wildwest reseller - what's your opinion?

[jlc]

Hi,

I'm a wildwest reseller, who we know is the brother to godaddy. It could just be me, but........ Considering their are over 10,000 wwd resellers.....Where are we as resellers going? When you do a search engine search for "domain" whose sites are the first you see? Anyone here have the dollars to pay for top search engine billing?

Anyone care to share their success stories and how they got there?

JC

 

[Sharpy]

I bought my wwd reseller to get cheap prices on domains for myself and $12.55 domain alert snaps(not that they are much good)

I can't imagine any new(within the last year) reseller making a go of it by selling domains for profit. just too much competition. Especially when WWD hand out deals to certain entities that can retail .coms for less that their resellers pay for them. There are some wwd resellers on this board that have done well, but they've been in it for a couple of years or more.

 

[Ricado]

I join the wws reseller program for several years. I don't mind how many commision I will get. In fact, I get US$ 35 last year. The reason to join the program for me is to manage my 300+ domains and get cheaper prices.

 

[David G]

With 11,000 WW Resellers plus all the other competition from other registrars like Enom and Tucows and all their resellers too your chance of even getting 1 new domain reg occasionally is not good. I say that even for websites which get some traffic.

Its main value will likely end-up being to control and manage your own portfolio and not being at the mercy of a 3rd party. Pricing is no longer such a big factor what with your wholesale price now being higher than retail pricing thru DNF.

P.S. Your best bet for low cost registrations on larger numbers of domains and other cool benefits (and not being a WW reseller) may be going with www.bluerazor.com which is a newer division of GoDaddy. GoDaddy marketed bluerazor to me and it looks real good.

 

[halfacat]

Hi,

I'm a wildwest reseller, who we know is the brother to godaddy. It could just be me, but........ Considering their are over 10,000 wwd resellers.....Where are we as resellers going? When you do a search engine search for "domain" whose sites are the first you see? Anyone here have the dollars to pay for top search engine billing?

Anyone care to share their success stories and how they got there?

JC

Hi JC, I have been with WWD for just over a year now and things are going very well.

I do a little bit of the PPC stuff but keep it very low key and low price. Bidding on the term 'domain name' is unreal unless you have an advertising budget similar in size to your home. I search out three and four term phrases that get low traffic but are cheap. My bit of advice here is to go slow, study heavily, and be ready to spend some cash learning. There is a book you can get from the RCC on how to run a successful AdWords campaign by Page Zero. I recommend getting that, it helped me out a lot not just with this but with other businesses that I run online too.

My successful angle has been to advertise my WWD site on all of the other sites that i have created. I have about 20 weblogs all on various topics and all with various amounts of energy placed into them by myself. They produce a descent amount of traffic of which some goes on to purchase domains and email and everything else I am offering. All of these blogs are on Blogger.com so that costs me nothing, plus with Adsense I am making extra coin.

I get people to link to me by offering them a wholesale account so that they can get discounts. I dont get any commissions from them, but the traffic they send me makes up for it nicely.

I also build websites for people and have them register their domains at my site and host them there as well. I take the time and show them how to use the Management tool, email, and all that (all for a low hourly fee of course =). The nice thing is that I also train them to call the 24/7 support line and let WWD deal with the forgotten password stuff.

Dont let me make it sound all rosy though. Things took a few months to get going. The key is that if you dont have a strong advertising budget to buy ads with then you need to create your own content.

Here are some things to throw around in your head:
-292 million Internet users in the world
-35 to 40 million registered domains
-Most domain owners have more than one domain
-how many people do you know (outside of DNForum and San Francisco) who even know what a domain is? Let alone where to get one, how to set it up, and what to do with it
-There is a lot of growth potential in this industry.
-Competition is healthy.
-Yahoo is a reseller for a registrar
-NetSol still sells domains for $35, that means people are still buying em for $35! This is mearly because they dont know any better.
-If you dont sign them up, I will. :cheeky:

All in all I am making over $800 a month from a business that I put a lot of time into on the front end, and now I spend about three hours a week promoting it.

