Is it better to be a web hosting affiliate or a reseller?

In my opinion it's better to be a reseller, you have more chances on earning money from being a reseller. In case you are an affiliate that would mean to enter in the affiliate marketing business and there are lots of affiliates out there.

It depends on what you want to do - resell it or promote it

Seriously, if you're getting customers on board, and you deal with them regularly, reseller would be the way, especially if you can create a win/win situation. If you're just promoting the hosting, but want nothing to do with the running of it, then being an affiliate would be the way.

Reseller means you have a client control panel and have to create accounts for them. If you're okay with doing that, then reselling may be the way to go. Remember though, that you might also have to support your customers too - as you'd be creating a white label service.

Affiliate marketing tends to be short term money, high margin etc. Reselling is basically like starting your own web hosting company you're in it for the long haul - you're looking to build up an asset etc.

I know a guy who makes over $30K a month as an affiliate to a web host.

To make that money, he must drive several hundred people to the web hosting company each month and get them to sign up. His commissions are a one time fee upfront and he gets no residual income from these hosting accounts.

If next month he doesn't drive that traffic, he gets paid nothing.

If he was a reseller and he drove that traffic to his own hosting company, he would probably not be able to offer his clients as good of a package as Bluehost or HostGator with unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space, so he might get less sales.

He might make less money than the fee he is paid, and he would have recurring ongoing expenses for his equipment; however, he may make more, it all depends on price point.

He would; however, have one possible advantage, and that advantage is the possibility of ongoing residual income. He might well drive repeat customers when his clients renew their hosting account.

Clearly the value of a client once obtained is MORE than $60 for companies like HostGator and BlueHost, just look at what they pay affiliates.

Now if this guy retained the hosting clients he drove, he would likely make more money in the long run, but he would also have more headaches. He would be responsible for customer service, he would be responsible for hosting costs and physical plant costs as a reseller that he isn't on the hook for as an affiliate.

There are drawbacks to each, i.e. affiliates usually get no residual income, and resellers have more personal responsibilities to the clients and headaches.

Are the headaches worth the residual income? Is there a GOOD web host with an affiliate program that pays less up front, but gives residuals throughout the life of the account? If you found that one, you would get THE BEST of both worlds.

Of course this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Personally, I prefer running as an affiliate.
I am running this business as an individual.
Don't have manpower to handle the customer support.

Beside this, My strength is List building and Traffic Generation.
I can perform better in selling than serving.

You need to understand your business model and personal character.
Work to your full potential.
No point following what others area doing.
You are an entrepreneur. You run the show!!

In my opinion it is better to be an affiliate, as you are promoting an existing brand with some trust instead of promoting a new company. And you don't have to deal with support, etc.

actually Reseller Cost you some money to get started, which will not be afford by everyone especially For Newbies. So, If You don't have any money then you can opt for Affiliate program. Affiliate Program generate one time income for you, But Reseller option Can Make you to generate Residual Income. Which is Monthly or Yearly.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Affiliate No Start Up Costs for the hosting.
Reseller Start up Costs for the hosting plus billing and support.

Affiliate You do not have to handle support
Reseller You are the tech support

Affiliate You are doing the marketing but that is your only costs.
Reseller You have marketing, plus support, plus paying the monthly plan for the hosting.

Affiliate Your income is set as part of the affiliate commission, the company you resell may reduce your commission percentage.

Reseller You set your pricing, you set your income as a result of the profit earned after all your costs are factored.

Lastly

Affiliate you usually get a one time commission. This commission maybe better than income earned by reselling hosting in the short term.

Reseller your income over the long term is better because you are receiving revenue on a recurring basis.

Also as a reseller you can sell off your client base if you wish to get out the business.