Reseller web hosting works with a web host to offer the webhost’s server space, as well as bandwidth and software resources to third parties. They either resell their own space or operate as agents for a webhost. This article explains reseller web hosting.
What Is a Reseller Web Hosting?
When reseller web hosts act as agents, they are like middlemen for any other product. They purchase a product at a wholesale price and resell it, allowing a profit margin. The original webhost and the reseller each provide certain things to the final customer. The original webhost is the source of the server space, which may be either for shared or dedicated hosting. The original webhost also supplies other infrastructure, such as software and bandwidth. The reseller, on the other hand, handles the customer contact, from the purchase and for customer support issues thereafter. The reseller may also take care of elementary technical support. In this scenario, the reseller isn’t responsible for the server, or any kind of maintenance or troubleshooting with the server.
Often, resellers clearly announce their role and capitalize on their role by personalizing their customer service or providing additional value, for example, through website design or development, server set-up, MySQL assistance, or other services. In this case, the customer actually has a particular benefit from obtaining webhosting from the reseller rather than from the original web host.
On the other hand, a reseller of web hosting could resell services that he or she has rented himself or herself or act as an agent without disclosure. In this case, the reseller may rebrand the hosting, so that the end user is aware only of the reseller, not of the original webhost. This business model, in which the customer is not given all the facts, is supported when the original web hosts offers anonymous tech support on the reseller’s behalf. As a reseller, this may seem desirable. As a customer, not so much.
Finding the Best Reseller Web Hosting
Web hosts who offer reseller web hosting are not hard to find. Webhosting sites that announce their availability for reselling are inviting that relationship and are set up to work with resellers. When you are looking for webhosts in order to become a reseller of their hosting, you will want a reputable firm, because you’re essentially going into business together.
Considerations in Choosing the Best Reseller Web Hosting Programs
People who are considering becoming a reseller for web hosting should seek some specific features. Here are some of the important elements for the best reseller web hosting:
- Very high guaranteed uptime. For example, BlueHost offers 99.9% uptime guarantee.
- Money-back guarantee. For example, BlueHost offers a “Anytime Money Back” guarantee on all their hosting plans.
- 24/7 technical support. For example, BlueHost specializes in live technical support through email, phone, and live chat.
- Well-known control panels. For example, BlueHost offers custom cPanel controls.
You also want sufficient bandwidth and disk space allowances; reseller fees that are reasonable; and consistently high-rated customer reviews. Since you are going into business with a webhost when you become a reseller for them, it is a good idea to contact their customer service and technical support departments several times, using each form of contact and trying at different times of day to judge the knowledge level and quality of service to ensure you are choosing the best reseller web hosting service provider.
Some web hosting resellers offer more than one package to accommodate the different needs of their resellers. For instance, BlueHost has three different reseller hosting plans to choose from – Sky Blue, Electric Blue and True Blue. All of the BlueHost reseller plans include an enormous list of features but here are just few of the features we feel are key:
- Private Nameservers
- Free Billing System
- Free Domain Name
- Anytime Money Back Guarantee
- Customized cPanel
- Sit Statistics and Log Files
- eCommerce Tools- SSL Secure Server, osCommerce, Zen and Cube Carts
- cPanel Features- Fantastico, RVSite Builder, phpMyAdmin
- email Tools- Webmail, Auto Responders, Spam Assassin
- Unlimited- Accounts, Domains, Email, MySQL Databases, FTP
- Programming Tools- CGI, PHP5, Perl, RoR, Python
- And much much more…
The main differences in the three BlueHost Reseller plans is the amount of disk space and bandwidth with the Sky Blue having 100GB of Space and 15Mbps of bandwidth, the Electric Blue having 250GB Space and 25Mbps of bandwidth, and the True Blue with 500GB space, 35Mbps bandwidth. If you are planning to become a decent sized web hosting reseller we would suggest the True Blue plan as it appears to be the best deal. By clicking the link below you may also get the Sky Blue package for only $19.95 month.