 

[bidawinner]

I dont see the point in it..in the end it will just cause problems as people close up their wwd reseller accounts and screwupthe namesthat others have bought from them...
I am ASSUMING that if a WWS folds that names will just revert to GDaddy? But that is only an asumption.. And will gdaddy force an automatic renewel on each name yuou have at a wwd foldig wwd reseller ? That could be expensive..

and what about .WS names. they cannot be transfered from register to register... will they default to .ws !

I am no longer buying names from WWD resellers until Godaddy explains how this will work to everyones satisfaction.

It's just to much of a pain in the arse to buy from a hundred people at hundred differnt reseller accounts and the risks are unknown

 

[halfacat]

I dont see the point in it..in the end it will just cause problems as people close up their wwd reseller accounts and screwupthe namesthat others have bought from them...
I am ASSUMING that if a WWS folds that names will just revert to GDaddy? But that is only an asumption.. And will gdaddy force an automatic renewel on each name yuou have at a wwd foldig wwd reseller ? That could be expensive..

If a reseller cancels their account then all customer accounts get moved to a reseller site run by WWD called www.domainspricedright.com. ask WWD and they will give you the low down.

If a registrar folds all domain accounts revert to the registry. this is how it is for all registrars, check the ICANN website for details.

WWD and GD give all customers the option of having auto or manual renewal. it is the customers responsibility to manage this.

and what about .WS names. they cannot be transfered from register to register... will they default to .ws !

correct sir.

I am no longer buying names from WWD resellers until Godaddy explains how this will work to everyones satisfaction.

It's just to much of a pain in the arse to buy from a hundred people at hundred differnt reseller accounts and the risks are unknown

i would suggest that you contact WWD of GD if you want them to clear it up for you. :worried:

just to let you know the GD group is the second fastest growing company in AZ, the 92nd fastest growing privately or publicly held company in North America, and just got an award for most innovative company in AZ. WWD just moved up to the 11th largest domain registrar in the world and continues to climb. to worry about them going out of business or having cash problems is laughable.

 

[David G]

I dont see the point in it..in the end it will just cause problems as people close up their wwd reseller accounts and screwupthe namesthat others have bought from them...I am ASSUMING that if a WWS folds that names will just revert to GDaddy? But that is only an asumption.. And will gdaddy force an automatic renewel on each name yuou have at a wwd foldig wwd reseller ? That could be expensive..

and what about .WS names. they cannot be transfered from register to register... will they default to .ws ! I am no longer buying names from WWD resellers until Godaddy explains how this will work to everyones satisfaction.
It's just to much of a pain in the arse to buy from a hundred people at hundred differnt reseller accounts and the risks are unknown

Not only that but ALL extensions can NOT be pushed between Wild West reseller accounts. Only formal transfers may be done (after 60 days), no pushes allowed.

Do you mean you see no point in bluerazor.com? Is that why you think WW reseller accounts will be closing?

....just to let you know the GD group is the second fastest growing company in AZ, the 92nd fastest growing privately or publicly held company in North America, and just got an award for most innovative company in AZ. WWD just moved up to the 11th largest domain registrar in the world and continues to climb. to worry about them going out of business or having cash problems is laughable.

....I can verify that! Not sure if the CEO's new house on the golf course is worth 3 million $ or was it 9 million $ (and that desert mountain view/golf course lot was 3 million $)?

 

[Sharpy]

to worry about them going out of business or having cash problems is laughable.

Chrysler :cheeky:
Xerox :cheeky:
MC Hammer :cheeky:
Aladdin Gaming, LLC :cheeky:
AMF Bowling Worldwide, Inc. :cheeky:
Baldwin Piano & Organ Company :cheeky:
Chiquita Brands International, Inc :cheeky:
Continental Airlines, Inc :cheeky:
Converse, Inc :cheeky:
Dow Corning Corporation :cheeky:
Eastern Airlines, Inc :cheeky:
Enron :cheeky:
eToys, Inc :cheeky:
Excite@Home :cheeky:
FAO Inc. :cheeky:
Frederick's of Hollywood, Inc. :cheeky:
Fruit of the Loom, Inc :cheeky:
Kmart Corporation :cheeky:
Lionel Corporation :cheeky:
Loews Cineplex Entertainment, Inc. :cheeky:

and the list goes on and on. Think their shareholders thougt it was laughable?

