domain registration clarity

[mole1]

Great forum!

Wondering how you guys deal with setting up domain names for your clients if you are going to be hosting them also.

Hosting companies have reseller programs, but don't really see that for purchasing domain names. Most people seem to be going with godaddy.com. Then, do you just act as a representative for your client when going with godaddy and purchasing the domain name (how do you charge your client? His credit card...)

And after purchasing the domain name, what steps are involved in getting the domain name synchronized to your hosting company.

As you can see, I am new to this and need some clarity.

Thanks

[webtress]

Mole1,
So far I find godaddy to work for my uses I perfer if the client sets up their own account with goddady and purchases their own domain name as I feel I'm not in the business of owning domain names, however their are times when this isn't the case and the domain name is purchased under my account which the client is made clear that if payment isn't received upon renewal the name will expire. Once the host has been selected and you received the DSN the name transfer is done from the domain name registor site. All this can take less than 48hrs.

I hope this helps.

[bakedjake]

Then, do you just act as a representative for your client

Yes, but I don't use GoDaddy. Most of the majors have account management software that will let you manage multiple domains for multiple clients under one account.

And after purchasing the domain name, what steps are involved in getting the domain name synchronized to your hosting company.

Well, if you own/are the hosting company, it's easy. ;-) If not, it usually goes something like this:

1. Notify the hosting company you're registering a domain.
2. The hosting company will add SOA (start of authority - essentially saying "we host this domain") records to their DNS servers.
3. The hosting company will set up webspace and add A (webspace address) and MX (mail server) records (if applicable).
4. They'll assign you a username/password to your sites and email.
5. Upload away!

how do you charge your client? His credit card...

Nope, we do everything over here, then bill the client. There are good reasons for doing this: You can mark up for services if necessary, etc., but in reality I do it just so I can get the 1000 airline miles I get whenever I register a domain with my registrar. ;-)

Clients like this, too: They receive all charges related to their hosting/web/domain on one bill.

[mole1]

Got you guys so far, but will ask for more detail.

Guess main question was do you purchase (with your company dollars) the domain name for your client (who owns it at this point?) or do you only act as a representatative for your client letting them be billed on their own credit card?

If you only act as a rep. the client will see the charges on their own credit card (knowing it only cost $9 at godaddy.com). Then do you just charge them $x dollars for your representative/service fee for setting up account?

Thanks

[bakedjake]

I charge the domain to our corporate card, then bill them for the domain plus a small fee for setting up the DNS/webspace.

They own the domain. My company is administrative and technical contact, but they are the registrant. They also have a password to their account so that they may move or modify their information at any time.

[LABachlr]

Just know that if you buy it with your company credit card at godaddy, that you will need to UNcheck auto-renewal. Otherwise, it will automatically bill your company credit card each year. I prefer to have the client do this, so it automatically bills to their credit card each year. It's not really worth it to me to make the extra 5-25 dollars that you would add on.

I suppose you could set it up so that they could subscribe to a registering subscription via your company PayPal or Merchant account, and that way it would bill them every year so you wouldn't have to manually collect the cash each year. Or, you could just build it into your monthly/annual hosting charge. In that case, I might consider it.

Anytime there is a recurring charge, I always set up a subscription for it so I don't have to keep track of the monthly/annual charges and manually collect the money. The subscriptions are all logged in my merchant account and are taken care of automatically.