Reseller
A company that sells domain registrations under their own brand but routes the actual registration through an ICANN-accredited registrar's reseller API. Common for hosting providers.
How to spot one
Check the public WHOIS — the ‘Sponsoring Registrar’ field shows the underlying ICANN-accredited entity, not the brand you bought from.
Trade-offs
Resellers often offer better support + bundled hosting but may charge above raw registry rates. For pure registration value, going direct to a top-tier registrar usually wins on price.