Domain names will only have a premium for the first year.
New top level domain name company MMX has dropped premium renewals on its inventory of wholly-owned top level domain names.
Previously, its premium domain names came with a higher-than-usual first-year registration price as well as high annual renewal prices. Now, buyers will only have to pay a premium for the first year. Registrants will pay standard renewal prices for subsequent years. Renewal prices vary depending on the top level domain name.
The move comes after MMX brought in a new CEO, Toby Hall, early last year to re-evaluate the business.
“MMX is committed to delivering the most domain-investor-friendly premium name programs in the industry,” Hall said. “We started the process of rebooting our strategy in July last year, when we alerted our many registrar partners that 100% of our premium names sold after January 6th 2017 would have standard, GA renewal prices. As an added incentive to strengthening our existing partnerships and building new ones, we are likewise revisiting the price tiering of all our premium inventory across the portfolio. The upshot of our new Premium Program is that all registrants will ultimately have access to much more affordable purchase opportunities with sharply reduced carrying costs.”
One of the chief complaints of the domain investor community has been that it’s difficult to invest in new top level domain names because they have to pay steep renewal prices each year to hold onto domains. It can often take several years (or more) to sell a domain to an end user, so the renewal costs add up. Also, it’s difficult to buy a domain name in a new TLD because of the need to verify if it comes with expensive renewal fees.
Rightside, another new top level domain name company, recently announced that it was lowering renewal prices on so-called Platinum Names which cost $25,000 or more to register. MMX’s price change takes this a large step further, applying to all newly-registered premium domain names.
“The ultimate goal of the Program and the wider initiatives MMX is putting in place is simple: we want to demonstrate we are great partners to have in your corner,” Solomon Amoako, VP of Channel Management for MMX, said. “If you’re a domain investor, a registrar, an aftermarket platform, a broker, or an affiliate, we’re here to structure deals that can provide excellent profit potential both for yourselves and your end-customers.”
You saw club offering financing, now this.
This is a great move, you still capture a upfront boost, and then you retain that renewal, as opposed to sitting unregistered.
I hope others are seeing this.
To many good domains sit idle, this was not the purpose of the gtlds to make off like greedy bandits, it was to offer choice for users of commercial, and non commercial nature.
Nice to see the adjustments. Q: Does this move apply to previously purchased “Premiums” ?
Thanks
I doubt it, once they hook you they will likely keep you at the previously agreed renewal.
ICANN should mandate that all renewal prices be at the normal renewal prices not premium prices. Registry can make their money once and give the investors/registrants a chance to make a little money off of their investment if they can, or use it for their projects without worrying about exuberant renewal prices.