Hello, i was wondering if some other resellers could shed some light on how they handle their payments from clients in order to avoid paying the client hosting. I've moved some of my clients to HMS and they are usually qute prompt but what if emails/invoices to clients have not been responded to, what steps do resellers take? Do you cancel the account before HMS autorenews? Or do you pay and run after the client?

I'm quite new to the system and would also like to know when an automated message is sent out regarding hosting renewal. If there was a way to set a reminder or set the date for emails to go out (for eg 2months before the domain expires send an email) it would be grea. Do you have any ideas/tips?

Nya,

We require all of our clients to sign a Hosting contract which states the start and end date, terms of use, etc. And that contract also states that if the hosting contract is not renewed by the end date, the hosting account will automatically be canceled after the end date. (Of course I give them plenty of notice and a new contract.)

As far as the renewal emails, you should watch your control panel which clearly states the end dates. Your clients will not receive an email from HMS, only the person as the billing contact will (which is usually you)

Does this help?

It does. I like the fact that the end date is clearly displayed in the panel. Are your hosting contracts mainly yearly? Cos monthly would be a pain to manage no? Is there anyway to temporarily disable accounts?

You're really helpful, HMS should reward you or something.

haha Well Thanks

our Hosting contracts are all yearly. We haven't had a client who has wanted monthly (yet)

As far as suspension, you could "Stop" the website in your control panel, but you will still be billed. It will just turn their website off. I don't recommend it, and I have never had to do it. You don't want a client to go after you for downtime and loss of business etc. (Although they should have just paid)

I have all my clients register for hosting online from my website. I use Paypal to do this. Their bank account is automatically charged quarterly for hosting. I do not have to send out invoices or notices to anyone because the money is automatically deposited into my bank account. You can read about setting up automatic payments at www.paypal.com.


Hope this helps.

I just have my clients setup their own hostmysite accounts and then forward me the login info. Its not worth the trouble of reselling in my opinion. If I was going to resell hosting I would colocate a server with HMS, and then load it up with 100 sites. The profit margin by doing that is alot higher.

Colo about $120 / month
Charge your clients $12 / month
$12 x 100 clients = $1200 income / month

Buy a few more servers, and load them up
Next thing you know you have 10k / month of income.
Next you Start your own Datacenter, And either..
Get knowledgable people on support 24/ 7 ( Following the HMS business Model ), or
setup your techsupport Offshores in India, where your tickets will still be unresolved when you are 6 feet under ( the 1&1 hosting way )