MarketConnect does not fully automate SpamExperts

[bluesteam]

Hello,

I realise that this will probably upset some MarketConnect people but how are they going to learn if no one stands up and says something?

My Story!  PLEASE bear with me!

I have been using MarketConnect for a few weeks now.  At first, I thought, damn, this is cool....it claims 100% full automation and it seems to work....

Well, in the beginning at least this was the case when clients were signing up for smaller packages of MarketConnect.

The ugly truth of the supposed "FULL AUTOMATION" and adding "ADDITIONAL EMAIL ARCHIVING STORAGE" licenses on their marketing material started rearing its horrendous head when it came to things like a client purchasing the FULL suite of SpamExperts or when they asked for more storage than the default 10GB of storage allocated to an email archiving license.

The following are what I consider false advertising no their part from using their SpamExperts product.  I haven't even started selling the REALLY Big stuff yet:

1. 100% FULL AUTOMATION
2. EMAIL ARCHIVING DISABLED BY DEFAULT
3. ADDITIONAL ARCHIVING STORAGE LICENCES FOR SPAMEXPERTS

First up we have:
THE 100% FULL AUTOMATION CLAIMS

These are the MarketConnect claims that is advertised all over the place: 

As you can see, it claims to be 100% FULLY automated!  When I read that, not myself nor my client should ever have to intervene AT ALL!!  Not me or my client should ever have to log on to any dashboards at all and do anything.

Well this is CLEARLY not the case. and I will explain what I am referring to.

Over the past few days, I have been PUSHING HARD for my clients to purchase the FULL SpamExperts suite.  Incoming, Outgoing AND Email Archiving but I'll get to the archiving part after this section.

The reality is this.  When a NEW account is created, there are NO introductory emails with instructions sent to the client.  The only time that an email is sent to the client is if for ANY reason whatsoever, the MX records could not be updated automatically as per this knowledge base article here: https://docs.whmcs.com/SpamExperts_via_WHMCS_MarketConnect

The above is the ONLY condition and the ONLY time a welcome email gets sent to the client for his addon product and the ONLY information that is contained within is the MX record settings.

Now, this is all good if the client ONLY and EVER purchases the Incoming Spam Filtering option but if the client purchases the OUTGOING option as well, automation completely falls apart!

There is NO automation of the SPF record but rather WHMCS and MarketConnect have deemed it satisfactory to explain this setup configuration in this knowledgebase article here which the client NEVER sees or is NEVER informed about rather than automate the updating of the SPF record.: https://marketplace.whmcs.com/help/connect/kb/spamexperts_email_services/outgoing_filtering/setting_up_spf 
So I opened a ticket with WHMCS MarketConnect and this is the response I got:

"Unfortunately, we cannot automatically set up the SPF for a domain with the cPanel credentials, it is not possible."

"Wait...WHAT??  It's not possible to edit the DNS zone file?  But you just updated it for the MX records and you left a nice little note in the admin notes on the clients addon package of the previous MX record before updating them, but you can't update the SPF record as well?  HUH?...WHAT?" So much for 100% fully automated!

There is NO automation of any outgoing authentication accounts.  Granted that if it's a brand new hosting package, there will be none to create on SpamExperts and in this case, you simply send an email to the client explaining to them how to create the outgoing accounts.  However, if it is purchased as an addon AFTER the hosting account already exists, then it does not use the cPanel API with my SERVERS Admin hash password to query the domains existing email accounts and automatically provision the outgoing email accounts with the same password that is used on cPanel. Essentially this is what the client will use anyway for the outgoing authentication prefix. So, NO AUTOMATION WHATSOEVER here.
So I opened a ticket with WHMCS MarketConnect and this is the response I got:

"Outgoing users requires the setting of the email prefix, the bit before the @domain.com, and a password, so there's no way to automate that as it's the client's personal choice."

"So you can't use the cPanel API to query the email accounts for the domain in question and simply create the same outgoing email authenticated users because you say that it's the clients personal choice?  Have you seen this cPanel API function?  https://documentation.cpanel.net/display/DD/UAPI+Functions+-+Email%3A%3Aaccount_name In what world will the client anything other than the same prefix he used for his email account?  If his email is bobby@mydomain.com, why would anyone in their right mind set their outgoing authentication user to anything else like maybe jill@mydomain.com.  Come on....really?" So much for 100% fully automated!

