From API reseller to registrar

[cbk]

Is there a forum dedicated to resellers and API?

I am aware of the requirements and fees associated with becoming a registrar but my question is this.

A company for example ABCComputers.com is a web design company and has an api domain reseller account with Wild West Domains. After a few years of success the company would like to become a registrar, How would ABCComputers keep their existing customers in their same accounts while initiating a transfer of their domains from Wild West to ABCComputer registrar?
Thanks

 

[Tia Wood]

I don't think this is possible. Are you talking about transferring customer profiles over from Wild West in addition to their domains?

 

[cbk]

No with api the customer creates an account at your site and you are in charge of the interface, profile and billing all of it, Wild West is just the registrar .

 

[Tia Wood]

Ah, okay. That makes sense. I never worked with their API but if you actually store their data then it could be possible. This might be a question you should take straight to ICANN.

 

[katherine]

It is possible to hide the underlying registrar. For example, when you purchase drops from Snapnames they are often managed through Moniker but the actual registrar that caught the name could an oddball dropcatcher among myriads of others. You usually don't even know the name. Domains are consolidated and managed 'remotely' through Moniker's interface, which makes the process more (or less) transparent from the POV of the customer.

In your case the existing registrations at WWD would have to be transferred to the new registrar by the registrant, so you need to explain in detail what's going on, and of course you need cooperation from your customers. Needless to say, the switch can not be done overnight.

In practice, it will be easier to use the registrar credentials for new registrations, and you'll have to keep the reseller account for a very long time so as to accommodate existing accounts - unless you force your customers to transfer or give them the boot.

For example I think Namecheap has been a registrar for a few years now, but still maintain their Enom reseller account because of the many historical registrations on the Enom platform.

In summary the thing you cannot do on your own is to 'port' domain names from one registrar to another. Such 'bulk transfers' are normally initiated by icann only when a registrar fails.

 

[cbk]

Thank you Katherine and namehoney great info. Since the existing customers already have to log in with ABCComputer to have access to their domain manager and account, they could be enticed to transfer just the domain registration part of their account to another registrar which would be ABCComputer, basically they would not be going anywhere and staying where they are at just the registrar name will change, is that correct?