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How to become a domain name reseller?

Jon Jo Krupski
Jon Jo Krupski

Published: August 24, 2022

Last updated: November 21, 2022

Table of Contents

So you’ve figured out that in order to make money online and a potential residual income, you first need to sell something that every business and arguably every individual needs – Domain names! That’s right, you can’t have a website without a domain name. This guide will show you how to become a successful domain reseller.

Domain Registrar VS Domain Reseller; explained.

Traditionally, reselling domain names would mean registering with icaan, a not for profit governing body, which maintains a somewhat complicated and costly minimum criteria to be accepted. This then allows you API access to the public registry where you can resell domain names with a service charge which will in turn, generate a profit. It can be complicated and frustrating which is why we have made the domain reselling process much easier so that you can be set up with a full domain reselling website within and hour as opposed to years.

Many domain registrars nowadays are partnered with larger registrars using them as a conduit to bypass the legalities and complications that come with it. Translated, this means that in order to become a domain reseller you will need to find a web hosting company that provides such a service that can connect you to all available domain names and automatically signal to your customers when a domain name is taken. Like any other businesses out there, domain name reselling requires elite business practice, plenty of marketing, customer support and time.

Do I have to buy a bunch of domain names to resell them?

Let’s get the elephant out of the room and clear this up as it is one of the most common questions. In short – NO – you do not have to buy or reserve a bulk amount of domain names in order to become a domain name reseller. There are many companies out there that do require you to “top up” your account with them i.e you spend $200 in your account and when enough customers have purchased over $200 worth of domains from you, you will need to top up. We find this system to be fundamentally flawed. For example, if for any reason your funds aren’t replenished i.e you’re in bed sleeping, then your account won’t work and customers cannot purchase. This will immediately damage your reputation as a registrar. With Elite, we provide 24 hour expert support to your customers (optional and free) and your customers immediately have access to the icaan registrar with over 500 gTop Level Domain name variations available so there are no purchase limits.

What size domain reselling business are you?

If you have a small web developing business and you’re hosting up to around 25 domain names in your personal account, then the Elite Basic Reseller plan is perfect for you. This allows you to purchase up to 20% off of retail rates and make a nice profit on the side whilst maintaining the same rate as other registrars out there. This costs just $59.99 a year and it comes bundled with the following:

  • Standard buy rates, up to 20% off retail
  • White-label eCommerce storefront
  • Credit card processing
  • 24/7 phone support to you and your customers
  • Email support for you incase of any issues
  • Product promotions
  • Sales and commission reports
  • Options to customize colors and images of your prebuilt storefront
  • Free WordPress Plugin to create a custom website with ease
  • SSL certificate

If you’re looking to grow bigger with an unlimited number of customers with a higher profit margin, then the Pro Reseller Plan would be more suitable. Pro (domain) Reseller boasts all of the above, but with 40% off retail to make yourself truly competitive within the industry. This also allows you to resell hosting using the markets best hosting data centres, security and marketing products so you can match us if you so wish to! You can view, compare and purchase both reseller plans here:

Above shows your Eliteweb.co dashboard with the pro reseller plan and free products under the “Additional Products” tab.

Setting up your domain selling business

Now you’ve chosen a reseller plan, It’s time to set up your domain name reselling business. First you’ll need to purchase your own domain name and connect the domain to your chosen reseller plan so that customers can begin buying domains from you with ease. If you’re not sure on what to call your business you can read our blog on how to pick a winning domain name for your business. Be sure to follow all of the Pro or Basic domain reseller steps in our guide to ensure your website is configured correctly.

Each reseller plan (with Elite) comes with additional products to help you begin your domain name reselling business. This includes a free website builder, which as an added bonus, is officially the fastest web builder available. It also includes free email marketing software to help you build an email database and get the word out to potential customers. When you tally it all up, you will find that you’re getting your annual fee back in the premium products that are included. This means that it doesn’t cost any extra to become a reseller, anymore than it does to build a website and begin marketing it.

Marketing for resellers

Tips to making your domain reselling business successful

Now your domain name reselling business is online. You have many online products available, as well as domain names to sell, but how do you get the word out there to the masses? The answer is marketing.

If you already have a customer base as a web developer, then urge and assist your existing clientele to create their own accounts on your new domain reseller website and transfer their domain names along with their hosted websites (optional) to their new accounts. This way they can be in control of their business/domain name(s) while you help them.