If OUTGOING has been purchased, there is NO welcome email sent with ANY settings at all explaining ANYTHING to the client that purchased the service.  The client is completely in the dark!
So I opened a ticket with WHMCS MarketConnect and this is the response I got:

"Unfortunately, we cannot automatically set this up. The workflow is that the customer logs into SpamExperts and creates the outgoing email accounts via the SpamExperts dashboard and during that process, they are provided with the email client configuration parameters by the SpamExperts control panel."

"So, the fact that the word "Workflow" is mentioned here proves that there is NO automation of this at all.  There is also NO email that goes out to the client telling them what to do.  MarketConnect is just expecting the client to know what comes next." So much for 100% fully automated!

 

Second, we have:
EMAIL ARCHVING IS DISABLED BY DEFAULT

With EVERY email archiving license purchased, you have to manually log on to Spam Experts and navigate to Archive -> Status and enable the archiving.  I mean??? really?  This should simply be switched on guys!  ugh!  So much for 100% fully automated!
So I opened a ticket with WHMCS MarketConnect and this is the response I got:

"If it requires a manual step in the dashboard to enable that doesn't sound good, I will be in contact with SpamExperts about this immediately."

"Ok, at least you're sensible on that one"

 

Lastly, we have:
ADDITIONAL ARCHIVING STORAGE LICENCES FOR SPAMEXPERTS

So one of the things that stood out to me was that if my clients archive all their emails, incoming and outgoing, and they want to keep all emails they ever send and receive, then 10GB is not going to be enough.  Especially if the client has 20+ email accounts all sending and receiving every day.

So I saw this FAQ and thought AWESOME!  We can just sell more storage licenses if they need it.  So I sold some SpamExperts licenses with archiving to my clients and lo and behold, I was asked about additional storage and I said to the client, "No worries, you can just buy more 10GB licenses if and when you need it!" as this is what I saw on the FAQ landing page that is provided to us and the client was happy with that answer.

but something occurred to me.  I didn't see this option in the products page of MarketConnect.  There is no "additional 10GB license" product to be purchased.  So I was perplexed as to how this was going to work
and....you guess it, I opened a ticket with WHMCS MarketConnect and this is the response I got:

"we cannot offer any extra storage space onto existing products. Any additional space would have to bought through SpamExperts directly as extra 10gb licenses."

I sat in my chair thinking....
"Is this guy for real? This guy expects me to tell my client to contact SpamExperts themselves to get them to add an additional 10GB of storage through SpamExperts directly on to his account which essentially REMOVES me as his host (by the way, so much for white label) from the process and removing the opportunity to make any profit off of the additional 10GB license for the extra storage."

I am GOBSMACKED at the false advertising and misleading marketing material just to get people to sign up with MarketConnect!  Please be careful in future BEFORE signing up with MarketConnect.

Know what you're in for as it is NOT by ALL means 100% FULLY AUTOMATED as they claim it to be and some products are NOT available as advertised!

[bear]

1 hour ago, bluesteam said:

SpamExperts themselves to get them to add an additional 10GB of storage through SpamExperts directly on to his account which essentially REMOVES me as his host (by the way, so much for white label) from the process and removing the opportunity to make any profit off of the additional 10GB license for the extra storage

One of many reasons I don't enable the marketplace in mine. 😉

[wp4all]

😂

I feel with you.

I Stopped the market because I got more trouble than benefits from it.

Unfortunately I've got still credit there but I will survive it.

Greetings Christian

[bluesteam]

The sad thing is that it can be a good source of profits but they make it so admin intensive for the more complicated products after claiming it is so easy!

[Kian]

1 hour ago, bluesteam said:

My Story!  PLEASE bear with me!

 

26 minutes ago, bear said:

One of many reasons I don't enable the marketplace in mine. 😉

🤣

Why am I so stupid? 😪 I deserve a ban.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back on topic, I understand your frustration. That's why I hate my sister. She works for a marketing company and she crafts pages like that.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Kian

[Remitur]

Just for getting something useful: does exist any way to remove the MarketConnect widget from the home page of the admin area?
It's huge, I find it always in the middle of it, and being totally unused it would be a good thing to remove it... 🙄

[wp4all]

Press the cross on top right

[bluesteam]

@Remitur please don't hijack my thread.  Please start your own!

