Hi Ron,

You raise some excellent points and I think such a Resellers Association 
is long overdue.
Please let me know if I can assist in any way.
I don't know in good conscience if I could join unless it was specific 
to domain names as we wholesale hosting to resellers.

Something which may help you as far as agreements go is that we have 
some points in our reseller agreement; where should an 'end user' - i.e. 
a reseller's client - approaches us for any reason then:

a) the Reseller is kept notified of all correspondence
b) if the Reseller is happy for us to do o then the end user is offered 
retail pricing.
c) A minimum 30% of the profits gained from that client are credited to 
the original resellers account.

That way the reseller is still in a win-win situation if a they lose a 
client due to a breakdown in communication causing the end user to leave 
them.
In our view our resellers are our bread and butter, I don't understand a 
domain name wholesaler cutting their own throat.
I hope the Association you propose helps give back some power to the 
resellers.

Regards,
Trent Hayes
SouthNet
Toll Free: 1300 362 932

Ron Stark wrote:

>To me the central issue is whether, as a reseller, I'm empowering a
>competitor to my own detriment.
>
>My customer list (as distinct from my contact list) is a key asset to my
>business.  As a reseller of domain names I'm obligated to not only disclose
>that list, but to entrust it to my registrar.  Having inherited my customer,
>that registrar can then approach them with impunity, because auDA's
>jurisdiction does not extend beyond domain names.
>
>If my registrar offers competing services to my clients I have a serious
>reservation in dealing with that registrar.  If a registrar approaches my
>_potential_ customer and wins the business, that's fair competition.  If my
>registrar simply adopts my _existing_ customer and takes my business, that's
>piracy.
>
>I know of no other commercial endeavour in which a business is compelled to
>hand over their customers to their competitors, with neither protection not
>recourse.  And here's a challenge to registrars - who will give a cast iron
>guarantee that I as a reseller am not at risk from such predatory business
>practice.
>
>Is there anybody out there interested in establishing a Reseller's
>Association to restore some balance / equity in this minefield of reseller /
>registrar relationships?
>
>Ron Stark
>mailto:ronstark§snapsite.com.au
>
>
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