A Few Things About Resellers

A while back I wrote a checklist on shared hosting. People found it very helpful. But, a few people complained that I was not right about the resellers. Some also said that they were using a reseller and was happy with the service. So, today I’ll take the time to tell you folks a few things about resellers.

What is a “reseller”?

There are 2 types of resellers. I’ll list them below.

1. Reseller plan: You can buy reseller accounts from other hosts for about $10/month (cheapest deal on average) and make your own hosting company. I call them phony hosts and you wanna avoid these guys.
2. Dedicated servers: Now this one’s a better choice. These guys have rented a dedicated server and is actually serious about their business.

Who can become a reseller?

Anyone! Yeah anyone can get his or her hands on a cheap reseller plan. But, dedicated servers would be pretty expensive. So, most of the resellers are using those shitty ass reselling plan which are hosted on an oversold piece of shit server. And what if the reseller oversells? Crap! That would be overselling on an already oversold server. Oh you’re screwed!

You know what’s shocking? People are fucking giving away reseller accounts for free. Just polluting the web (a bit more). You can go on forums like FreeWebspace.net and Digital Point, and you’ll see these free plans. They usually get you to post on their forums to keep the reseller account running (post2host!).

That means kids can start their own hosting site (and a lot of them are). Plus these plans are meant to attract teens (and young adults). No technical knowledge necessary!

I know this 15 year-old guy. He’s the dumbest guy of all time. He couldn’t even install WordPress. I am not even joking. WordPress is idiot-proof! And he couldn’t install that. WTF? Why am I telling this? Well because he bought a reseller account and started his own hosting site. I’m not sure what I should say. Just think! Do you think he can provide you with technical support? Hell no! What are the chances of him closing down his hosting site within a few weeks? A lot!

Should you use a reseller?

Try to avoid them. But, if you really had to choose a reselling company then choose the one with their own dedicated server rather than a cheap reselling plan. These guys are actually serious about the business. They probably hired a few technical support reps. A lot better choice, huh?

HostGator is a reseller. They rented their servers from The Planet. So, you see there are few “big fish” resellers. But, most reselling hosts are run by people with no knowledge on servers, programming, web dev, etc and they don’t plan to stay in the business for too long (fly-by-night hosts!).

I’m hoping this article gave you guys a better view of the reselling hosts. I’ll be writing an article on how to tell if your host is a reseller or not, this week. So, stick around and don’t forget to subscribe!