The problem with GoDaddy Resellers (Wild West)

NameClerk · Jun 22, 2005

I purchased a Godaddy reseller package through Wild West Domains earlier this year (FoxRocket.com). The primary thing that sold me was the ability to reg domains at $7.20

I wasn't interested in earning commissions by becoming a reseller, I just wanted to be able to buy domains as cheap as possible in order to make more money when I sold them to others.

I've run into two problems that have me second guessing that decision:

1. Transferring domains to others is a pain in the %#$. There's no simple push process like they have at Enom. The contact information needs to be filled out and then emails are sent and then the buyer needs to create a free account at FoxRocket.com and then they need to input codes that were provided in the email. YUCK!

Worse yet, even if the buyer has a GoDaddy account they still need to create an account at FoxRocket to accept the domains. That's inconvenient for them. Blah!

2. Because of the reasons listed above, I'm convinced that buyers loose some interest when they see that a domain is reg'd at a WWD reseller account. I think I would be getting higher sales if the domain were at Godaddy, Enom or some other mainstream registrar.

Am I being paranoid or is there a certain amount of discrimination against domains housed at smaller registrars?

Lately, I've been purchasing new domains through an $8.95 Enom account. I'm considering purchasing a $6.95 Enom account (without the big investment)

Is there some disadvantage to the $6.95 Enom accounts that I'm not aware off. I currently don't see any.

Any advise from folks familiar with both these system would be much appreciated. Thank you.

EbookLover · Jun 23, 2005

Well, about the ads for additional services, that certainly is a bummer, I must say. BUt I cannot blame them for pursuing upsells so vigorously. It's a dog-eat-dog biz. GD has been this way ever since i cn rember, though, so obviously it isn;t hurting them too much.

They have made soem good improvements to their checkout tis past year including being able to turn off the ads during checkout. But it is too hard for the average consumer to figure out how to turn off. I have seen too many complaints about this.

Chris · Jun 23, 2005

baobiz said:
1. Transferring domains to others is a pain in the %#$. There's no simple push process like they have at Enom. The contact information needs to be filled out and then emails are sent and then the buyer needs to create a free account at FoxRocket.com and then they need to input codes that were provided in the email. YUCK!

I personally don't see what the big fuss is regarding transferring a name to another person's account. The whole process takes at most a couple of minutes from start to finish and is much more secure than just a push with a username IMO. What's the big deal? :blink:

baobiz said:
True but a lot of people already have GD accounts so they won't have to go through the trouble of creating a new account just to accept a couple of names.

It can't take longer than 30 seconds to a minute to create a new account at a WWD site. If a person wants a name bad enough then it should be no problem for them to create an account and if they don't want to create another one then it boils down to laziness IMO. :gl:

EbookLover · Jun 23, 2005

Also, another thing I do not like about WWD is the fact that you need to mask or redirect your domain. This is not the bigest deal, but hte problem is during checkout. It seems as though the checkout is unsecure, even though it is secure. The only way around it would be to buy your own SSL cert and just redirect the http: to the https:.

Thankfully, the domain they use for the WWD sites is not wildwestdomains.com, but a generic "secure" domain.

Now given this, can anyone tell me why GD makes their whole site secure and not just the checkout and account areas? Funny, becaue it is fast, though. Most secure pages are slower than the non-secur epages elswhere but not go daddy. Strange.

That said, this is OT, but I hear that there is a way to only mask the first URL but then have the rest of the URLs that are clicked on appear in the browser as usual. Anyone know of how to do this?

NameClerk · Jun 23, 2005

I personally don't see what the big fuss is regarding transferring a name to another person's account. The whole process takes at most a couple of minutes from start to finish and is much more secure than just a push with a username IMO. What's the big deal?

It's more secure, I'll give you that. BUT:

With Enom, I ask the customer what their username is. I open up the domain info and push the domain to that account. Done!

There's no need for them to supply all their information. My mojo is low price, high volume sales. Security is important to me but not to the extent that it slows me down to a crawl. Eventually, if all goes well, I'll have to do this process 10-15 times a day. When I reach that level Enom's system will be a lifesaver compared to GD's in terms of productivity.

Chris · Jun 23, 2005

baobiz said:
With Enom, I ask the customer what their username is. I open up the domain info and push the domain to that account. Done!

