discussion What is your view on being a direct accredited ICANN and Verisign registrar vs a worry-free reseller business?

[Helmuts]

Do we have reps of ICANN domain registrars here who are happy sharing their experience?

I own a rather small-ish, though, established and good reputation, hosting company HostMaria. We are currently reselling domains (via 20i system, and they are opensrs resellers) and for a long time I have been thinking of becoming an accredited registrar for the TLDs we offer, and few others.

What is your view on being a direct accredited ICANN and Verisign registrar vs a worry-free reseller business?

.. I will be starting with becoming a registrar for a few ccTLDs first (these do not require a registrar to have ICANN accreditations) + plan to use Realtime Register as a backend for our accreditations. .. and eventually (when ready) will move all our user domains to our Realtime Register account.

 

[GBMdomains]

Do we have reps of ICANN domain registrars here who are happy sharing their experience?

I own a rather small-ish, though, established and good reputation, hosting company HostMaria. We are currently reselling domains (via 20i system, and they are opensrs resellers) and for a long time I have been thinking of becoming an accredited registrar for the TLDs we offer, and few others.

What is your view on being a direct accredited ICANN and Verisign registrar vs a worry-free reseller business?

.. I will be starting with becoming a registrar for a few ccTLDs first (these do not require a registrar to have ICANN accreditations) + plan to use Realtime Register as a backend for our accreditations. .. and eventually (when ready) will move all our user domains to our Realtime Register account.

We are a reseller for Dynadot, it definitely reduces the worry, but I'm not sure it is worry-free!

If there are issues caused by problems on Dynadot's side/API, then we have no control or ability to fix. This has been a slight problem with some TLD's but overall we are very happy working with Dynadot.

We did look into becoming an accredited ICANN registrar, but given we are new to the industry, we wanted to take a smaller step first.

So, yes being a reseller comes with less responsibility and worry in some circumstances, but as the front-end platform that users deal with - it is definitely not worry-free!

 

[Helmuts]

We are a reseller for Dynadot, it definitely reduces the worry, but I'm not sure it is worry-free!

If there are issues caused by problems on Dynadot's side/API, then we have no control or ability to fix. This has been a slight problem with some TLD's but overall we are very happy working with Dynadot.

We did look into becoming an accredited ICANN registrar, but given we are new to the industry, we wanted to take a smaller step first.

So, yes being a reseller comes with less responsibility and worry in some circumstances, but as the front-end platform that users deal with - it is definitely not worry-free!

Exactly, in the beginning, it is great to start as a reseller (under a solid brand).

Have you thought about getting a Nominet membership? It’s reasonably priced, and having your own tag allows you to transfer UK domain names to new owners at no additional cost when transferring between tags - a privilege exclusive to tag holders?

 

[hacxx]

If you are going underground then may not be a good idea. If for legit purpose then direct accredited ICANN and Verisign registrar will help getting the domains and ssls.

 

[DediRock]

Going accredited gives you more control and margin, but it’s also more complex. Starting with ccTLDs and Realtime Register is a smart, low-risk way to ease into it.

 

[nicenic]

Being an ICANN-accredited registrar offers full control, better margins, and branding—but comes with high costs, compliance, and tech demands. Reseller model is low-risk and easy to start, but margins and control are limited.

 

[Venkatvenz]

Hey @Helmuts,

I know this thread is a bit old, but had to jump in — better late than never.

This is actually a really good question, and I’m glad you brought it up the way you did. You already have a solid brand, a loyal customer base, and a working setup with 20i and OpenSRS. So you’re not in a rush to “fix” anything — and that’s the best time to be thinking about registrar access: when things are stable.

You're right — for most ccTLDs, ICANN Accreditation isn’t in the picture, and starting there makes a lot of sense. It gives you a taste of registrar operations — registry agreements, handling EPP, managing redemptions and renewals directly — but without the heavy compliance obligations that come with ICANN. Plus, you can be selective. Go after ccTLDs that align with your audience, avoid the ones with complicated legal or local presence requirements, and build from there.

Now about becoming an ICANN and Verisign registrar — that’s a whole different layer. It’s less about margins and more about control. You own the policy, the relationship, the risk, and the upside. But with that comes all the responsibility too — audits, compliance reports, abuse handling frameworks, escrow, WHOIS accuracy, and a bunch of ongoing stuff that you don’t think about as a reseller.

