Child panels explained: how they differ from a main panel

A child panel is a separate SMM panel, with its own brand and its own customers, that gets all of its services from another panel: the parent. The child panel owner sets their own prices and runs their own business, but every order they take is fulfilled through the parent panel.

If you run a panel on PanelHubs, you can sell child panels to your customers and bill them monthly. For you, that means a recurring fee plus a steady flow of orders. For the buyer, it means having their own panel without dealing with providers directly.

How a child panel works

Think of it as a shop that stocks its shelves from one wholesaler. The flow looks like this:

1. A customer visits the child panel, adds funds using the child panel's payment methods and places an order.
2. The child panel buys that service from the parent panel, at the parent's price for that child panel.
3. The parent panel sends the order to its own provider, as it does for any other order.
4. Statuses travel back down the chain, so the end customer sees their order progress on the child panel.

The child panel owner earns the difference between their selling price and what they pay the parent. The parent earns its usual margin on the order, plus the monthly fee for the child panel itself.

Child panel vs main panel: the key differences

Where services come from

A main panel connects directly to one or more providers through the SMM API v2. It chooses which providers to use, sets backup providers and manages provider balances. A child panel has a single source: its parent panel. It does not need provider relationships of its own.

Pricing control

Both set their own prices for their own customers. The difference is the cost underneath. A main panel's cost is the provider price. A child panel's cost is the parent panel's price, so the parent's pricing decides how much room the child has.

Responsibility

A main panel owner handles provider problems, failed orders and refills with providers. A child panel owner relies on the parent for all of that, while still being responsible for their own customers, support and payments.

Who it suits

Main panels suit people who want full control and are ready to manage providers. Child panels suit people who mainly want to sell, with less setup and less to manage behind the scenes.

Who buys child panels?

Your best child panel buyers are often already your customers. Look for:

• Active resellers who place many orders and sell to their own audience, for example a reseller in Kigali with a busy Telegram channel.
• Small agencies that want a branded ordering page for their clients, such as a social media agency in Johannesburg.
• Influencers and community leaders with a following who want to offer services under their own name.
• New entrepreneurs who want to test the business before committing to providers of their own.

If a customer keeps asking how they can start a panel, a child panel may be the right first step for them.

Pricing your child panels

There are two parts to think about: the monthly fee and the service prices the child panel pays you.

• The monthly fee should cover your effort in supporting child panel owners, and reflect the value of having a ready-made panel. Keep it low enough that a small reseller can still make a profit in their first months.
• Service prices for child panels should leave the child owner enough margin to sell at a competitive retail price. If your price to the child panel is the same as your retail price, they cannot compete with you. Many owners give child panels reseller-level pricing, using a discount level or custom prices.

As a worked example only: if you sell a service at $2 per 1,000 to the public and at $1.50 to child panels, a child panel could sell at $1.90 and still earn a margin while staying close to your public price.

Managing child panels well

A child panel's reputation depends on yours. If your services are slow, their customers complain to them, and they complain to you. A few habits keep the relationship healthy:

• Keep services reliable. Use backup providers, watch failed orders and keep your provider balances topped up.
• Communicate changes. When prices or services change, child panel owners need to know. A service updates page and broadcasts help here.
• Give clear rules. Explain what child panel owners may and may not do, including following each social platform's rules, being honest with their customers and never selling engagement as real people when it is not.
• Support them like partners. Answer their tickets quickly. They are customers who bring you other customers.

Child panels also work well alongside your API. Some resellers prefer to connect their own system using your API v2; others prefer a ready panel. Offering both covers more of the market. For a wider view of these income streams, see the SMM panel as an online business.

Getting started

Child panels let your best customers grow their own business while bringing more orders to yours. If you want to build a panel that can support resellers and child panels from the start, create your panel on PanelHubs.