Seedbox providers are the gateway between those who want to start seeding & downloading fast, but don’t possess the DIY know-how to set up a seedbox from scratch through torrent-friendly reseller hosting companies. However, those who seek a seedbox are more knowledgeable than ever before. That’s why as a seedbox provider, it’s becoming an ever-increasing fine line between staying in business and folding up shop. If you’re a seedbox provider/reseller (or aim to be) - here are a few tips on how to stay competitive & successful in a market that already seems to be over-saturated. Regardless, there’s plenty of room for good seedbox providers - when done right.

**1.

The Setup** — Be sure to purchase a domain and create a public site (to promote your services) that non-members can access. Do NOT do this on one of your own servers; be sure it’s hosted separately from the servers that you are using as the seedboxes for your customers. That way, if you run into a problem with one of the seedbox servers, it won’t affect the site. Also, do not host a website that offers your seedbox services on “free hosting” as this looks cheap, and isn’t professional. Most new customers will avoid using you, if that’s the case. If you can’t pay for hosting your site, how can you afford to pay for much-costlier seedbox servers? This has scam written all over it.

**2.

BitTorrent Options** — Don’t go with TorrentFlux as the ONLY seedbox GUI (offer uTorrent WebUI and/or rTorrent). Although, you may wish to include TFlux as an option, but be sure to offer at least one of the other two (uTorrent or rTorrent). Smart seedbox shoppers tend to avoid providers that solely offer TorrentFlux - after all; this is 2009, not 2006.

**3.

rTorrent** — The fastest-growing seedbox client is rTorrent, and for good reason. While it’s not requisite that you offer a web GUI (frontend) for rTorrent, it is highly recommended. wTorrent is popular, but my personal favorite is ruTorrent (it mimics uTorrent running on a home computer). Be advised that rTorrent (backend) version 0.8.5 is now listed as “stable” so be sure to use this version when compiling/installing - it’s already whitelisted on most private trackers.

**4.

VPS Seedboxes:** The Future — Many new seedbox providers are moving away from “shared seedboxes” - so try to also offer actual VPSs for each customer on certain (or all) plans. Some providers only offer VPSs exclusively (SeedboxHosting, SavvySeed and SeedHost.eu are just three examples). While a VPS is really just a “shared dedi”, once most seedbox/bittorrent clients are installed on them, they offer more functionality - such as “superadmin” access in TorrentFlux; or direct uTorrent.exe interaction through a VNC/NX connection. Root access, unlimited FTP accounts and a Control Panel (LXadmin) may also be included.

**5.

100Mbit and up** — Use servers that are connected to at least 100Mbit lines, and advertise this - even if the 100Mbit is shared throughout all accounts on the dedicated server. Better still, get a server that is connected to 1Gbit pipe. Completely avoid anything that limits bandwidth to 10Mbit - read on:

**6.

Avoid new OVH Kimsufi’s** — Try to steer clear of using OVH Kimsufi’s (unless you already have an old one; as any new ones purchased now have monthly throughput limits of 3TB on outside traffic - ie. ‘ non OVH-to-OVH connections’). If you exceed 3TB / month, the connection will be limited to a meagre 10Mbit (from 100). And it’s not a difficult task for power seedbox users to deplete 3TB in short notice. Note: Not all OVH servers are limited in this way (just the Kimsufi product line), but there are many other good hosting alternatives to OVH.

**7.

If anything else, don’t oversell!!** — If you have a good server with great specs (dual quad 4, 4Gb+ RAM, 1 GB connection, etc) then you’ll be able to pack at least 4-5 happy customers on one server. Especially for TorrentFlux - any more than 4 users on a box will cause ALL users to have slow DL speeds and poor interactivity on the seedbox GUI webpage. Pack too many users on the same box = disaster.

**8.

Unlimited everything** — Try to offer “unlimited torrents, unlimited speed”. This goes back to #7. Unless you’re trying to cram 25 users onto one server (not recommended, and I’ve seen this done), you should be able to offer ‘unlimited’ as long as you restrict the number of users per dedi to 8 or less (depending on BOTH the server specs & BT client involved, that is).