 

[jlc]

I can't imagine any new(within the last year) reseller making a go of it by selling domains for profit. just too much competition. Especially when WWD hand out deals to certain entities that can retail .coms for less that their resellers pay for them. There are some wwd resellers on this board that have done well, but they've been in it for a couple of years or more.

Hi Sharpy,

You've made some good points that I agree with.

JC

I join the wws reseller program for several years. I don't mind how many commision I will get. In fact, I get US$ 35 last year. The reason to join the program for me is to manage my 300+ domains and get cheaper prices.

Hi Ricado,

I guess this is a solution for those who have that many domains to manage (300 wow!) but for most who see the opportunity I'm sure it's to create some extra income.

JC

Its main value will likely end-up being to control and manage your own portfolio and not being at the mercy of a 3rd party. Pricing is no longer such a big factor what with your wholesale price now being higher than retail pricing thru DNF.

Hi RealNames,

Did I read in another thread that if you tell wwd your a reseller you can get the cheaper wholesale price? But I agree with you when I first read the deal with DNF and WWD I thought that wasn't very nice.

JC

Hi JC, I have been with WWD for just over a year now and things are going very well.


All in all I am making over $800 a month from a business that I put a lot of time into on the front end, and now I spend about three hours a week promoting it.

Hi Halfacat,

Thanks for the great reply. Everyone that is new to this should read it. I will read it a couple of times to make sure I get everything out of it.
So, as I have always been told, It takes money to make money, ( it helps if your a webdesigner) and you never get something for nothing.

JC

 

[bidawinner]

Well that settles it for me..I wont be buying any names from WWD resellers any more. I have enough headaches

 

[halfacat]

Well that settles it for me..I wont be buying any names from WWD resellers any more. I have enough headaches

sorry, i dont follow your logic here. how does buying a domain from a WWD reseller create headaches?

 

[bidawinner]

sorry, i dont follow your logic here. how does buying a domain from a WWD reseller create headaches?

because you have to open up an account at each one ..you cant push you names you purchase at WWD into Godaddy (WWD s backend )
because your names may end up at a register you dont want to be at if the WWD reseller folds


Thats more than enough reason for me.i.. it's a huge pain in the arse

because you have to open up an account at each one ..you cant push you names you purchase at WWD into Godaddy (WWD s backend )
because your names may end up at a register you dont want to be at if the WWD reseller folds


Thats more than enough reason for me.i.. it's a huge pain in the arse

Listen it is very possible to have names at over 100 WWDaccounts.. I am already nearing 10 accounts.. it's moronic that you cant push into Gdaddy..it's their backend..I am not going to pay to transfer into ..what a name is ALREADY into

 

[David G]

Did I read in another thread that if you tell wwd your a reseller you can get the cheaper wholesale price? But I agree with you when I first read the deal with DNF and WWD I thought that wasn't very nice. JC

No, you must have misunderstood that post. I asked WW for a better wholesale price due to the fact 2 larger resellers on this board were in effect undercutting smaller resellers since their RETAIL prices were less than my WHOLESALE price. However, WW said abolutely no way they can give a better price to me or an other small resellers.

In fact, they would not allow me to NOT make any money by voluntarily eliminating my mandatory profit margin which I proposed doing. If my profit markup was removed my prices could then compete and be about the same as the 2 larger resellers here.

