We all understand your business need to cater to your larger resellers, but to completely diss your smaller resellers is - as has been stated so well in the past - against the very Zen of what makes OpenSRS, OpenSRS.
I would be completely in favor of a two-tiered referral system, where you list your preferred resellers in one area, and the rest of us in another - alphabetically or randomly, or some other equally arbitrary manner (though random is probably the most fair method). To not be listed anywhere on the OpenSRS domain sales website has cost us several hundred registrations in the past year, based on the referral/sales that we tracked before we were removed from the referral lists. This number of new clients means _nothing_ to the larger resellers - who are rumored to already be getting a better wholesale price than we are - but it can be a significant way to grow clients with the smaller reseller. Most of our clients come back and register more than their original domains, and most recommend us to their friends and associates. This business growth mechanism has simply been stripped from the smaller reseller - and it still pains me when I think of it. The Zen of OpenSRS has been significantly damaged by this move. I hope that it's not ultimately a fatal blow. Remember that it's the larger reseller who will eventually get large enough to split from you and become ICANN accredited themselves. It's the smaller reseller who needs assistance to become a larger reseller - and make both you, and us, more money along the way. -Tim -- myOstrich Internet http://www.myostrich.net