[HH-cjh]

First of all @bluesteam good post! 

Second, i am disabling this fully from our services.

I am speechless. 

[yggdrasil]

Market Connect is a bad idea. I think you will see that me and others criticized this before it was launched, already in beta. Its nothing but a fancy affiliate system on which WHMCS is reselling your customer services and making some money. Do you seriously want this? After the hard work and investment just give them over your customers?

Basically what the market place is the following:

WHMCS buys the service from a vendor, lets say SpamExperts, they sell it back to you, you sell it back to the customer. You see the problem here?

You can just sign up directly with SpamExperts and skip WHMCS, why would you make your service more expensive and try to pass it trough more hands? Less is better. Less complications.

As for the automation process, nothing is automated. You need to make the changes manually on your server, the automated thing they mentioned is just for selling the service and creating the account.

Its even much worse. For those that are not using MarketConnect we are still forced to have all those files downloaded in our server using space and making the whole WHMCS installation more bloated, even if we are not using it and never will. This means WHMCS is just going to get bigger and bigger as they add new services into MarketConnect. It seems their opt-out is not really opt-out when I see all those files sitting on my server.

Even if this worked completely automated, trust me on this. WHMCS is not going to support your customers in case you have any problems. They barely support us as customers, let alone will they support third party users for services that are not even from them but they are just reselling. My advise is going directly with the vendors, even if its more expensive you have a direct connection and deal with them. You can replicate or copy the whole marketing content from MarketPlace in your website the same way and SpamExperts and more other vendors have WHMCS modules that work directly with your WHMCS account.

The storage thing. WHMCS just copied what SpamExperts offers directly in terms of marketing text, they didn't bother to check if their  market connect services works or not with that. You would not have those problems if you had a direct agreement with SpamExperts, even upgrading storage would be a click on your account, their official WHMCS module supports all that. Marketconnect will always be limited to only what WHMCS decided to code in, that means it will be always be inferior to the official module a vendor provides as they can and will most likely support all their services.

Edited November 9, 2018 by yggdrasil

[bear]

10 hours ago, Kian said:

Why am I so stupid? 😪 I deserve a ban.

Not getting it. Joke? Dig?

[Kian]

He said "please bear with me" then I saw your post and your nickname. Don't worry, I'm already embarrassed.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Kian

[bluesteam]

5 hours ago, yggdrasil said:

Market Connect is a bad idea. I think you will see that me and others criticized this before it was launched, already in beta. Its nothing but a fancy affiliate system on which WHMCS is reselling your customer services and making some money. Do you seriously want this? After the hard work and investment just give them over your customers?

Basically what the market place is the following:

WHMCS buys the service from a vendor, lets say SpamExperts, they sell it back to you, you sell it back to the customer. You see the problem here?

You can just sign up directly with SpamExperts and skip WHMCS, why would you make your service more expensive and try to pass it trough more hands? Less is better. Less complications.

As for the automation process, nothing is automated. You need to make the changes manually on your server, the automated thing they mentioned is just for selling the service and creating the account.

Its even much worse. For those that are not using MarketConnect we are still forced to have all those files downloaded in our server using space and making the whole WHMCS installation more bloated, even if we are not using it and never will. This means WHMCS is just going to get bigger and bigger as they add new services into MarketConnect. It seems their opt-out is not really opt-out when I see all those files sitting on my server.

Even if this worked completely automated, trust me on this. WHMCS is not going to support your customers in case you have any problems. They barely support us as customers, let alone will they support third party users for services that are not even from them but they are just reselling. My advise is going directly with the vendors, even if its more expensive you have a direct connection and deal with them. You can replicate or copy the whole marketing content from MarketPlace in your website the same way and SpamExperts and more other vendors have WHMCS modules that work directly with your WHMCS account.

The storage thing. WHMCS just copied what SpamExperts offers directly in terms of marketing text, they didn't bother to check if their  market connect services works or not with that. You would not have those problems if you had a direct agreement with SpamExperts, even upgrading storage would be a click on your account, their official WHMCS module supports all that. Marketconnect will always be limited to only what WHMCS decided to code in, that means it will be always be inferior to the official module a vendor provides as they can and will most likely support all their services.

