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Rating:
Level of Review:
Researched extensively, not tried.
Overview:
This business requires technical expertise! You pay
a startup fee and a per sale fee to resell web
space, or other web space related
services.
Product: The
product is web space or domain name registration.
You may also be able to sell web design, virtual
domains, shopping carts, email accounts, CGI
scripts, web design services, or other products
related to how the space is used. Reselling the
program is also a frequent option.
Costs:
Usually $50 to $100 and up. Ongoing costs for each
sale (or you are paid a commission on the sale),
plus additional costs for other
services.
Compensation:
Compensation is flexible, you get paid by reselling
the product, and you can set your own price.
Competition is fierce though, so there is a fairly
low ceiling on the amount you can charge per month
for access, or per year for domains.
Conclusion:
There are a few people who can do this
successfully. Usually they are web designers who
already have a successful client base, who do this
in conjunction with web building services. For
other people, it is problematic, in several ways.
Web designers who choose to check this out also
should be very careful of the potential
problems.
1. High price. You
can purchase a web space package that will meet
most basic needs for $5 a month, from a reputable
company that has been in business a long time. For
$10 per month, you can purchase a superior package
from a similarly reputable and reliable provider.
Many of these programs recommend sale prices of $20
to $50 for the average package, per month. You have
to pay about half that to them for the bundle. Some
allow you to put multiple domains in the space,
suggesting if you break down the space you can make
more. But the $5 package listed above includes
enough space for a large personal or average small
business site, and a lot of freebies and extra
convenience services. Competing here could be a
major issue.
2. Reliability.
There are a LOT of fly by night companies out there
in the web hosting business. There are also a lot
of reliable ones that are not marketing through
resellers. Most very reliable ones are not
marketing in this manner, but are selling direct.
You will be judged here as a business success based
on the parent company's reputation and reliability,
so choose carefully!
3. Ongoing costs.
Some charge flat rates for a certain amount and let
you break up the space as you like. Others will
charge you per customer. Look carefully at what you
get, and make sure it is really a good deal, both
for you, and for your customers.
4. Shoddy
accompanying services. If the package includes the
ability to build a website through a web interface,
forget it. The templates used for such services are
extremely limited, and you cannot build an
effective website with one. Web design services may
be poor, perhaps with lots of glitz, but poor
performance, or even bad layout or overall design.
Know what the services are that you will sell, and
how they compare on a basis of quality.
5. This field is
filled with scam artists. Yes, there are legitimate
companies that provide this services, but there are
also a LOT of scams. Avoid email advertised
programs of this sort, unless you requested the
information specifically. Look for a service that
is recommended by someone you trust.
We did not try web
hosting, because we felt that the competition was
too high in the field for the prices we were being
asked to charge. We learned enough about the
potential offerings to feel that it might work for
some people, but only those with an established
customer base to market into, and those who have
sufficient technical expertise to market it well,
and to know a good product.
We did find a good
sounding program at Hostgator,
which is a long standing company that rates well
for value and services offered. They aim at
providing a product that can be resold by people
who have the ability to market it themselves. They
are not in the business of hand holding to teach
you how to sell it, they mostly aim at
professionals. At this point, we are keeping our
options open for reselling this to our own web
clients (because we do provide web design
services).
Domain Name
marketing might be a little more feasible due to
lower purchase costs and a wider range of prices
for the service. But competition is still a major
issue, and if you purchase a package that includes
a website, you will need to find a way to
differentiate your service from all the identical
ones. And you must know what you are
doing.
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