Should I Buy Web Hosting From A Reseller or Directly From A Hosting Company?
As the online business becomes more competitive, many customers are hoping to get the most out of their web host. From wanting unlimited storage to unlimited bandwidth to set up the website for free and maintain the account, the story doesn’t end there. Hosting service providers have also unleashed their resellers to break into markets and sell web-hosting to smaller customers. Some companies offer “white label” hosting so that their resellers can rename the services with their name. The end customer only sees the brand and name of the reseller. Who is really behind the server administration is hidden from the end-user and only known by the reseller.
Buying hosting from a reseller can have many benefits, but it can also get you in terrible trouble. Resellers are often locally-based and run similar or parallel businesses in addition to reselling hosting. Many web designers use reseller accounts to bundle domain names and hosting together with their design services. This helps them get recurring business from the client and build a long-term relationship. Many hardware vendors and IT hardware maintenance centres are also reselling to their existing customer base and making extra money fast.
Resellers do not own the server or have a say in managing the service they resell. Usually, they just buy a large bundle of resources and break it down into smaller bundles that they resell to their customers. Example: Resellers can buy a 10GB package and sell multiple 50MB accounts to their customers. Some resellers do not provide their customers with a control panel and only allow them a separate FTP login to upload and download files from the website.
Resellers are often allowed to oversell the resources allocated in their package. That is, if the reseller has a 10 GB hosting account, they can allocate any amount of storage space to their clients, even more than 10 GB, as long as the sum of the actual usage of all their client accounts has been allocated to the 10 GB limit. The problem can occur if one or more of the reseller’s clients are consuming a lot of disk space and the other reseller’s clients are unable to upload additional files or receive additional emails.
However, the support and personalised attention that a reseller can provide can be difficult or impossible for a large hosting company. Due to the proximity and geographic location, the reseller can offer better technical support for minor issues and resolve trivial issues immediately. As mentioned above, resellers may already have trained staff for their other companies who they can also train for your company’s web-hosting area. Debt collection and personal loans can also be offered to clients as part of a public relations strategy. They can also micromanage a myriad of aspects and can also offer tailor-made hosting packages based on your needs.
Like any other business, buying from an unscrupulous reseller can be a headache. Especially when a flyby night reseller closes his business overnight, the customer can only hope that his data is returned to him safely. Similarly, if the customer cuts costs to make ends meet, the customer can suffer greatly in terms of speed of service and technical support. A trusted reseller with a well-established setup is a pleasure to work with and can often become a valuable partner in meeting your business needs. However, the buyer must be careful and complete the necessary verifications before handing over their business to a third party. Viewing reviews online can be a good idea, but online reviews can also be altered. It may be a better idea to ask the reseller for some testimonials for your existing customers.
The reseller’s relationship with the major web host is also critical to its reliability and trustworthiness. Avoid a reseller who does not pay the main parent company on time, and their account is often blocked. A reseller who has a good relationship with the server owners or server administrators can do their job and resolve your issues quickly. You never know when you will need advanced assistance to solve problems related to your website.
In conclusion, buying web-hosting from resellers can be cheaper, but reliability and trustworthiness are keys. Buying a hosting package directly from a web hosting company gives you reliability and stability. Still, it may not be possible to provide personalised support and care for your specific needs.
