Thoughts: US Company Offering Web Hosting via Reseller in AU

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Posted by ctalkington, 01-13-2012, 12:09 PM
I own a US based company that already provides web hosting out of Dallas but have a web designer in AU that I am looking to partner with to expand my services and target a market that could use more affordable web hosts. I currently run my own server in Dallas but since I am not local to AU I would rather resell with a company such as site5 that offers many data centers around the world. I guess I'm just curious if anyone see issue with this or if I would have to be registered as a business in AU to do such. I know there are several US webhosts (bluehost,justhost) that offer services to AU customers but I wasn't sure if they had to establish offices in AU to do such. Last edited by ctalkington; 01-13-2012 at 12:13 PM.
Posted by Cirtex, 01-13-2012, 12:51 PM
So you need the web designer to be part of a web hosting company, but based in AU? Why not just go find freelancers in AU to partner with instead directly? I'm a bit confused.
Posted by ctalkington, 01-13-2012, 12:56 PM
Cirtex, sorry for the confusion. Basically, I do freelance programming (hosting is my side business) for the AU web designer and would like to be able offer her AU clients hosting as another revenue stream. Thanks for the response.
Posted by BrettB, 01-13-2012, 03:18 PM
Most hosting companies accept customers from almost any country. You could even host her AU clients on our server in Texas. There'll be a bit more delay to access a US server from AU, but it probably won't be noticeable to the average site visitor. However if you're looking to expand to a AU presence, a reseller account is a low-cost alternative. Just make sure that you're picking a host that actually has servers located in Australia and is reliable so that their service level doesn't reflect poorly on you.
Posted by ctalkington, 01-13-2012, 03:51 PM
BrettB, Thanks for your input. I feel local is the best route to go in this case so def looking at AU reseller. My general feeling is that I shouldn't have an issue but just wanted to get some feedback from the community. My main concern is with billing, being that the service will be used in AU it makes me wonder if its subject to GST withholding or etc but I can't seem to find a definite answer in regards to that.
Posted by rv_irl, 01-15-2012, 06:10 PM
Best bet would be to get an accountant to get check into these kind of things for you. They are invaluable to have and ensures you can get the answer good & proper without spending hours on the internet trying to find out yourself, and even then, you can't be sure.