Higher price tag applies only to registrations made after March 15, 2019.
The registry for .在线 (xn--3ds443g – “Dot Chinese Online”) is hiking prices by about 25 times for new registrations starting March 15, 2019.
TLD Registry, which operates two Chinese IDN top level domains, confirmed the price hike to Domain Name Wire.
The wholesale price for .在线 will increase from $7.88 to $200.00. It applies to new domain name registrations starting March 15 as well as renewals of those new registrations. Renewals of registrations made before the price increase are grandfathered at the lower price.
There are nearly 50,000 .在线 domains registered.
TLD Registry raised the price on its other TLD–.中文网 (xn--fiq228c5hs – “Dot Chinese Website”)–from $26.00 to $78.00 a couple of years ago.
Arto Isokoski, CEO of TLD Registry, explained that the new price increase “would fulfill the future margin needs of our channel partners and align with a strategy that will rely more on business to business salespeople talking with their customers and our target market.”
.在线 means “Dot Online”, not “Dot Chinese Online”.
Not sure I understand the game plan here. I was under the impression that nobody is using this extension for business. 50K Regis with maybe 500 live sites? Last attempt to make a cash grab before going pulling the cord?