I agree it's a little faster, but not much and really nothing that bugs me to the extent that I'm going to stop using them.

baobiz said:
There's no need for them to supply all their information.

You don't need to input all of their information to initiate the transfer. Just put in bogus information and their valid email address, then they can change their information and correct it once it's in their account.

EbookLover · Jun 23, 2005

Well, I can see your point. There is an advantage to Enom for your purposes for sure. I would hate being slowed down myself.

But for resellers, WWD is far better, IMO, because it is very easy to startup and not that expensive.

To expand on what I said earlier, though and what nRnF agrees to about targeting the right market but still being tough. The only way I see making money from a WWD reseller site is to actually go out and contact local busiensses. You cannot treat it like easy money or like an affiliate program if you want to make the sales. You have to go out and actively sign up your own customers and add some value like web design and whatnot.

nRnF · Jun 23, 2005

baobiz said:
...My mojo is low price, high volume sales. Security is important to me but not to the extent that it slows me down to a crawl. Eventually, if all goes well, I'll have to do this process 10-15 times a day. When I reach that level Enom's system will be a lifesaver compared to GD's in terms of productivity.

This is right, for this type of need yours maybe the enom, as you mainly use those reseller accounts for your own domains.
Allthough there are ways to buy at wholseale rates without paying for a reseller account
(see my sig.).

But reseller accounts are made to resell domain registrations, webhosting and more to wide public.
And in this point WWD has way better store front. Easy to customize, and 100% automated incl billing & support.
You can concentrate compleetly on promotion.

:notme: Poll is WWD 5:4 Enom ........

NameClerk · Jun 23, 2005

Chris said:
I agree it's a little faster, but not much and really nothing that bugs me to the extent that I'm going to stop using them.

You don't need to input all of their information to initiate the transfer. Just put in bogus information and their valid email address, then they can change their information and correct it once it's in their account.

I'm not bashing or trying to change anyone's mind about GD's service. Some of you are defending them as if I'm trying to. As I pointed out earlier I think the WWD reseller program can't be beat.

All I'm saying is I feel that the Enom interface is much easier to use if you simply want to flip domain names by quickly buying and selling them. Especially if your doing multiple transfers a day.

I actually started the thread to learn more about Enom by having folks compare the two. I'm not as familiar with them as I am with GD and I wanted to make sure there aren't any major disadvantages that I'm not aware of.

Thank you all for your opinions. BTW. GD is leading in the poll!

zquest said:
Well, I can see your point. There is an advantage to Enom for your purposes for sure. I would hate being slowed down myself.

But for resellers, WWD is far better, IMO, because it is very easy to startup and not that expensive.

To expand on what I said earlier, though and what nRnF agrees to about targeting the right market but still being tough. The only way I see making money from a WWD reseller site is to actually go out and contact local busiensses. You cannot treat it like easy money or like an affiliate program if you want to make the sales. You have to go out and actively sign up your own customers and add some value like web design and whatnot.

You're right. I found WWD while doing research on ways to get additional revenue streams for my web design business.

I've barely used it for that because I got hooked on domain names....

nRnF · Jun 29, 2005

5/5

EAVEN ![/B]

But it seems the poll will get a 2nd chance !:lala:

Maybe WWD will play some new cards within the resellers at July 1st.

Stay tuned :music:
:wave:

nRnF · Jul 1, 2005

OK, here are the GD/WWD changes:

From: 01 July on you can chose 2 different WWD reseller options:
- Basic Reseller 99$ (90$ through TargetDomain.com)
- Pro Reseller 199$ (179$ through TargetDomain.com)
They differ basically in the wholesale pricing structure.

Reseller accounts come now with the following free features:
FREE Traffic Blazer (SEO & submission)
FREE Express Email Marketing
FREE SSL Secure Certificate
FREE Google AdWords Credit (only PRO)
and some more....

But BEST OF ALL:
NO REVENUE SHARING ANYMORE ! - :notme:

You can find a comparison of the pricing structure of WWD/eNOM PDQ/Tucows here.

PS:
If anyone of NP members is interested in getting a Basic/Pro reseller account at eaven lower rates just PM me.

