Public Interest Registry to raise wholesale prices of .org domain names.
Public Interest Registry, the registry for .org domain names, has notified ICANN that it is increasing wholesale prices 10%. The annual wholesale price for .org domain name registrations will be $6.75, slightly below the $6.86 rate that .com domains will jump to later this year.
The rational for the price increase? None. At least none that was disclosed to ICANN. The rational is purely for profits, and you can’t blame Public Interest Registry for that. If you’re allowed to increase prices in a monopoly, why not?
In fact, when .biz registry NeuStar raised prices last year, it’s reason for the price hike was that “everyone else was doing it“.
Because of the thin margins on domain registrations, you can expect your favorite domain registrar to pass the costs on to you.
Look for Afilias to jack up prices on .info and NeuStar to add another hike to .biz. NeuStar can raise prices 10% to $7.06 this year.
This is just wrong timing to increase the price. Another blow to consumer.
Great post – No Money = No Honey
Wrong for them, good for us. It’s only 10% higher, who really cares?