Today we learn a valuable lesson from bad registrars. Think of a company like Netsol (Network Solutions) or Enom which does heavy marketing and charges you for their campaigns. Renewal fees at these registrars are $35 and up. For most of us who manage over 250 domains, such costs would obliterate most of our profits on both developed and undeveloped domains. Do you want to contribute to this market-hungry machine? All they need is for you to slip up once and you’ve essentially paid into their system at five times their actual cost. Most marketing companies take into consideration that even those who acquire domain names via transfer are likely to fail to transfer out before expiration and be forced into paying the hefty fee at least once.
I have made this mistake not once, but twice this week. One was a domain which I paid for through DNF (Domain Name Forums) and the previous owner failed to notify me that the domain was expiring in 2 days. Had I paid any attention I would have had the prior registrant renew before transfer (Let’s just say I spent more than $200 so it would have been possible). Either way, I received the expiration notice a bit late and of course had to take action after the fact.
The second error I made came due to negligence. I try to keep on top of my Netsol domains that I acquire through Namejet, and in fact had just transferred about 10 over to Fabulous just a month prior. However, I had determined at that point in time that I would transfer over the November domains a little later. Well, a little later came and went, and I paid $35 for yet another domain that earns $50 on parked annually – and that profit margin was wiped out.
Imagine that you’re car needs maintenance so you bring it to a well-known service company called TheFixIsIn. Your charges for standard brake pads are $35 and service is $40 for a total of $75. However, the serviceman tells you the price you must pay is $400 for the work. When you ask why would you pay a $325 premium he tells you that you have to pay for the marketing agency that branded TheFixIsIn. In addition, your fees go to lobbyists and politicians who create laws for brake pads which allow jobs to be moved overseas to places where they lock 14 year old girls into their cubicles to manufacture pads for your car – without any fire safety systems or rules for child labor.
What exactly are you paying into in your everyday life that corrupts the rest of the world? Your clothes, your car, your health?
It is essential that as domainers we watch our pockets, because things won’t be getting cheaper anytime soon. With revenues down across the board, paying $35 for a registration renewal is nothing less than giving money to corrupt corporations. The free year included with Namejet purchases discounts the cost of holding domains at NS or ENom for a year. But if you make the mistake of holding too long, you’ll pay into the system and the lobbyists and the already too-high fees.
Stop paying into the machine. Think about the following registrars for your transfers. Note these are not affiliate links because I am not marketing anything to anyone.
GoDaddy.com
Moniker.com
Fabulous.com
Name.com
Dotster.com
There are many more to choose from but the above are generally reasonable for most accounts.