You have a lot of very good points but you need to keep in mind the simplicity of MarketConnect.  While it is not fully automated as they claim it to be, it does make it really nice and simple to be able to sell these products as additional products on your platform with very little work involved.

Reselling is reselling.  We are doing the same when we rent a server and split it off to multiple clients.  If we can do it, what makes it so wrong for WHMCS to do it and make some money on the side?  If they make money then who am I to judge as I do the same!

And it's not THAAAT much more expensive for the end user either because if MarketConnect was really as terrible and ugly as it's made out to be, it would not have lasted this long.  There are many businesses benefitting from it.

Most people love the fact that it's all integrated in to their Client Area Dashboard.

Also Keep in mind, I cannot find a single WHMCS module that is developed directly by any of the 4 vendors that MarketConnect offers to integrate their products with WHMCS.

Not Weebly, Not SpamExperts, not Sitelock nor Symantec offer an integrated module that you can download from their website and integrate in to WHMCS and start selling their products.  If they did have something then it would be straight up conflict with the MarketConnect agreement that they have with WHMCS.

So it is a nice thing to have to be able to resell these products as part of our businesses.  It might not be the most amazing reseller pricing but there is profit to be made and I think we need to give them that much at least.

But I digress as the topic of this thread is the false advertising of MarketConnect.  Not the fact that MarketConnect exists at all.  The intention of my thread was not to say that MarketConnect should or shouldn't exist, it was to highlight to people that they should know what they are getting themselves in to before signing up.

[yggdrasil]

45 minutes ago, bluesteam said:

Quote

You have a lot of very good points but you need to keep in mind the simplicity of MarketConnect.  While it is not fully automated as they claim it to be, it does make it really nice and simple to be able to sell these products as additional products on your platform with very little work involved.

It's a piece of cake to go a site like SpamExperts and sign up or email them about reselling their solutions. They will sign you up as Reseller and it should take you 10 minutes to install their module on WHMCS and another 30 to configure your settings based on your pricing and settings, something you have to do anyway with MarketConnect. If you mean the sales pages and marketing? I don't see why WHMCS can't just offer that as a download on their site and you can then just upload them to your site or make them like you do the rest of your website design. Seriously, if you are selling a product or services, even if its reselling your customers expect you to support those products, so even one hour of investment does not seem a lot. If someone really wants to click 1 button and sell something, I'm not sure about you but you will not be even aware what you are selling. You still need to make your research even for basic sales questions and support. I don't see to which public exactly MarketConnect is directed at this point.

Quote

Reselling is reselling.  We are doing the same when we rent a server and split it off to multiple clients.  If we can do it, what makes it so wrong for WHMCS to do it and make some money on the side?  If they make money then who am I to judge as I do the same!

Its very wrong because WHMCS is a company that originally developed software mostly targeted a hosting companies. Hence the name Web Hosting Manager Complete Solution. I do think its wrong for them to sell Weebly and spam filters. Those are hosted services that there customers are probably also selling. Now WHMCS is re-selling this directly?

Not great when they start to compete with their own customers. WHMCS is a software developer company and they have a lot of job to do to improve the software. Seems like cash grab to me. Today, most of their customers are people selling services, mostly related to technology, software, hosting, domains, or IT in general. I do think its horrible for them to try to turn WHMCS into something it was not originally designed for. They should be developing the software, not pushing products and services that some other companies might also sell. How would you feel if you are using WHMCS to resell Spam filter solutions and now WHMCS partnered with SpamExperts? Yes, even SpamExperts uses WHMCS last time I checked for billing and support. Can you imagine if another company selling the same also wants in? This is just bad business, I would not like to use a product that promotes my competition.

Quote

And it's not THAAAT much more expensive for the end user either because if MarketConnect was really as terrible and ugly as it's made out to be, it would not have lasted this long.  There are many businesses benefitting from it.

Seriously? Which business? In the past huge companies like HostDime used WHMCS. Today? Who is using WHMCS? Can you name me just one company that is actually profiting from MarketConnect? Did you earn a lot of money using Marketconnect? From your post here, you are not happy either. It will not last long? I think MarketConnect is less than a year old. So its more or less a very new product.You can do everything that Market Connect does without using it.