Below is a step by step guide to marketing your new domain name reselling business:

Social Media Marketing

Starting a social media account for your business is crucial these days and so we recommend beginning a Facebook account, Instagram account and a Google Maps accounts. You should post as often as possible while utilising the thousands of free images included with your free Web Builder to create posts. By doing this you will capture your audience and guide new traffic towards your website. Encouraging reviews from existing customers really helps too. Here is one of our social media accounts to give an example on how we help customers and draw traffic.

Email Marketing

Another fundamental way of communicating to your customers and email database is using an email marketing software. There are many different email marketing platforms available with different costs and functions, but they all do the same job in a roundabout way at different costs. Read our comparison between Elite email marketing and Mailchimp email marketing here to give you an idea on how they work. Fortunately, with all Elite Reseller Plans, you get the Elite email marketing included. This will save you some money and help you along your way to a successful domain reselling business. There are several ways you can build your email marketing database which we have written about extensively for you in our blog.

Promo codes

The way to entice most customers in, in such a competitive market like domain name reselling is with a special offer or deal – Once you’ve set your rates in your user dashboard it’s very easy to set up promotional discount codes. You can then distribute them by giving them to social media influencers, post them on social media channels and email them directly to customers using your (included) email marketing software. We have a full step by step guide on how to add promo codes to your reseller account in our help centre.

Paid search engine adverts

Search engine advertising can be helpful, but it is a competitive bidding war among Domain registrars and resellers alike. Some of the bigger companies spend millions of dollars per month on advertising on Google in particular. Google gives the best analogy of “What is paid search?”:

If you are looking to take your business to the next level, then Google Ads search campaigns could be very useful to you. Search ads allow you to display your website listing at the top of the search results, and drive more traffic to your website. Read on to learn more about paid search, and how you can run Search ads using Google Ads.

You can begin your google advertising journey here – be sure to have researched your keywords using google search console beforehand.

Print advertising

Contrary to popular belief, print advertising still has it’s place in the world of the internet. Don’t limit yourself to social media and search engines when the art of marketing is to get your brand name everywhere. Create business cards easily using companies like Vistaprint to name a few. For best practices, use a local company and the chances are it will reciprocate back to you if you pop your head in the door and tell them what the nature of your business is. Flyers and local magazines also help, but keep an eye on spend because domain name businesses require customer volume in order to turn a profit.

SEO to sell domain names

I’ve left this one until last because it is the most important and most effective way to convert sales in our experience. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is no easy task, but can be the most rewarding. To get started with some sound SEO advice, read our blog on how to boost SEO on your WordPress site. If you choose to use the web builder that comes with the reseller plans, they connect perfectly to our SEO tool which can actually make suggestions and edits on your behalf! SEO tools are a must have for all businesses both small and large. SEO is made up of many key things such as speed, content, creativity and keywords to name a few – it’s never ending and requires attention.

Why choose a reseller plan from eliteweb.co?

The Elite reseller plans come with a free, white labelled, prebuilt website upon purchasing. The website is automatically set up, meaning you get full access to the largest database of Top Level Domain variations with no purchase limits, account top ups or complicated API configurations. We also provide you with a free drag and drop web builder. If you want to go fully custom then we also offer a free, easy to use WordPress Plugin. Our buy/wholesale rates are the lowest available and we provide of the tools you need to market your business for free. These equate to more than the reseller annual fee making us the most cost effective solution in todays market.

Final summary on domain name reselling

There are a few companies who now offer domain name reselling packages so be sure to choose wisely. The best time to start your domain name reselling business is right now! Domain reselling is often a slow progressing business as you have to build a lot of trust with your customers. Once you have built a good customer base, reselling with Elite in particular will reward you with a passive income. This is because when using the eliteweb.co, white labelled reseller plans, we handle your support for you at no extra cost so you don’t have to lift a finger. We provide you with 56 international telephone numbers out of the box so that you can provide support to almost every country, 24 hours a day. Our award winning call centres are based in Arizona, Portugal and the Philippines to name a few.

If we’ve missed anything let us know in the comments and we’ll get back to you pronto! Thank you for reading

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Jon Jo Krupski
Jon Jo Krupski
Jon aka JJ joined the Elite team in 2015 and helped build our product line until 2019. With a keen understanding of all aspects of marketing, from SEO to email, Jon now writes for the Elite blog. Previously, he worked in advertising and journalism, writing for local newspapers in the UK before pursuing his career in digital marketing. Jon is a huge fan of the MCU and is a keen advocate of the future of the web world.

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