Registrar tacks on $1.04 to domain registration prices.
The world’s largest domain name registrar, GoDaddy, has increased its base price for .com domains to $9.99, plus an ICANN fee of $.20, for a total of $10.19 for new registrations.
This move is surprising. Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) increases the wholesale price of .com domain names from $6.00 to $6.42 effective October 14. GoDaddy spoke out about this change on Capitol Hill. But now that the $.42 fee increase is going into effect, GoDaddy has decided it will pass on that full amount plus another $.62 to customers.
Other discount registrars are typically adding between $.40 and $.50 to their registration prices. eNom, the second largest registrar in terms of domains registered, is increasing its prices $.50.
Although GoDaddy has argued against registry price hikes, its arguments have sometimes backfired. For example, until recently it charged more to register a .net domain name than a .com domain name, despite the wholesale price for .net being substantially lower. .Net wholesale prices increased 10% in the current round, but are still price below .com. GoDaddy now charges the same price for .com and .net registrations.
That’s only the superficial downside story.
If you’ve purchased one of their ‘discount club’ memberships (great value if you’ve got 250 + domains) the new cost is $7.05 (including ICAAN). As the old cost was $6.69, from my viewpoint, I’m delighted, as GoDaddy have actually absorbed 6 cents of the rise !!!
It’s a free market. They can charge what they like. And I can go somewhere else for domain name registrations.
The real source of this domain name price hike comes from Verisign, which happens to be a “for profit” company.
If anything, domain name prices should go down since the technology is more affordable and the infrastructure has already been paid for.
Verisign’s decision to increase the price for the domain names’ prices is one thing, ICANN’s inability to stop them in their tracks is another, although it’s equally disturbing.
The lower the domain name prices are, the more democratic the web will stay.
Who will benefit from this price hike? Verisign, some greedy registrars and that’s about it — everybody else is on the losing end of this deal.
Well, I have some 250 names at Godaddy which I renewed with some nice discount prior to the price change. But now, I will not be registering any new names with them at all. I’m an Enom reseller and a .com costs me, with the price increase, $7.45/yr. It’s a no brainer, Enom will be getting my business from now on and the business of plenty of domainers; and as names come up for renewal, well, guess where they’ll end up.