Im hoping some fellow members here can help me decide on something. If i am planning to start with a reselling business how should i go about deciding on prices per account i resell? Do you usually make an estimate of how many accounts you will resell and then add a percentage of profit to each or is there some other method?

Hopefully you can enlighten me with your insights!

Thanks

can you answer the below questions?
- do you have an office? how much does it cost to rent?
- how much for your internet connection?
- do you have any other staff? if yes, how about their salary?
- how many sales per month do you think you will get? which payment method will you use? how much does it cost to process per transaction?

etc.

It's not only in hosting reseller business, but also in any business. You will need to calculate your fee, then % for profit, then you can have the price

It could be profitable, but you might not make as much as you could with your own boxes

Thats true gate2vn, i havent even looked at how much i would end up spending. I definately need to look into expenses before i just jump in.

Kylebionhosting, right, i know its not as much as i can make with my own servers, but its also much cheaper to start off.

I don't think you need big infrastructure and large investment for starting up hosting business with reseller account. To determine best price you should study the prevailing marketing condition of your target market and competitors.

If you go in knowing how much you're spending (for the reseller account, billing solution, advertising, everything), you'll have an idea of how much you'll need to make to be profitable.

When I started off, I had minimal costs, so I just figured out how much the accounts were costing me, calculated in a percentage for time to set up, and so forth. Otherwise, you're just kind of flying blind. You might end up pricing your plans so that you make sales, but aren't really profitable. Your business plan will end up being "as long as I'm bringing in money, I'm doing okay"...which is not a very good business plan.

Most people start off with a reselling account as they let their reptutation and standing build up in the hosting industry and when they start turning a profit they will usually upgrade to servers.

To determine your prices try to think of a fair number that'll help you turn profits but won't be ripping off the clients

Do you have any prior experience in the hosting business? From what I have seen in market trend prices for the hosting business, its not exactly easy. Combined with resellers and everyone else, this is a cut-throat business with rock bottom prices. It would be extremely wise to perform as much research as possible.

I have seen that many of our clients like multiple options in which country they would like to be hosted in. What keeps our prices down is that we own all of our boxes.

100% agreed. If you doesn't have any previous hosting experience, things wouldn't be easy for you. I would suggest you to work for some webhosting companies for some time either as a sales/support representative that will give you some good idea about the market and its operational methods.

UtropicMedia.net is the company that can be helpful in this.
They focus on providing a robust global platform.And their clients' interests are the priority of this company.

Hello! I thin k that when you are on your start -lots of things are worth to be tried

Reselling web hosting is very tricky and your competitive market is very big.

The only advice I would give you is go with a company who can help you out with the reselling in giving tips, business advice and hosting advice. This way you can maximise your profit and success.

Hope this helps you.

Kind Regards

Most of the point mentioned by gate2vn are relevant, but a reseller quite can be a one-man band if a host selling reseller services offer support as well.
I think it's essential to try and evaluate host's services before you plunge into business with him thoroughly, that's why it may be worth trying those hosting providers' services who offer some trial period, in the case of HostWW.net it's the first month that you can get for free http://www.hostww.net/inner.php

Trial period is always a big plus for the company as the clients may test them and decide what to do later.

It doesn't need large investment for starting up. Just a Reseller account can help you to start it...