Quote

Most people love the fact that it's all integrated in to their Client Area Dashboard.

Something those companies can also do with their modules if they want, or you can as well in case you have a developer. You can sell the same stuff without Market Connect at this point and in a more powerful way. Do you seriously want an order page that is exactly the same all over the Internet. Do you buy a template and just modify the text and call it a day? If yes, I'm not sure if you expect to ever sell something like that. Its a product that works and looks the same for everyone. Why would I buy from a company that does not bother more than 5 minutes to install a product or service? I will just go directly with SpamExperts if you can't offer me a better deal or something more unique or some added valued into your offer. And I will start to wonder why your page for SpamExperts is the same as everyone else except only the price is different. Did you forget on the Internet everything can be searched and is a click away? Your customers are not dumb, if they are buying a spam filter, they know around computers...

Quote

 

Also Keep in mind, I cannot find a single WHMCS module that is developed directly by any of the 4 vendors that MarketConnect offers to integrate their products with WHMCS.

Not Weebly, Not SpamExperts, not Sitelock nor Symantec offer an integrated module that you can download from their website and integrate in to WHMCS and start selling their products.  If they did have something then it would be straight up conflict with the MarketConnect agreement that they have with WHMCS.

So it is a nice thing to have to be able to resell these products as part of our businesses.  It might not be the most amazing reseller pricing but there is profit to be made and I think we need to give them that much at least.

 

That is not true. In fact I have a reseller account with SpamExperst (I don't use) and they have an official WHMCS module, I installed it once and tested and it works great but I don't resell their services. And was also approached by Weebly once and talked on the phone with their sales rep. They offered me a great deal to resell it but I didn't like some of their conditions and neither how easy they can take over your clients. Again, they do have a WHMCS module for this. So at least those 2 companies have an official WHMCS module I used in the past for testing. Make your research as most of those companies if they are reselling something (like most other companies) have an official WHMCS module they support.

Quote

But I digress as the topic of this thread is the false advertising of MarketConnect.  Not the fact that MarketConnect exists at all.  The intention of my thread was not to say that MarketConnect should or shouldn't exist, it was to highlight to people that they should know what they are getting themselves in to before signing up.

It should be a separated product and not part of the official WHMCS installation. Just like the project manager or the chat module. If someone wants to use MarketConnect, no problem. They should download and install the files into their WHMCS. A free module optional module is fine. Pushing this into my WHMCS installation is not fine. Personally, I think that anyone using Market Connect is not serious at all about their business. If you cannot afford to invest a little of your time to resell something, it means you are not serious about it either. Any business will require some investment on your part, with money, time or both.

 

[yggdrasil]

Did you even searched the modules? Here, it took me 10 seconds:

SpamExperts:

https://kb.spamexperts.com/227825/

Weebly:

https://www.weebly.com/whmcs

SiteLock is offered from multiple other resellers that have modules. Example:

https://marketplace.whmcs.com/product/2102

Symantec? That company does not sell SSL's anymore. The information on WHMCS and Market Connect is wrong. Symantec sold their SSL division to DigiCert, so there are no Symantec SSL's anymore.

There are multiple modules for that company as well from third party vendors or companies that sell SSL certificates. Assuming you even think selling SSL means any profit today because unless you are not aware, Lets Encrypt is free. Nobody is paying for SSL web certificates anymore unless they require a specific type of SSL that Lets Encrypt is not offering. And those corporate customers are very unlikely to buy those expensive certificates from a company reselling them with MarketConnect 😂

You are wrong about the agreement they have with WHMCS. Its not an exclusive agreement in any sort. You can sign up and be a partner or reseller from all those companies directly, even using WHMCS the software. WHMCS the company is just one more reseller from others...

You don't get those services exclusively from WHMCS Market Connect. Anyone that signs up directly with them will most likely have a better pricing than you have, because WHMCS also wants its cut from the deal without actually doing anything. This is why Market Connect is such a terrible bad idea. 2 persons (you and WHMCS) are already having a cut on the deal. You are a reseller from a reseller. Your end customer is paying 3 persons here, the original vendor like SpamExperts, you using Market Connect, and WHMCS.

