Anybody using wildwest for reselling?

[VoxKeysGtr]

I have been looking at the wildwest program from GD for reselling. I am confused by the "revenue sharing" thing on their prices. What exactly does that mean, and what is it? What's the purpose of having that feature? Thanks for you help!

Any other comments about this program are welcome and appreciated.

 

[ObtainADomain]

Vox,

I really like the Godaddy Reseller (see my example at http://www.ObtainADomain.com ). I've found that reselling through Godaddy (Wild West Domains) to be the most hassle free (took me less than 1 hour to set up) and one of the more professional looking of the resellers. Enom's ready-made interface option, PDQ, looks so cheap, take a look at: http://www.registerpdq.com/ and see if you don't agree (can you say: "scare off your customers?"). This inferior Enom PDQ costs the same as Godaddys, $100/year. I've also found that Godaddy/Wild West customer support responds very fast via email and you really can talk to customer support via the phone if you need to.

http://www.wildwestdomains.com/defaultwwd.asp?prog_id=wildwestdomains

So why you ask, do so many here on the DNForum religiously hold to Enom? I also have an Enom Reseller account and my guess (disregarding the interfaces for a second) is that it's because Enom has found a way for you to quickly and easily "push" domains from your account into your buyer's accounts if, for example, they are buying a domain from you or if they are complete novices and would prefer you set up their account for them.

I have noticed that many of my friends and acquaintances are leery and dubious of the whole domain registration process and are willing to pay more for a domain if I do the work of setting up the account for them and simply say: "ok here's your user name and password, congradulations on your new domain." I have to assume this holds a lot of potential customers back and that Enom's Amway like pyramid of Domain reselling reaches this huge group of cautious customers (I'm convinced that this Amway, "friend sell to friend" approach is going to be a big part of the future of domain reselling).

The disadvantage that Godaddy/Wild West Domains used to have is that they would market their web hosting directly to your customers, even if you had your own hosting services. This problem is completely fixed as Godaddy wisely now offers a "Plan B" that does not market their hosting and completetly hides Godaddy's/Wild West Domains Branding.

Keep in mind, Godaddy's President and founder, Bob Parsons, has always found a way to beat the competition (perhaps his military experience would help to explain this) and I have no doubt that he will soon come up with a way that you can "push" domains from your account into your customer's accounts.

You asked about the pricing Godaddy uses for its resellers and this is from their site:

Domain Name Pricing Example
You set the retail price to $8.75 for a one-year registration. Your cost for the one-year registration would be:

"Your Wholesale Price.......... $6.75
PLUS: Revenue Share.........$0.50 - 25% of $2.00 ($8.75 less $6.75)
Your Cost.........................$7.25

NOTE: excludes transaction and credit card processing fees."

I believe that the credit card processing fee for their example would be: .25 and the transaction fee would be about .23 so the total cost to you for selling the domain is: $7.73

I hope this helped. My conclusion? A Godaddy Reseller is definitely worth the $.
ObtainADomain

 

[VoxKeysGtr]

Thanks ObtainADomain,

Your comments are extremely helpful. I have an enom account, too, but I use GD, as well. Are you using WildWest's hosting products to sell also, or just the domains? If you are using the hosting products, do they seem pretty reliable? How is the support issue handled for your customers that buy the hosting products. Do they get support from GD/WW, or do you have to provide the support?

Thanks for your help!

Vox

 

[Marty]

"Your Wholesale Price.......... $6.75
PLUS: Revenue Share.........$0.50 - 25% of $2.00 ($8.75 less $6.75)
Your Cost.........................$7.25

NOTE: excludes transaction and credit card processing fees."

So, if you include the transaction and credit card processing fees how much are you really paying for a domain?? I am still trying to figure out those hidden fees and nobody seems to know.

Godaddy seems ok for retail customers, but I think if you are a reseller of GoDaddy and GoDaddy is competing with you then it just does not make sense. There is no way you really can compete with GoDaddy. That is the reason why I went with eNom as they do not compete with their own resellers.

 

[ObtainADomain]

Originally posted by Marty
So, if you include the transaction and credit card processing fees how much are you really paying for a domain?? I am still trying to figure out those hidden fees and nobody seems to know. [/B]

Marty here is the answer to your question based on the Wild West site info:

Domain Name Pricing Example
You set the retail price to $8.75 for a one-year registration. Your cost for the one-year registration would be:

Your Wholesale Price.......... $6.75
PLUS: Revenue Share.........$0.50 - 25% of $2.00 ($8.75 less $6.75)
Your Cost before cc and transaction fees.....$7.25

So now we add on the cc and transaction fees:

“Wild West Domains' credit card and transaction fees are as follows:
2.5% credit card fee
$0.25 transaction fee”

Taking the same example as before, with your retail price set at $8.75, then the fees would be:

Credit card = $.22 ($8.75 * .025 = $0.218)
Trans Fee = $.25
Total = $.47”

So Total Cost to sell the domain: ...$7.72
Your Retail Price……………………$8.75
Your Profit…………………………...$1.03


Since Godaddy currently sets their prices at $8.95 and they allow you to set yours as low as $8.75, then you would be able to compete with them (given that you would need to sell a large volume to make a substantial profit). I think you would see more of your porfit coming from the value added features that Wild West allows you to sell through them like email, hosting, web page builder, and Frame Forwarding (although redirect forwarding comes free).

ObtainADomain

 

[petertdavis]

Has anyone set up a site using WWD that doesn't look like it's a WWD site? I know the Enom API is very powerful, but it looks like WWD is more like the Registry Rocket.

 

[DRS]

Expert advice and popular opinion keep shifting. Do we stick with eNom PDQ or go with GD (Wild West Domains)? Is GD bad for you? What's better - a $6.75 wholesale price or $6.95?

With so-called "conventional wisdom" changing almost daily. It's not always easy to know if we're doing the right thing. But some of you are blind-sided and fail to see the train of change in our industry.

You've got the right ICANN Accredited Registrar. (eNom, GD)

You have the right registrar application. (PDQ, GD)

So are you in the right Domain Reseller Program? It can be tough sometimes to know if we're doing the right thing. But the decision to switch from PDQ to another registrar platform is easy. It's time to stay the course toward the future that's right for you. Do the right thing.

 

[VoxKeysGtr]

I've been looking into both of these programs and neither offers an optimum solution. Does anyone know of any other company offering a similiar program to PDQ or Wildwest? I don't think that there is one, but you never know.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[DotComster]

With enom I use DRAM, waiting for their language templates to, a much neater solution than PDQ.

There is one - but it's banned here becuase they SPAMed the forum. Do Do Ra - I still have not had the time to see their system yet but it seems nice.

 

[ObtainADomain]

Originally posted by ObtainADomain
This problem is completely fixed as Godaddy wisely now offers a "Plan B" that does not market their hosting and completely hides Godaddy's/Wild West Domains Branding.

This "Plan B" is Godaddy's version of API for the Reseller that is set to be released mid-March (according to the Wild West Customer Support).

Then, the Godaddy Reseller will be just as customizable as Enom's.

ObtainADomain

 

[.com.net.org]

I still like eNom than GoDaddy.

 

[com]

I like the 'no deposit' feature where its all automatic. They handle everything for you. I think WWD is a great service. I cant wait for the API version. The interface scheme is the only thing keeping me from integrating domain registration into my main website.

 

[com]

Interesting update: Wild West Domains will be offering a 'middle' package which would consist of the current $99 plan, but also feature a customizable interface. Currently you can specify your own name and a few logos/graphics. The new customizable plan will allow you to change all colors (at least) as well as layout dimensions (if all goes well). This is scheduled to come out this summer.