PS2:
The BIG QUESTION still is:
When will TDNAM be integrated in WWD reseller accounts ?

harkster · Jul 1, 2005

Boy the new WWD plans sure look tempting. My Enom ETP account may become less used -- I just use it for myself anyway. Been thinking about upgrading it but there is now an option. So I can't cast a vote. Enom support has been great but is it good enough to justify the extra $$$...

But WWD has a rap sheet

P.S.
Just read the whole thred again. I bought a name through a WWD reseller the other day. It appeared there may have been a problem so I called the support number and in less than 5 minutes they confirmed the prurchase was completed ok. If that had been an Enom reseller I would have had to contect the reseller who may have needed to check it out and get back to me. Hhhmmmmm what is that worth to both the reseller and customer?

WWD may be pulling ahead but from a domain seller perspective are sales lost because of pushes/transfers being a bit tougher. Back to a tie.

nRnF · Jul 2, 2005

hark said:
Boy the new WWD plans sure look tempting. My Enom ETP account may become less used -- I just use it for myself anyway. Been thinking about upgrading it but there is now an option. So I can't cast a vote. Enom support has been great but is it good enough to justify the extra $$$...But WWD has a reap sheet

Bottom line is, that eNom is very nice if you use it for your own
portfolio & trading, but when it comes to reselling definetly WWD is better.
So in your case as you use it only for your own, I see no need to change.
Also as said before,
there is a way to get WWD wholesale rates without paying a yearly reseller fee
if you want to use it only for your portfolio (see sig.).

harkster · Jul 2, 2005

nRnF said:
Bottom line is, that eNom is very nice if you use it for your own
portfolio & trading, but when it comes to reselling definetly WWD is better.
So in your case as you use it only for your own, I see no need to change.
Also as said before,
there is a way to get WWD wholesale rates without paying a yearly reseller fee
if you want to use it only for your portfolio (see sig.).

True except I have not set up as an Enom reseller mostly because of the interfaces and could not justify coming up with the 6K+ to get the good price.

I am starting to look at the WWD thing for 2 reasons now. At an average of about 10 domains a month + renewals the prices are looking good without having to foot the large up front $$.

Although the competition is stiff I am tending toward jumping in with both feet.

EbookLover · Jul 2, 2005

nRnF,

Can you tell me what they mean by no more revenue sharing?

EDIT:
Nevermind. I remember now. they used to take a % of your gross profit. WOW!!! That is a good deal!!!

I also like the fact that Pro resellers get better wholesale pricing over the Basic resellers.

Hark, the way I see it, both are equally good plans as a whole but just different in what they offer, therefore, each is about equally good for different situations. Therefore, it is almost not even actually worth comparing the 2, the way I see it at this point. Some people should go with Enom while others with WWD. However, the fact aht you have to tie up a lot of capital up front with Enom makes them very unattractive all around, IMO.

It seems, IMO, that if your goal is to find a good niche and actually enter the domain reg/hosting biz as a marketer, then WWD seems like the way to go hands down. $99 or even $199 per year (or $89 and $179 through nRnF) is really a bargain for such a turnkey system. I mean as far as support, there is no tech support to do on your part. I believe the only thing you are required to do is handle pre-sales and customer service inquiries if I am not mistaken. Maybe nRnF can tell us for sure what the reseller's responsibilties are.

One kina major drawback to WWD non-api is that SEO is a bitch with a turnkey site like that. However, I have seen non-API WWD resellers do an OK job of implementing thier own pages with the WWD turnkey shop. I think on eof them is hostingdude.com (look like they are trying to "duplicate" a sort of GoDaddy image.

nRnF · Jul 2, 2005

zquest said:
..I believe the only thing you are required to do is handle pre-sales and customer service inquiries if I am not mistaken. Maybe nRnF can tell us for sure what the reseller's responsibilties are.

Basically the only thing you have to do at WWD is to market your site, as you are supposed to be as reseller

Of everything else takes care WWD, eaven your mentioned pre-sales question or refunds.
Allthough you can select if you want to provide the support or run your own nameservers.

PS:
Here are most frequent FAQ Regarding WWD accounts

zquest said:
...
One kina major drawback to WWD non-api is that SEO is a bitch with a turnkey site like that. ....

Right the turkey solution has some seo difficulties, but not that much when you integrate like you said. But WWD got also API available (249/yr)

OvenMitt · Jul 2, 2005

Why is the poll closed?

