Reseller Hosting Blog

The e-commerce marketplace is constantly in flux, and several important new services have evolved over the past few years. One of the most significant of these is surely reseller hosting: an arrangement which involves a single consultant acting as intermediary between host and end user. But far from being unnecessary “middle men”, resellers occupy an importance place in the hosting industry - so long as they partner wisely, and offer their services to the right people.

Western Reserve Internet Services is one of the great reseller success stories. Founded in 1995 by Charlie Meyers, Western Reserve began as a two-man after-hours business, operating out of a log cabin. Now, however, it has several full-time programmers, consultants, and sales personnel, and is continuing to expand rapidly.

“We allow resellers an opportunity to take advantage of the simplicity, ease-of-use, and cost-effectiveness of our system, and to position themselves as one-source suppliers of high quality solutions for their end-customers,” says Toney, a representative of Resell Host. “Enabling them to set up packages within 10 minutes, eliminating the need to inventory unneeded space on a complete server, [allowing them to] simply purchase packages as needed. We allow our resellers to provide our complete line of services to the end-user - without excessive startup cost.”

In fact, some resellers may have too many options to choose from, but it is important for reseller hosts to maintain a strong focus. Many companies fail because they adopt a shotgun approach to their services, rather than providing exceptional service within a well-defined niche. While it is good for a business to expand its horizons, expanding too quickly can either sink the company or drive it into stagnation.

In the world of IT commerce, reseller hosting is making big waves, and allowing more and more business to cash in on the eCommerce boom. But for all the buzz, many people don’t really know how resellers work.

But it’s really not all that complicated; basically, reselling Web service is just a further extension of the principles behind hosting and other outsourced business collaboration. In the same way that a long-distance company buys from Bell and resells to the consumer, hosting resellers act as intermediaries between Hosts and individual companies, usually offering the consumer increased savings or customization.

For another analogous situation, consider the relationship between ISVs (Independent Software Vendors), ASPs (Application Service Providers) and the individual buyers. ASPs can afford to operate on a large economy of scale, and so they buy large quantities of particular product (i.e. software, from the ISVs and developers) and market it to the end-users. This highly efficient system allows the ASP to put all its resources into sales and distribution, while the ISV doesn’t have to worry about dealing directly with its millions of end users.

So what does all this have to do with you? On the most fundamental level, it lets you deal with someone who is able to meet your needs.

If you have been thinking about using Web Hosting services, it pays to go through a reseller. Since the reseller has the sales infrastructure to distribute Web packages directly, it can afford to do so at a lower price than the original host might have been able to; in other words, you’ll get an industry-standard Web Package at a cut-rate price.

But the most significant advantage of going through a reseller is customization. Because the reseller is dealing with a relatively small client base - often one that is defined by a specialized interest or market stake - it can (and must) be flexible in meeting the needs of its customers. So instead of getting a site that looks like it’s just come off an assembly line, you’ll get one that truly represents your business.