Documentation

(Selling) Domains in Your Hub - Recommendations & Considerations

Last Updated: June 20, 2024 11:55 AM

A lot of partners would like to integrate the purchasing of domains in their Hub. This article goes into the best method to accomplish this as easily as possible.

What's the best way to sell domains?

We recommend selling domains via affiliate links for services like CloudFlare or NameCheap. When someone navigates to the "Domain" area of the Site Manager in your Hub, they'll encounter the following wizard:

Domain Wizard

If they don't yet have a domain, they'll see this:

No Domain

Customizing Your Hub

You're able to customize the text in your Hub to direct your users to any domain registrar of your choice, including an affiliate link. This is a convenient and efficient way to assist your users and generate revenue, while avoiding the complexities of becoming a reseller.

Why not sell domains directly?

Selling domains directly is not recommended due to the complexities involved in becoming a domain reseller. Here's why:

  1. Legal and Regulatory Requirements: Domain reselling is a regulated activity. It involves understanding and complying with many laws and policies that govern the sale and registration of domain names, which vary by region and registry.

  2. Technical Complexity: Domain registration requires integration with domain registry APIs, which can be quite complex. Each registry may have a different API with different requirements.

  3. Customer Support: Domains can be a high-touch product, requiring substantial customer service support, especially for less tech-savvy customers.

  4. Operational Issues: There are various operational tasks involved, such as managing renewals, handling transfers, supporting domain privacy, etc.

  5. Financial Commitment: Most registries require resellers to commit to a certain volume of sales, which can be challenging for smaller businesses.

Many leading platforms, such as WPEngine, Kinsta, and SiteGround, choose not to offer direct domain purchases due to these complexities.

The Domain Wizard

The Domain Wizard is a tool we built to guide your customers through what to do after purchasing a domain. You can write your own guide or documentation to walk them through the process if you're recommending a specific domain registrar like NameCheap, or any local domain registrar with which you have an affiliate deal.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or need additional support.