**9.

Offer unmetered bandwidth** — Don’t restrict or “cap” the monthly data throughput - nobody wants to have to watch how much downloading or uploading they’re doing; after all, they’re shelling out good money for a box. This looks like one of two things: You’re either overselling the servers; or using server hosting that limits the throughput (i.e. OVH Kimsufi).

**10.

FTP/SFTP** — Be sure to offer FTP downloading (with multithreading), and include an FTP account to all new subscribers. Additionally, include SFTP as an alternative method to transfer files back to the home PC.

**11.

Know your stuff;** inside and out.

• - Compare your seedbox specs and pricing to those of the competition.
• - Offer a variety of plans to choose from. Mix it up: if you offer shared boxes with torrent limits, be sure to also offer VPNs or dedicated plans that come with unlimited torrents.
• - Offer as many BitTorrent client options as possible. People want choices.
• - Keep the setup fees as low as possible.
• - Ban public trackers from being used on the servers.
• - On high-end subscriptions, include a web proxy with the seedbox.
• - Outline pricing/package details so that they’re as simple to comprehend as possible. EliteSeedbox.com is an excellent example of what NOT to do - prices & plans are so sophisticated here, it’s a wonder anyone subscribes.

**12.

Post your server specs** — Mention exactly how many users are sharing each server for each seedbox package. Professional seedbox providers aren’t shy to list the server specs and number of users.

**13.

Offer impeccable customer service.** This includes:

• - Try to setup new seedbox accounts as fast as you possibly can.
• - Respond to emails promptly, and professionally.
• - Offer an online ‘ticket system’ (or similar) for customers to submit queries for assistance.
• - Offer no-hassle money back guarantees. Nobody wants to get involved in a PayPal dispute.
• - Create an online database of tutorials, FAQs and Q&As, in relation to each BT client.

**14.

The Welcome Message** — Very important to get this right. After a new customer subscribes - and you’ve activated their seedbox account - you need to send out an email courteous message welcoming them to the service. You’ll need to include:

• - URL of the seedbox.
• - username/password of the account for logging into the seedbox.
• - FTP & SFTP connection info, with username/password - should this be different from the web login.
• - Proxy / VNC info, or anything else that relates to accessing the server.
• - Support information, such as a specific email address or link to send info that pertains to problems with service.

**15.

Purchasing options** — The more payment options you include, the better. PayPal support is a must-have; others include MoneyBookers, Western Union and credit cards. For PayPal, offer both one-time and subscription (recurring) purchasing options, so customers can decide beforehand which method best suits them. Many seedbox providers only offer a subscription, which then forces the customer to manually remove it in their PayPal account settings.

1. ibrahim Says:

   or try to sell lemon juice.

   thx.

2. The Boxx Says:

   It might have been a good idea to update or create a new Alternative to OVH article before linking to one over a year old Most of those businesses are bad for seedboxes now or no longer exist, and new players are on the market now as well. An updated list would be fantastic.

3. epicSEEDS Says:

   We got into this game about a year ago and really enjoy it (www.epicseeds.com). We have grown tremendously and these points are excellent. I would say the best suggestion is your customer support. We get comments every day on how much better we are than others because you WILL receive a response from us within 12 hours.

   Another thing is to provide the lowest cost possible and not to make a HUGE profit. Consider this as a hobby to make a little cash and not a full blown business.

   This business is a lot of work and will take every minute you have in your day. If you enjoy this type of stuff and are committed you will succeed.

4. anon Says:

   Seed providers please provide western union payments. you would be surprised at the number of people that do not have a debit/credit card!

5. WTH Says:

   @EPICSEEDS, your prices look expensive for me, I prefer xirvik or seedhost.

6. peter law Says:

   dont know why you keep plugging seedboxhosting, i bought a 68 euro box off them over 2 weeks ago it hasnt worked properly since ive had it and they havent answered any of my tickets for the last seven days

7. leon Says:

   Extremeseed.com FTW!

   I’ve been using Extremeseed for a while now and their support is great and services. They offer shared, semi-dedicated (vps style) and dedicated servers which are awesome. I started of with a shared plan and then brought a dedicated server. They have friendly stuff and support is simply brilliant. I only had one issue with them and it was solved within moments. I also recommend seedhost.eu, i used them as well before changing to my new provider.