Also, if GoDaddy wanted to get more of us into WWD, they should make it so you can push domains from WWD to GoDaddy and back. I know that could hurt some WWD profits (Like the crackheads selling names on the "cheap" 2 days before they expire, but they happen to be at their reseller... can't move for 60 days, makes them money on the renew...)

EbookLover · Jul 2, 2005

OvenMitt said:
Why is the poll closed?

Because there is a time limit on polls for some reason. The poll will tell you the expiration date when it is active.

OvenMitt said:
Also, if GoDaddy wanted to get more of us into WWD, they should make it so you can push domains from WWD to GoDaddy and back. I know that could hurt some WWD profits (Like the crackheads selling names on the "cheap" 2 days before they expire, but they happen to be at their reseller... can't move for 60 days, makes them money on the renew...)

GD knows what they are doing and they don't allow free transfers from WWD resellers to GD for good reasons. One of them certainly has to do with protecting their brand. They do not want WWD resellers freeloading off their brand name that they worked so hard on building. In fact, I would venture to guess that they do not allow WWD resellers to metion that your services & support are essentially provided by GD. that would be freeloadin gof their brand name to try to get business and I doubt they accept that.

Personally, i would never want my own WWD customers to be able to switch over to GD for free. GD has brand recognition going for them and GD is too tough to compete with for many other reasons and if you make it easy for them to switch to GD, you may lose a lot of busienss.

nRnF said:
FREE Google AdWords Credit

Fine print:

Promotional credit must be applied to a new AdWords account within 15 days of creating the account and is valid only for new Google AdWords™ customers with assisted signup accounts ("Jumpstart Accounts") or self-managed signup. Advertisers will be charged for advertising that exceeds the promotional credit. Advertisers will need to suspend their ads if they do not wish to receive additional charges beyond the free credit amount. Subject to ad approval, valid registration and acceptance of the Google AdWords™ Program standard terms and conditions. The promotional credit is non-transferable and may not be sold or bartered. Offer may be revoked at any time for any reason by Google Inc. One promotional credit per customer. Advertisers with self-managed signup accounts are subject to a $5 activation fee that will be deducted from the promotional credit. Advertisers with assisted signup accounts can apply the promotional credit and receive free ad clicks after their Jumpstart prepayment balance is depleted. Expires December 31st, 2005

So, seeing how Google does not allow multiple AdWords accounts, unless you have never signed up for an AdWords account before, you cannot use the WWD Google Adwords credit.

nRnF · Jul 2, 2005

OvenMitt said:
Also, if GoDaddy wanted to get more of us into WWD, they should make it so you can push domains from WWD to GoDaddy and back. I know that could hurt some WWD profits (Like the crackheads selling names on the "cheap" 2 days before they expire, but they happen to be at their reseller... can't move for 60 days, makes them money on the renew...)

Sorry OvenMitt, but it is exactly the opposite.
Let me explain (basicaly the same what zquest talked about)
If WWD account customes could push into other WWD accounts or to GoDaddy this would hurt essentially the originally WWD reseller.
With the current policy WWD ashures, that a mayority of WWD customes keep spending their money on the same reseller account (Push within same reseller is free).
And in fact who cares where to push when selling/buying a domain (unless it is a reg fee domain) ?

And more important, as stated so may times before, WWD is NOT a trader account, it is a reseller account for wide public !
So this push policy is exactly what WWD resellers need.

PS: zquest,
thx for the fineprint, I will have to talk to them to see if we can turn this arround

duceman · Jul 3, 2005

Instead of using the promo code you can get a wholesale acct at {url}BlueRazor.com{/url} which is owned by GD. The domains are $7.25

I parked 50 of my domains with Fabulous and they gave me a $6.75 wholesaler acct. for free.

EbookLover · Jul 3, 2005

Yes, duceman. It's really not the same thing though. WWD is a white label/private lable, turnkey domain reg/hosting biz opportunity. Paying up to $300.00/yr for a support alone system/staff is peanuts compared to what it would cost you to organize and pay for it yourself.

The problem with GoDaddy Resellers (Wild West)

What the better system for purchasing and selling domains?

GoDaddy reseller account though Wild West

Enom $6.95 reseller account

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