Edited November 10, 2018 by yggdrasil

[bluesteam]

31 minutes ago, yggdrasil said:

Did you even searched the modules? Here, it took me 10 seconds:

SpamExperts:

https://kb.spamexperts.com/227825/

Weebly:

https://www.weebly.com/whmcs

SiteLock is offered from multiple other resellers that have modules. Example:

https://marketplace.whmcs.com/product/2102

Symantec? That company does not sell SSL's anymore. The information on WHMCS and Market Connect is wrong. Symantec sold their SSL division to DigiCert, so there are no Symantec SSL's anymore.

There are multiple modules for that company as well from third party vendors or companies that sell SSL certificates. Assuming you even think selling SSL means any profit today because unless you are not aware, Lets Encrypt is free. Nobody is paying for SSL web certificates anymore unless they require a specific type of SSL that Lets Encrypt is not offering. And those corporate customers are very unlikely to buy those expensive certificates from a company reselling them with MarketConnect 😂

You sir are a gem in the rough!  Thank you for pointing this out to me.  I could not find it.  For the life of me I searched but couldn't find anything.  I think Google has a cold on my PC!  😛

I think it's interesting though that they still include those modules after making direct agreements with WHMCS.  It is at the end of the day a direct conflict.

One thing that you are not mentioning though is that in order to resell those products directly with the vendors and get the cost pricese available to you as a resellers you have to sign up with their reseller/partner programs and commit to selling X-amount of products in order to keep those special price rates available to you. I admit that I haven't gone in to researching each reseller/partner program for each vendor but I suspect that this is how it's done.  You are welcome to correct me if I am wrong but you don't have to do this with MC.  You automatically get the better pricing through MC.

Personally I don't sell Sitelock because I think its a useless product.

Regarding the use of the word Symantec, it was purely because that is the logo that is thrown around on MC.  It's symantics for Symantec at the end of the day.  See what I did there 😉  LOL

You are correct in saying the SSL certificates are becoming a questionable product to sell but then I wasn't only referring to ssl certificates. I was referring to the entire product suite of MC.  It was purely academic to mention SSL certificates but there is profit to be made from the other platforms as well and I stand by my point of reselling is reselling at the end of the day.  I can't judge WHMCS for doing exactly what I do.

But please lets try get off the topic of whether MarketConnect should exist or not.  The topic of this post is all about the false advertising of it.  not the existence of it.

Edited November 10, 2018 by bluesteam

[yggdrasil]

14 minutes ago, bluesteam said:

Quote

 

You sir are a gem in the rough!  Thank you for pointing this out to me.  I could not find it.  For the life of me I searched but couldn't find anything.  I think Google is a cold on my PC!  😛

 

 

 

Well that is your problem right there 😊 . Google sandboxes results to your local country, language and interests based on the spy data they have on you (Android, previous searches, Gmail, etc). Seriously, the results will be just horrible and you will never find anything new except things that "Google things" you want.  I don't use Google for years and dropped most of their products and services. I use DuckDuckGo.com for search, always clean results and new stuff that does not even appear with Google.

Quote

I think it's interesting though that they still include those modules after making direct agreements with WHMCS.  It is at the end of the day a direct conflict.

Not really. Those companies want to sell more. Why would they stop their current agreements with other people that might be selling more than WHMCS with Market Connect? I don't think you would either. And I suppose WHMCS is not paying them money for those agreements either. They just got a preferential deal. In the end, companies want more profits. And having more resellers is good for business !!!

Quote

One thing that you are not mentioning though is that in order to resell those products directly with the vendors and get the cost pricese available to you as a resellers you have to sign up with their reseller/partner programs and commit to selling X-amount of products in order to keep those special price rates available to you. I admit that I haven't gone in to researching each reseller/partner program for each vendor but I suspect that this is how it's done.  You are welcome to correct me if I am wrong but you don't have to do this with MC.  You automatically get the better pricing through MC.

I think with Weebly that was the case but in reality I think most vendors have different programs. They will probably make a different deal with everyone depending on commitment. Even if there is some commitment, that is normal if you expect to get a lower price and makes sense. If they give you a lower price for 1 account, then why would your customer not just sign up with them directly? If your customers signs up with you, its because it's a bit cheaper or they something of value (like your customer support). Your customers will probably not buy 100 weebly or spam filter accounts, but you would if you resell them. This is true in other products in other sort of business, a store gets cheaper prices because they order in bulk. You can't expect to get the same price if don't buy in bulk.

