and I died or something, it might be a tricky situation to be in, where you have client's websites sitting on a server that is basically my responsibility. I should write a will!! :-)

I figure with the customer service side of things, that I am probably going to be my client's first port of call if something goes wrong in any case. And if I can't figure out the problem, I can always get advice from the provider. Also in my experience with client websites, hosting support requests are relatively few and far between. Would you agree?

I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on web hosting reselling, and if it might be a good idea. I like to be very careful with this sort of thing, and the fact that their servers are in Australia and also the fact that I can host my whole suite of personal websites on their servers is a big draw card. 

Thanks for your thoughts if you have any, and sorry for so many words!! I am not the most succinct of friends, but I do hope you are well :-)

Kind regards,

Sarah

www.fizbitswebdesign.com.au

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[Liam O'Duibhir, Director, SoccerFit]

Hi Sarah, 

Hope all well.

Just my thoughts/opinions...happy to be challenged/corrected on them...

I would probably side with the sales person on this one...we resell hosting and try to 'add value'...by sorting out the technical issues on behalf of the customer - which they really like.

But it does mean we have to have reasonably deep tech knowledge about hosting.

You don't have to offer the 'value add' that we do...but I think your clients may still seek your help - because clients talking direct to the bare metal hosting provider can be fraught - the language barrier can be huge.

Perhaps if you are happy to carry tech knowledge of hosting...go for it....otherwise, the affiliate model may be better.

Liam

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Liam O'Duibhir 

0417 579 079

[Sarah James]

Thanks so much Liam, I really appreciate your thoughts. 

I think you are right. I don't know enough about hosting and the technical knowledge that is required when dealing with the inevitable technical enquiries. Clients do appreciate a go between, but perhaps it would be more professional to solve their problems through a third party. And I don't really want to get into that side of things. I am happiest designing and building websites!

Thanks again :-) I hope everything is great in your world! I can't wait to get back :-)

Kind regards,

Sarah

On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 7:26 PM, Liam O'Duibhir, Director, SoccerFit <lia...@soccerfit.com.au> wrote:

Hi Sarah, 

Hope all well.

Just my thoughts/opinions...happy to be challenged/corrected on them...

I would probably side with the sales person on this one...we resell hosting and try to 'add value'...by sorting out the technical issues on behalf of the customer - which they really like.

But it does mean we have to have reasonably deep tech knowledge about hosting.

You don't have to offer the 'value add' that we do...but I think your clients may still seek your help - because clients talking direct to the bare metal hosting provider can be fraught - the language barrier can be huge.

Perhaps if you are happy to carry tech knowledge of hosting...go for it....otherwise, the affiliate model may be better.

Liam

On 28 September 2016 at 19:11, Sarah James <pipeldoot.en.voiture@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi there lovely people :-)

How are you? I am writing because I am considering buying a reseller web hosting package from one of the many reputable companies who provide this service in Australia. Has anyone had any experience reselling web hosting? 

I thought it was a bit of a no brain decision, because for every new client that I sell web hosting to, I could cover the costs of my own web hosting and make a small profit, however, I was talking to a salesperson at one of these companies, and he suggested that I would become a customer centre touch point for people who are having technical problems with their hosting, and this would take away from my role as a web developer.

He said that I would be better acting as an affiliate for his company and getting a commission every time I sell web hosting through them.

I also suggested that if something happened, and I died or something, it might be a tricky situation to be in, where you have client's websites sitting on a server that is basically my responsibility. I should write a will!! :-)

I figure with the customer service side of things, that I am probably going to be my client's first port of call if something goes wrong in any case. And if I can't figure out the problem, I can always get advice from the provider. Also in my experience with client websites, hosting support requests are relatively few and far between. Would you agree?

I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on web hosting reselling, and if it might be a good idea. I like to be very careful with this sort of thing, and the fact that their servers are in Australia and also the fact that I can host my whole suite of personal websites on their servers is a big draw card. 

Thanks for your thoughts if you have any, and sorry for so many words!! I am not the most succinct of friends, but I do hope you are well :-)

Kind regards,

Sarah

www.fizbitswebdesign.com.au

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Liam O'Duibhir 

0417 579 079

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[Karl Auer]

On Wed, 2016-09-28 at 19:11 +1000, Sarah James wrote:
> How are you? I am writing because I am considering buying a reseller
> web hosting package from one of the many reputable companies who
> provide this service in Australia. Has anyone had any experience
> reselling web hosting?

IMHO web hosting is a bit like hardware: Buy it for people, don't sell
it to them. If you sell it to them, you are responsible for it. If you
can make that work, go for it - but like hardware you have to havethe
technical skills to do it well.

An arrangement where you get commission is a great idea. Just make sure
your customers know you are getting a commission, especially if it is
ongoing, and be aware that you can no longer claim vendor independence
(which may not be an issue). And read the contract vewy, vewy
carefuwy...

Independently of the actual website design and implementation, you can
can then sell your time organising the hosting, and hand over all the
management credentials once it's set up. If there's a problem later,
you can sell your time resolving it with the actual hosting supplier,
if your customer is unable or unwilling to do that themselves. And
there are opportunities for e.g. management packages, where you take
over the care and feeding of the domain and/or hosting account for a
fee.

If you sell the hosting yourself as a reseller, you have to supply
problem resolution effectively for free. That means you need a big
margin, otherwise just one tricky problem can cost you all your profit.
And you need the tech support infrastructure (unless you have very few
customers) - a ticketing system, contact hours, a phone line etc etc.
And you need to have sufficient technical nous in-house to be able to
"talk tech" to the hosting provider.

The affiliate arrangement leaves you a lot freer.

Regards, K.

PS: You have very erudite customers. Not one but TWO testimonials in
Latin!

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[Sarah James]

Thanks so much Karl, you bring up a lot of good points that I hadn't thought of. I think it is important to let people know that I am getting a commission. At the moment I am referring clients to a web host that is Australian and has the most amazing support, but he doesn't have affiliate structures in place. 

It also true that I get ongoing fees from clients for negotiating with their web host, although this happens fairly rarely to be honest, but I take your point about profit structure. Thanks so much!

Lol. . . my website is about half finished. I thought that I should just ship it. There is nothing like people seeing it, to get me motivated to finish it :-)

I hope you are having a great evening!! 

Kind regards,

Sarah

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[Peter Heather]

Hi,

 

Would like to introduce a keen local network and comms gent here, Andrew Hynes.

 

PETER HEATHER

Group IT Operations & Technical Services Manager

Bega Cheese Limited

 

Phone:        +61 2 6491 7610

Mobile:       0419 875 382

Email:          peter....@begacheese.com.au

Web:           www.begacheese.com.au

                    www.bega.net.au

Working together to deliver dairy products to the world.

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[Sarah James]

Good morning Andrew!! I thought I would reply because Peter posted on my thread originally :-) What are your interests in networks and comms? I hope you love being a part of intoIT as much as I do. What a great group of people!!

Cheers,

Sarah :-) 

PS. Have a great day!! :-)

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