What exactly do re sellers do?

[sunday silence]

I see advertisements on various sites for people to get into the reselling game. From what one person said it sounds like the registrar gives you domain names to try to sell? is that right? Or do you sort of order a name on behalf of a client? that would seem to make more sense.

Is there any sort of consulting involved? Does one suggest names to the client? Or suggest marketing strategies to the client? is there any sort of regulation in this field?

or is this all just a big pyramid scheme and to beware?

 

[Erdy]

A reseller is somebody that sells domain registration on behalf of a registrar like Godaddy or Enom.

Being a domainer doesn't have anything to do with this. Why would you want to be a reseller? It is meaningless. If godaddy is selling a domain registration for $7.99, why would you want to open a Godaddy reseller website and try to sell the same domain registration for $9.50? There is no need for anybody to become a reseller out of the blue.

So why do resellers exist? Simple. There are a lot of hosting companies and they sell domains as well as a related product.

Being a reseller is not related to being a domainer. so don't worry about it.

 

[snicksnack]

Godaddy is also a reseller for certain ccTLDs, it doesn't always make sense for a registrar to become accredited in every country, as the procedure and the money involved might not justify it, thus they become resellers.

 

[nielsencl]

A "reseller" is someone who acts as a middleman and offers for sale something that they do not really own, or they buy something cheap to sell at a profit. When you hear the term relating to domain names it generally means what you already heard about someone selling domains for another company, although it may look like they are really the "seller".

I am a reseller for Directi through their ResellerClub.com web site. The reasons a domainer might want to become a reseller is to make money from telling others about domains. There are some affiliate programs out there, but they are not as popular as being a reseller.

The other reason to become a reseller is to get a lower price on the domains and services you buy. I looked at several reseller programs but didn't like most of them because they involved paying some kind of fee and their prices were not that good. At the time I thought ResellerClub was the best. But now I mostly use Dynadot. If you spend a certain amount of money you get price breaks without any reseller program. I just qualified for their best pricing and I think it is even better than ResellerClub. But if you want a discount and also make extra money from selling domains, you may want to get a reseller account.

So how do you make money? Well, aside from just getting customers as you would with any affiliate program, you can also sell domains that you own and then push them to the new owner at your reseller site. If they keep the domain there, you get some money every year when they renew. If your reseller plan also offers hosting plans, you can make money from that as well. You won't get much per sale, but if you get enough customers it can add up to make it worthwhile.

 

[Asaf]

I would say - if you're not selling websites or hosting or even plan to have a big client database for some of these related online services, then, don't waist your time money and effort on these reseller resources!

from my own personal experience, if you intend on being a domainer then generally you don't need to worry about that at all

 

[Erdy]

... aside from just getting customers as you would with any affiliate program, you can also sell domains that you own and then push them to the new owner at your reseller site.

The OP is already confused by this topic. Maybe 1 in 1000 domainers might do what you have explained here.

It is not like the OP is going to sell hundreds of domain registrations to other people.

He will just end up paying $500 or $5000 for something he doesn't understand and then he will try to cancel the payment after he understands that he bought something totally useless.

Why would you pay hundreds of dollars just to be able to sell something more expensive than people can already buy from the main shop for cheaper?

I think your message unnecessarily confuses new domainers. The term reseller is already confusing and misleading by itself.

When I first started domaining I paid $500 to enom and bought a reseller account thinking that this is something I needed to do to be pro domainer. I assumed this was created so that I would register those domains and resell them easier on their website. Then I found out reseller means just somebody selling blank domains. Luckily they refunded my money.

For domainers the reseller thing is totally unrelated and unnecessary. As you said you can get cheap prices at Dynadot for yourself.

 

[sunday silence]

okay I think I get. Being a domainer obviously appeals to me, but also what about working simply as a "domain name consultant?" Again maybe that is not the correct term...

So my question would be; is being a reseller an effective way to get clients for a business based on consulting about domain names and advising on effective websites?

Does the parent corp ever actually send you clients? or you just have to create leads on your own?

EDIT: okay reading the thread again, it sounds like this is only viable if you are doing something like hosting and have lots of domain names to deal with. what about being a web administrator; again comes down to volume?

Thanks..

 

[nielsencl]

Erdinc: I have tried to explain things to the OP and other newbies that may read this thread. I am sorry that you bought into one of those reseller plans that requires a large initial investment when you didn't understand what it was.

Domain reselling accounts are for those that either want to try and save money by getting lower prices or who want to have a business where they can selling hosting, domain registrations, transfers, and renewals and make some money doing it. No, it is not needed to buy and sell domains. But since so many people don't make any money with domains when they start, it may help someone get started with domaining as they learn about the business. If you can sell 7 domains and make $1 on each one, then you should have enough to buy a domain that you want.

Dynadot is great, but it's not a reseller account. If someone wants to make money selling domains, hosting, and other services reseller accounts can be a nice way to do that rather than becoming a real registrar. And in some cases you may pay less than you would at other places for the domains YOU want to buy. True you cannot mark up the prices too much and expect to sell much, but some sites like DirectNIC charge $15 and manage to stay in business...!

As far as if my information confuses anyone, I think they can speak for themselves about that. I am willing to keep answering questions until they understand all of their options. If I can help someone keep from making the mistake you did, or signing up for a plan that costs $50-$100 a month I think it's worth the time I spend...

The clear lesson here is if you are going to buy domains or become a reseller, make sure you KNOW what you are getting into before unless you want to take risks and waste money.

 

[sunday silence]

I did not "buy into" a reseller plan, if that is what you are thinking. I dont know how you came to that conclusion...

Okay, does the parent company actually send you clients or you have to generate that on your own?

 

[chandan]

Okay, does the parent company actually send you clients or you have to generate that on your own?

u have to generate clients.

normally the registrar give you a built in readymade site/interface so u need not worry abt maintain the registration process / billing etc.

 

[sunday silence]

okay, I feel up to speed on this concept. Very helpful, thanks all.