Quote

Personally I don't sell Sitelock because I think its a useless product.

Agree, I don't see value either. Its not that its completely worthless but I never had anyone asking me for this either. I guess CloudFlare just took their business since its free and SiteLock is not.

Quote

You are correct in saying the SSL certificates are becoming a questionable product to sell but then I wasn't only referring to ssl certificates. I was referring to the entire product suite of MC.  It was purely academic to mention SSL certificates but there is profit to be made from the other platforms as well and I stand by my point of reselling is reselling at the end of the day.  I can't judge WHMCS for doing exactly what I do.

WHMCS was not aware of this either. Most companies or providers are offering SSL for free with some services, hence makes no point to buy them unless you are selling EV, SAN or code signing certificates. I don't think there is money to be made here. SpamExperts on the other part works great and Weebly does offer a great value as well for people that need a click and point web builder. I did had people asking about Weebly before in other sites, so it seems popular enough to give it a try but there is also Wix which I think is even more popular than Weebly.

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by yggdrasil

[bluesteam]

7 minutes ago, yggdrasil said:

I think with Weebly that was the case but in reality I think most vendors have different programs. They will probably make a different deal with everyone depending on commitment. Even if there is some commitment, that is normal if you expect to get a lower price and makes sense. If they give you a lower price for 1 account, then why would your customer not just sign up with them directly? If your customers signs up with you, its because it's a bit cheaper or they something of value (like your customer support). Your customers will probably not buy 100 weebly or spam filter accounts, but you would if you resell them. This is true in other products in other sort of business, a store gets cheaper prices because they order in bulk. You can't expect to get the same price if don't buy in bulk.

I don't question the merits behind a program that says that if you sell more you get better pricing.  not at all.  I completely agree with that but for small business and new players, it's difficult to get in the game when you can't compete with the bigger players.  My point was just that with MC, you don't have to go through the admin and trouble to make those agreements and debate and fight for that $1 or $2 for a cheaper price.  It is definitely convenient to the reseller to just automatically have those agreements in place with very little effort.  So my point is that there is a place for MC for the smaller resellers.

7 minutes ago, yggdrasil said:

Not really. Those companies want to sell more. Why would they stop their current agreements with other people that might be selling more than WHMCS with Market Connect? I don't think you would either. And I suppose WHMCS is not paying them money for those agreements either. They just got a preferential deal. In the end, companies want more profits. And having more resellers is good for business !!!

Well, it is a direct conflict but that doesn't mean they have to stop their current agreements with their current resellers.  They obviously just don't care or don't see it as a problem.

but again, we should be talking about the false advertising of MC.  not the existence of MC.

Edited November 10, 2018 by bluesteam

[bear]

9 hours ago, yggdrasil said:

Nobody is paying for SSL web certificates anymore unless they require a specific type of SSL that Lets Encrypt is not offering.

Not in our experience. Though we've offered the free certs to those that ask, every single one opted for a paid certificate instead, even if just a cheap Comodo one. My customers aren't always the most technically savvy, but the notion of something free to secure them is apparently off putting. Your result will most likely vary.

[bluesteam]

14 hours ago, bear said:

Not in our experience. Though we've offered the free certs to those that ask, every single one opted for a paid certificate instead, even if just a cheap Comodo one. My customers aren't always the most technically savvy, but the notion of something free to secure them is apparently off putting. Your result will most likely vary.

This is also my experience so far.  people seem to favor a paid product.

[bluesteam]

On the topic of additional SpamExperts storage licenses in the event that clients need more storage,  this is the final stake in the ground from WHMCS MarketConnect Support:

Original Post of Support Ticket

Quote

Hello,

I simply have a question. Email Archiving with SpamExperts offers 10GB of compressed storage. How do I order additional storage for a client who requires MORE than 10GB of email archiving storage?
I don't see the option.

Please let me know soonest.

WHMCS MarketConnect Support Reply

Quote

Hello,

Unfortunately, we don't offer any additional storage space with our SpamExperts products. If your client would really like the product but with extra storage, they will need to get it from SpamExperts directly.

