How to set up a domain reseller?

[Sabre]

I was considering starting up a domain reseller and need some information.

1. How do I go about setting up a domain reseller?
2. How much does this cost?
3. What is the cheapest reseller for domain prices out there?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[CrazyTech]

Well, if you want to go ICANN accredited, I believe there is actually a company out there that will consult you through the process. However, it costs thousands (and tens of thousands) to accomplish this process.

So, if you are like me, you can take a look at some of the reseller programs out there such as Enom, Godaddy's (WWD), or DirectI although I believe they go under another name now. There's also a new one I saw in a hosting magazine, I'm headed back home later today so I'll get you that name as well. I have an account through a DirectI reseller, but in my case domains are not a priority.

Rates vary - some cost ~$100 and others cost much more. I think the cheapest choices are the Godaddy one and the Directi one.

 

[Sabre]

Thanks for your informative post! DirectI are now called ResellerClub apparently.

I've seen people around offering "$6.45 DirectI Accounts!" and such like, are those likely to be fake as there seems to be a huge setup fee to get those prices..?

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Not "fake" - just a dime a dozen, unfortunately.
Folks still sell their 6.95 enom accounts and do ok with those, but you need to make sure that they are a direct enom reseller instead of you being under someone else, :imho: .
If you want the easy route, -RJ- can set you up with an $8.95 (I think...) enom reseller that's easy enough, and you can use their API/ETF/RegisterRocket services depending on what you need (Different setup levels).
WWD is good, but now is being advertised on late night TV a lot - kinda sketchy, and the same sort of setup that prompted the downfall of .ws . (Yes, late nights recently = me seeing late night infomercials) Also, them advertising their reseller program so heavily would lean towards their being an upcoming wave of resellers trying to make ends meet on the adwords market.
targetdomains is a great example of a wwd run correctly ( username "nrnf" methinks... nrf? Dam 5 minute memory... ) and I think he does A.O.K. Plus, he usually pays for your upfront cost ($100?) if you sign up under him (Doesn't change your setup, just means he gets a piece of the action that would otherwise go to GD).
If you want to run a reseller business - go the WWD route for simplicity's sake. If you're thinking of offering domains as an addon to some other project - then enom. I still stay clear of all directi domains and resellers, no matter what they call themselves now.
-Allan

 

[VURG]

Well, if you want to go ICANN accredited, I believe there is actually a company out there that will consult you through the process. However, it costs thousands (and tens of thousands) to accomplish this process.

I think that this is DirectI. I think that the main customers for this are DirectI resellers who have reached a large enough size that they want to invest the money to upgrade ICANN accredited. Those who upgrade usually still use the logicboxes services that the DirectI resellers use. An example of one of these companies is Elb.com.

I'm very interested in critical feedback of DirectI as I have been very interested in ResellerClub recently.

 

[CrazyTech]

Here's the advertised service: http://www.nicline.com/

I do believe that the company I was thinking of is attached to DirectI. It's http://www.logicboxes.com/consultancy/.

I'm keeping an eye on this thread as well. I value Allan's opinions on things and I'm thinking over making that switch to Enom since I got one of those accounts from RJ. The only thing there is I am somewhat confused on how to run things.

The big thing for me is cost and the ability to accept Paypal.