 

[halfacat]

Listen it is very possible to have names at over 100 WWDaccounts.. I am already nearing 10 accounts.. it's moronic that you cant push into Gdaddy..it's their backend..I am not going to pay to transfer into ..what a name is ALREADY into

there is a little confusion here. WWD is a seperate registrar from GD. This is done to protect the reseller from losing business to GD by someone simply running a WHOIS lookup. So the reason you cannot 'push' from WWD to GD is because this actually requires a transfer as per ICANN regulation.

besides with transfers at $7.95 you are saving a dollar to renew your domains. thats a pretty good way to save some cash on the system for only having to ACCEPT two emails. of course if you have more that 50 domains it makes sense to just get a WWD account as you will have the $99 sign up fee when you go to renew your domains.

it sounds like the best solution for you would be to just purchase domains from GD. however you are being unfair to WWD resellers by making vague blanket statments about their business system and how it does not work for you.

 

[David G]

....So the reason you cannot 'push' from WWD to GD is because this actually requires a transfer as per ICANN regulation.........

Does that ICANN rule also apply to WW reseller accounts? Many members here are also unaware names may NOT be pushed between WW resellers also, not just to GoDaddy.

For example, if I buy a name from Duke (and his name is with another WW reseller) the name may NOT be pushed to my WW account at all. All that can be done is to wait 60 days (after original registration date) and pay for a regular transfer. It took a number of calls to WW tech support before we figured that out as at first even tech support did noit know why the push failed.

 

[bidawinner]

there is a little confusion here. WWD is a seperate registrar from GD. This is done to protect the reseller from losing business to GD by someone simply running a WHOIS lookup. So the reason you cannot 'push' from WWD to GD is because this actually requires a transfer as per ICANN regulation.

besides with transfers at $7.95 you are saving a dollar to renew your domains. thats a pretty good way to save some cash on the system for only having to ACCEPT two emails. of course if you have more that 50 domains it makes sense to just get a WWD account as you will have the $99 sign up fee when you go to renew your domains.

it sounds like the best solution for you would be to just purchase domains from GD. however you are being unfair to WWD resellers by making vague blanket statments about their business system and how it does not work for you.

Your not making any sense ...why would I open a WWD ..I still cant push names from one WWD to another WWD ..

I''m simply not opening anothe WWD account..trust me..I am NOT the only that is getting tired of this nonsense

Come on Halfcat stepup to the plate .why is it the only posts you make are about WWD ? Do you work for WWD ?

http://dnforum.com/search.php?searchid=130477

 

[halfacat]

Your not making any sense ...why would I open a WWD ..I still cant push names from one WWD to another WWD ..

I''m simply not opening anothe WWD account..trust me..I am NOT the only that is getting tired of this nonsense

Come on Halfcat stepup to the plate .why is it the only posts you make are about WWD ? Do you work for WWD ?

http://dnforum.com/search.php?searchid=130477

if you purchase a domain from a WWD reseller you can have it moved into an account under your control on that resellers website. if you need to conslidate your domains to one account then you need to get a transfer. seems simple enough.

sorry to see you are so frustrated.

i make posts on WWD because it is a program that i enjoy working with.

i do work for WWD, as a reseller, guilty as charged. :emba:

 

[Sharpy]

if you purchase a domain from a WWD reseller you can have it moved into an account under your control on that resellers website. if you need to conslidate your domains to one account then you need to get a transfer. seems simple enough.

Yes it's simple to understand the mechanics, that doesn't make it sensible or user friendly. it's rediculous. It's the same as if I buy a name frome you at enom and I open an account there so you can push it to me. Then i buy a name from bidawinner that is also at enom, and I have to open a new(different account) at enom, so he can push the name to me. If I ever want your name and bid's name in the same enom account, i have to transfer/pay to move one.

I know that GD/WWD will say it's to protect the reseller for client retention bla bla bla, but it is really because GD/WWD are a retail/enduser provider who do not give a shit(other than to take our money) about the wholesale/speculator/developer market.

 

[David G]

However, a push between seperate resellers is not permitted, but only between accounts at the same reseller. if you call WW and ask them if a between reseller push may be done there is a good chance they will say yes as only *some* of the support personnel are aware of the problem, mostly upper level. We found that out the hard way. Remember, it's a big place with almost 500 employees.