Sorry for any inconvenience and if you have any further questions please let me know.

My Reply

Quote

Then again I call "False Advertising" because the following is stated clearly under your own FAQ section of the landing pages provided to us:

HOW MUCH EMAIL CAN I STORE?
Email Archiving includes 10GB of compressed email storage by default. If you need more storage, additional 10GB licenses can be added.

WHMCS MarketConnect Support Reply

Quote

Hello,

Yes, this is correct, we cannot offer any extra storage space onto existing products. Any additional space would have to bought through SpamExperts directly as extra 10gb licenses.

If you have any further questions please let me know.

My Reply

Quote

Hi,

Your reply makes it sound like its just supposed to be understood by ALL the clients that additional 10GB licenses need to be bought directly with SpamExperts.

That is not what the FAQ is showing this to be the process. My original query about this ticket was to ask you HOW am I supposed to do that. How do I go about getting additional storage? The client is not going to know how to do that. I also do not know what the process is.

Please give me a step by step guide on what the process is to add additional storage options to the SpamExperts license that my client has purchased through MarketConnect as indicated in the FAQ.

How do I charge my client and how does my client pay?

Surely you WHMCS can't expect me to tell my client to go directly to SpamExperts when I am the one selling him the license?

Are you for real right now?!?!?

WHMCS MarketConnect Support Reply

Quote

Hello,

I am waiting to speak with our SpamExperts contact on the best way to purchase the additional storage. Please remain patient and I will get back with an answer before the end of the day.

Thanks for understanding.

WHMCS MarketConnect Support Came back to me

Quote

Hello,

Sorry I was waiting for confirmation on the process. Currently, you will need to go through myself or SpamExperts directly to get the additional storage space added to a domain.

There is no way to buy additional storage from the client area yet but this is something we are looking to add in the future.

If you have any further questions please let me know.

My Reply

Quote

Hi,

Ok, So let's say I log ticket here with you to do it for me. How do I charge the client and how do I pay for it and how will it be recurring or what??

Does anyone at WHMCS realise how incovenient this is and again...I call fake advertising. I am EXTREMELY dissapointed in MarketConnect.

I am actually now in the process of signing up with each vendor offered through MarketConnect because the MC platform just feels like it has roped me in to something that isn't living up to its claims.

WHMCS MarketConnect Support Reply

Quote

Hello,

I understand your concern with the process to get additional storage but the current demand doesn't justify a new product. At the moment we are happy with dealing with the additional storage requests internally until we see otherwise.

Sorry to hear you are looking at moving away from Market Connect, the service still makes sense for hosting accounts within WHMCS that could get the most out of the automatic configuration. Besides from SpamExperts outgoing product, the other services require little to no configuration from the admin.

If you have any further questions on MarketConnect and how to get the best out of it please let me know.

My Reply

Quote

You're calling it a new product and I'm calling it an obvious requirement that should have been there from the beginning. Especially since WHMCS added it in their FAQ.

At the moment we are happy with dealing with the additional storage requests internally until we see otherwise.

You might be happy with that approach but you still haven't told me how I am supposed to charge my client and what the steps on my side would be to maintain this additional license.

Sorry to hear you are looking at moving away from Market Connect, the service still makes sense for hosting accounts within WHMCS that could get the most out of the automatic configuration. Besides from SpamExperts outgoing product, the other services require little to no configuration from the admin.

You're forgetting the email archiving that isn't enabled by default! not to mention the false advertising stating that everything is 100% fully automated and it's not.

So yes, I am planning on moving away the first chance I get and other's have even stated that to enable it is simply stupid.

 

So there you have it, more claims that additional storage can simply be added under the FAQ and yet it's not the case as we have to log a ticket directly with WHMCS or SpamExperts to obtain additional licenses.

So many claims that MarketConnect is automated and Wonderful and then this!

Stay away from this platform people!  While the concept is amazing, it just doesn't live up to it's claims.

Edited November 14, 2018 by bluesteam

[brian!]

On 14/11/2018 at 06:04, bluesteam said:

Stay away from this platform people! 

additionally, don't forget that MarketConnect has been around for 18 months - so these issues should have been ironed out by now.

... and when someone @ WHMCS says "this is something we are looking to do in the future", my heart just sinks... it really does. 😢