The hosting reseller niche grew in parallel to the freelance web design market. Web designers, web developers, and many other internet-based professionals demand quality servers for web hosting to offer their customers, and there’s money to be made by reselling hosting.
The short answer: Yes, reselling web hosting is profitable in 2024. This guide presents some common reasons to start a reseller business, the pluses and some minuses of reselling hosting, and how much you can make reselling hosting.
Simplicity
Reselling web hosting is a simple business. To get started, all you need is a website for people to find you and your products. You don’t need to make a substantial investment or require programming knowledge.
Build a brand
You can create your own brand by reselling hosting. Your clients will not know they are buying hosting from a parent company. You can create your hosting plans as you see fit according to your customers’ needs. This includes the flexibility to set your own prices, features, and packages.
No need to maintain a server
Your main provider is responsible for maintaining the server, so you don’t need any expertise in this area, which otherwise demands a great deal of resources.
High growth potential
The business is highly scalable. If demand increases, it’s easy to augment your services with it.
How profitable is reseller hosting?
It’s especially lucrative if you already run a business such as a web design or development. Customers will opt for your service as an all-in-one offering when you add hosting as an extra. Reselling hosting allows you to combine a custom hosting plan with your web design or development services.
Your exact profit depends on your niche of choice and if you can provide added value. An example of a niche is WordPress development. Оr, you might choose to join the ranks of the best cheap reseller hosting providers.
It also depends on your personal goals: do you want to build a small business or an enterprise? Profit size is relative. Your geographic location also plays a role.
It’s not impossible to start making six figures with reseller hosting. You need 1,000 people paying $100 per year. Your target is to reach 1,000 clients once, and then you can stop making an effort because they are repeat users of your service.
How to make money by reselling hosting
Make sure you choose a hosting company that sells reasonably priced plans. If they are too expensive, you might not be able to afford them. If they are too competitively priced, your profit will be minimal, perhaps nonexistent in the worst case.
Wholesale services will typically enable you to resell hosting at a profit. In addition, pay attention to what features are included in the plans you purchase. Standard reseller hosting packages include the following as a bare minimum:
- Unlimited domains, bandwidth, disc space
- White Label branding
- Control panel
- Customized accounts for clients
- 24/7 customer support
- Additional features
Disadvantages of reselling hosting
Reseller hosting isn’t without its drawbacks. The following are worth mentioning:
Severe competition
The reseller hosting market is extremely competitive, and you need to work on a unique selling proposition to stand apart from other resellers. It could be low prices, outstanding support services, etc.
Dependence on the parent host
As a reseller, you don’t have full control over uptime, performance, server resources, etc. You must rely on the parent host to provide high-quality performance and adequate uptime. If the company you’re buying hosting from experiences technical problems, it will impact your reputation and your client’s websites.
Customer service is your responsibility
You might not be responsible for website maintenance, but customer support is entirely your engagement. If you don’t have the means or expertise to provide quality support, your clients’ satisfaction levels will plummet, potentially resulting in a loss of revenue.
Final thoughts: Is reselling hosting worth it?
Reselling hosting is just like any other business: you identify a niche, research the competition, create a business plan, etc. It requires minimal upfront investment and has impressive profit potential. As your customers increase, you can scale your business. To make a profit, select a reliable web hosting provider, design unique packages, and don’t skimp on customer support.