That said, you’re not wrong to stick with Realtime Register for now. They’re solid, and the idea of moving your users under your own registrar tag (eventually) is a clean long-term play. It’s just about how deep you want to go. Some companies want full autonomy — they want to build the engine. Others are happy renting it, focusing on sales, support, and community. And both are fine.

I’m not here to sell anything, especially to you — we’ve known each other long enough. Just dropping my thoughts because I see a lot of people jumping into ICANN registrar accreditation without knowing what they’re really signing up for. You’re thinking about it the right way: understand the mechanics first, move only if it aligns with your long-term strategy, and don’t let FOMO push you into it.

Ping me anytime if you want to nerd out more on ICANN Accreditation stuff.

– Venkatesh, ICANN Accreditation Consultant

Get ICANN Accreditation - Dotup ICANN Accreditation Consultancy

ICANN Accreditation Made Easy! We offer end-to-end assistance in ICANN accreditation for Hosting Companies, Domain Registrars, ISPs, and Domain Resellers – Get into the list of approved ICANN registrars today!

dotuptech.com

 

[Helmuts]

Hey @Helmuts,

I know this thread is a bit old, but had to jump in — better late than never.

This is actually a really good question, and I’m glad you brought it up the way you did. You already have a solid brand, a loyal customer base, and a working setup with 20i and OpenSRS. So you’re not in a rush to “fix” anything — and that’s the best time to be thinking about registrar access: when things are stable.

You're right — for most ccTLDs, ICANN Accreditation isn’t in the picture, and starting there makes a lot of sense. It gives you a taste of registrar operations — registry agreements, handling EPP, managing redemptions and renewals directly — but without the heavy compliance obligations that come with ICANN. Plus, you can be selective. Go after ccTLDs that align with your audience, avoid the ones with complicated legal or local presence requirements, and build from there.

Now about becoming an ICANN and Verisign registrar — that’s a whole different layer. It’s less about margins and more about control. You own the policy, the relationship, the risk, and the upside. But with that comes all the responsibility too — audits, compliance reports, abuse handling frameworks, escrow, WHOIS accuracy, and a bunch of ongoing stuff that you don’t think about as a reseller.

That said, you’re not wrong to stick with Realtime Register for now. They’re solid, and the idea of moving your users under your own registrar tag (eventually) is a clean long-term play. It’s just about how deep you want to go. Some companies want full autonomy — they want to build the engine. Others are happy renting it, focusing on sales, support, and community. And both are fine.

I’m not here to sell anything, especially to you — we’ve known each other long enough. Just dropping my thoughts because I see a lot of people jumping into ICANN registrar accreditation without knowing what they’re really signing up for. You’re thinking about it the right way: understand the mechanics first, move only if it aligns with your long-term strategy, and don’t let FOMO push you into it.

Ping me anytime if you want to nerd out more on ICANN Accreditation stuff.

– Venkatesh, ICANN Accreditation Consultant

Get ICANN Accreditation - Dotup ICANN Accreditation Consultancy

ICANN Accreditation Made Easy! We offer end-to-end assistance in ICANN accreditation for Hosting Companies, Domain Registrars, ISPs, and Domain Resellers – Get into the list of approved ICANN registrars today!

dotuptech.com

At which point would you usually advise a hosting or an IT company to start considering an ICANN accredited business? 1k domains> 10k? Thank you

 

[Venkatvenz]

At which point would you usually advise a hosting or an IT company to start considering an ICANN accredited business? 1k domains> 10k? Thank you

A good point to start looking at ICANN accreditation is after crossing 15-20k domains as a reseller. It wont make sense before that. I even have seen clients who had 250k domains undermanagement as a reseller. Reselling is never a bad option to consider unless the added benefits of ICANN accreditation is really required for business operation reasons.

 

[Helmuts]

A good point to start looking at ICANN accreditation is after crossing 15-20k domains as a reseller. It wont make sense before that. I even have seen clients who had 250k domains undermanagement as a reseller. Reselling is never a bad option to consider unless the added benefits of ICANN accreditation is really required for business operation reasons.

wow 250k domains under management and still happily living without the ICANN registrar status? .. from the other side - why not