I am considering reselling VPS resources as a small side business—hosting managed WordPress instances for local clients, nothing large-scale. As far as I know, most providers explicitly prohibit this in their TOS, but I have not done a systematic review. My question is: has anyone found a provider that explicitly permits reselling, perhaps with written permission or a specific reseller tier? I would prefer to avoid structuring this through a separate legal entity if possible, though I understand that may be necessary for liability reasons. The GDPR angle is also relevant: if I am the data controller for my clients' sites, I need a DPA with the infrastructure provider, which most budget hosts do not offer.
Can you legally resell VPS resources?
IMO, most TOS are copy-paste jobs that ban reselling by default. YMMV, but I've seen two patterns:
Some providers (Contabo, I think?) allow reselling with written permission, but the process is opaque—no form, just "contact us," and then silence.
Others have a formal reseller program with minimum commits that defeat the purpose for small operations.
Take it with a grain of salt, but I'd read the TOS of every provider you're considering, then email sales directly with your specific use case. Generic questions get generic no's.
In my country, reselling without business registration is illegal anyway. So TOS is only one problem.
Practical question: why not just tell clients to buy direct and you manage it? You lose markup but gain zero legal risk.
Contabo allows reselling. Clause 14.3. Written permission required. Process unclear. I asked twice. First time no response. Second time they sent PDF. PDF had no instructions. Just "contact support". Loop continues. I gave up;
Hi all—Jane from Contabo here. I can clarify our reseller policy directly.
• Written permission is required, yes
• Process: email [email protected] with projected volume and use case
• Typical response time: 3-5 business days
• We do offer DPAs for GDPR-covered arrangements
• No minimum commit for "managed service provider" tier, though this is newer and not well documented
Happy to check specific applications via DM if anyone's waiting on a response.
— Jane @ Contabo