   10/10.

8. 4bY Says:

   The article is very nice but it would be great if you guys can write a review of good seedboxes out there.There are a lot of them with different configuration and specs.It is like a huge ocean for a small fish who just swimmed in through a small river to choose the right seedbox for them.Like uTorrent/wTorrent/ruTorrent/Torrentflux,1 gig/100mbit,shared or dedi,softwares.
   How does seedbox operate.How to maximise our experience…well I got carried away :P…I mean there is a lot of stuff which as a newbie would like to get expert advice.

   -4bY

9. Huh? Says:

   @4BY, don’t trust anyone who is going to write any review here on FSF. Why? Those people would try to advertise their seedbox company by writing a good review.
   Now it’s your turn to believe it or not.

10. leon Says:

    @ 4bY I understand what you mean.

    Site like these rely on advertisements to run. I’m sure there are 10 or 20 seedbox providers offering a lot of money to get an article posted, or a banner as you can see. So obviously it will be biased if they have one of these review posts.

    Nonetheless, rule number one is to start small. Never get big at first. It really depends what you really want. Is it just for seeding? and downloading the files to your home PC? Or do you need a seedbox to extract and rar files and upload to file sharing sites?

11. Hooligan Says:

    [quote]@Post your server specs — Mention exactly how many users are sharing each server for each seedbox package. Professional seedbox providers aren’t shy to list the server specs and number of users.[/quote]

    Well http://feralhosting.com/plans

    I really dont understand why they are not interested in giving out more specs of their seedboxes ..

    I’ve been looking to get one … but in a dilemma about the no.of users it allots per Seedbox though it is 1Gbps

12. EpicServers Says:

    We have been doing this for about 6 months now. We do not try to advertise our site and we still have many customers that do enjoy and continue doing our service. The key is to know how much you want to invest to create a professional company. With advertising, you can get about 5 new customers a day (or at least we did before we exclusively started offering dedicated servers). And without you get about 2 per week, which is still great, if you have little time and want to earn something on the side.

    And only do this, if you find it fun. We do it, so we can promote filesharing and help people succeed, but it is also prossible to make a respectable amount of money!

    So good luck and thanks for the article sharky !!!

13. davus Says:

    I signed up with Feral Hosting after my box with seedhost.net went down for a week with no communication at all from them about what happened. I was told that there are 4 users per server on the Speed plan and 9 on the Power. I personally am looking again as I am fairly disappointed with the speeds I am getting. But I asked about their refund policy and was told that you can cancel within 7 days with a 20pence transaction charge. I think I am going to take advantage of this and try another host instead.

14. davus Says:

    Oh, its not mentioned but they apparently allow unlimited active torrents and absolutely no public trackers (Pirate Bay, Mininova, etc.) I found this out because I noticed a couple torrents were missing and the Feral staff told me that they actively look for public torrents and will kill them off for you. Yikes, I dont need my host looking that closely at my downloads thank you very much.

15. Stoner Says:

    I think feralhosting are a good company and the power plan is very good for the price you pay.
    i have hit some good speeds on there, 35mB/s in both directions at the same time. I believe they are shared with 9 other users so it can be a little hit and miss depending on who u are sharing with, but there server specs are pretty good, I cant remember excatly but I had access with putty and it was something like a dual quad core with 12gb ram which is most likely ddr3 i would of thought. This is a great guide by the way, but i would love to see some reviews on other companys like OVH but ones that dont imposes the bandwidth limits.

16. Carl Says:

    you can also forget about the setup, customer support, and all the other hassles by becoming an affiliate. It’s what I do, and I make 100% profit.

17. Donnie Veren Says:

    I am not capable of view this website correctly on chrome I think there is a problem

18. wpolscemamymocneseo Says:

    Great article, but a frustrating read, due to the lack of proper punctuation in a lot of spots. Please close your quotations! If this article is following some sort of nouveau grammatical style, of which I’m not aware, I remain frustrated; however, I apologize.

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