IPTV Reseller Credits Explained: What One Point Buys

Credits, also called points, are the currency of every reseller panel. They decide what each customer costs you, how much margin you make and how often you need to top up. Most confusion new resellers have about money comes down to not quite understanding how points work. This guide explains exactly what one point buys, how plans of different lengths and sizes use points, how to work out your true cost per customer, and how to manage your balance so you never run short.

What a credit point is

A credit point is a unit of service time held in your panel. One point creates one month of service for one device. That is the basic rule, and everything else is built on it.

You buy points in packages. You spend them when you create or renew a line for a customer. You set your own retail price, and the customer never sees points at all: they just see the plan and the price you quote.

Think of points as wholesale stock that never goes off. You buy it once, it sits in your panel, and you draw on it as you sell.

Points never expire

This is the most important property of points, and the one that should shape how you buy them. Unused points stay in your balance indefinitely. There is no monthly fee to keep the panel open, and nothing drains in the background while you are not selling.

The practical consequence is simple: there is no reason to buy more points than you will use soon. Buying a large package early does not save you money if the points sit unused for a year. Start small, and move to larger packages as your customer base grows and you can see your monthly usage clearly.

When points are spent

Points are deducted all at once, when a line is created or renewed, for the full duration of that plan. A 12-month line takes its points on day one. Nothing more is taken from your balance until it is renewed.

Some useful consequences:

• Editing a line, such as changing its password, costs nothing.
• Free trials, within your daily allowance, cost nothing.
• Your balance only falls when you make a sale or renewal, so it is easy to match spending to income.

The consumption table

Here is how many points each plan uses. Longer plans and plans with more devices cost more points in total, but fewer per device per month.

Look at the 12-month row. Two devices for a year would be 24 points if the rate were flat, but it is 22. Five devices would be 60, but it is 47. That saving goes straight into your margin, which is why longer, larger plans are worth more to you than short single-device ones.

Working out your cost per point

Divide the price of your package by the number of points it contains.

Check the pricing page for every package and tier. Your cost per point is the number everything else depends on, so write it down and keep it in front of you whenever you quote a price.

Working out your cost per customer

Multiply the points a plan uses by your cost per point. At $4.00 a point:

• 1 month, 1 device: 1 point, $4.00
• 6 months, 1 device: 6 points, $24.00
• 12 months, 1 device: 12 points, $48.00
• 12 months, 2 devices: 22 points, $88.00
• 12 months, 3 devices: 31 points, $124.00

This is your cost of goods. Your margin is your retail price minus this number. But remember that it is not your only cost: time spent on support, payment fees and trials that do not convert all come out of the margin too. The guide on pricing your service goes into this in detail.

A worked example

Imagine you buy the Starter package: $400 for 100 points. Over your first two months you sell:

• 4 customers on 1 month, 1 device: 4 points
• 5 customers on 6 months, 1 device: 30 points
• 3 customers on 12 months, 1 device: 36 points
• 1 family on 12 months, 2 devices: 22 points

That is 92 points used and 8 left. You have 13 customers and the cost of serving them was 92 × $4 = $368. Whatever you charged above that is your gross margin. Notice that the annual customers used most of the points but also paid the most up front, and they will not need renewing for a year, which means less work for you.

Notice too that the four monthly customers will need renewing next month. If all four renew, that is 4 more points. If they move to six-month plans, it is 24 points at once, and much less chasing. Steering people towards longer plans reduces your workload as well as improving your rate.

Planning your balance

Running out of points at the wrong moment is a real problem. It usually happens on a weekend, when several renewals land at once and a new customer wants to start immediately. A few simple habits prevent it.

• Know your upcoming renewals. Each week, add up the points needed for lines expiring in the next 14 days.
• Keep a buffer. Hold enough points for those renewals plus a few new sales.
• Top up before you need to, not when you need to. Buying points takes a little time. Do it on a quiet weekday.
• Track usage per month. After two or three months you will know your typical usage, which tells you which package size makes sense.

When to move to a larger package

Larger packages lower your cost per point, which raises your margin on every customer. But they only save money if you use the points.

A sensible rule: move up when your monthly usage would use a larger package within two or three months. If you use 40 points a month, a 100-point package lasts under three months, so stepping up is reasonable. If you use 8 points a month, a large package would sit idle for a year and the "saving" is money tied up for nothing.

At the top end, partner tiers offer a much lower rate per point and add the ability to create your own sub-resellers. That is a different stage of the business, covered in the sub-reseller guide.

Common misunderstandings about points

• "Points run down every day." They do not. They are spent once, at creation or renewal.
• "Unused points are lost at the end of the month." They are not. They never expire.
• "A two-device plan costs double." It costs slightly less than double, and the gap grows on longer plans.
• "Trials use points." Not within your daily allowance.
• "Changing a password costs a point." Editing a line is free.

Explaining plans to customers without mentioning points

Customers do not need to know about points, and talking about them can confuse people. Quote plans in plain terms: duration, number of screens, price. "12 months on two TVs is $160" is all they need to hear.

The only part of the point system customers do need to understand is connections. Make sure they know that a one-device plan means one screen watching at a time, even if the app is installed on several devices.

How points affect your cash flow

Because points are bought up front and spent all at once when a line is created, they shape your cash flow in a way worth understanding.

When a customer buys a 12-month plan, you receive a year's payment on day one and spend a year's points on day one. Your margin is realised immediately. That is good for cash flow, and it is another reason to encourage longer plans.

Monthly customers spread both the income and the point usage across the year. You need to keep enough points in your balance for each renewal, and you only earn the margin a little at a time. If several monthly customers renew on the same weekend, they all draw on your balance together.

A practical approach is to set aside part of every payment for your next point purchase. If you know each customer's renewal costs you a certain number of points, you can make sure the money for those points is always ready before the renewal arrives.

Credits and partner tiers

As your business grows, partner tiers change how credits work for you. On Super Partner, credits are bought in a large block at a much lower rate per point, and you can allocate points to sub-resellers from your own balance at a rate you set. Your credits then do two jobs: they cover your own customers, and they become stock you sell to partners at a margin.

Common questions

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