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Should Digital Point become a domain name registrar?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by ceebee, Apr 27, 2017.

  1. #1
    I am not sure if this has been brought up before. But I am sick of the games and scams I have to deal with with sites like GoDaddy...

    I have 58 domain names and would transfer them all to a new DP registrar... be great if there could be a flat rate $10 US/year... forever.

    Thoughts?

    There is enough traffic here right now to make this feasible... it would just be the process of paying the registrar fee - or finding a little registrar that hasn't really gone anywhere...

    Somebody's gotta know something...!!!

    We're getting screwed over... there is an opportunity here.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2017
    ceebee, Apr 27, 2017 IP
  2. Best Seller

    Best Seller Active Member

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    #2
    What's wrong with GoDaddy? I use them for my domain name, site, blog, and online store. No problems.
     
    Best Seller, Apr 27, 2017 IP
  3. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #3
    Well they have taken the $10 domain name and turned it into the $15 - $20 domain name (or more)... bringing up the cost over all.
    They make it very hard to transfer to another registrar.

    They no longer offer refunds for renewals done on the same day.

    They take expired domains and hold onto them for 1 year in an auction.

    They upsell the living sh** out of everything...

    IF you don't pay attention, they auto-renew for 2 years (and won't let you cancel.

    Their hosting is not secure.

    https://www.shivarweb.com/2336/namecheap-or-godaddy/

    Domain names should be a nice flat rate of $10 per year. There is no labor, no work involved.

    The prices went way up when they got bought by suits. It is a shitty company....
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2017
    ceebee, Apr 27, 2017 IP
  4. SolaDrive

    SolaDrive Well-Known Member

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    #4
    It's true, Godaddy is famous for their $10 sign up and registration of the domain but renewals is a whole lot more. Honestly though, there are so many other registrars out there that charge the same flat rate each year with no games, like cheapdomain.com where its $8.99 for registration and renewals. Or just join Godaddys domain club for $120y and then you get domain renewals at a flat rate of $8.69 I think it is.
     
    SolaDrive, Apr 27, 2017 IP
  5. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #5
    I'd love it if food was inflation proof too - and petrol - and clothes, anything else you want to price fix?


    There is an opportunity but there are also a huge number of players in that market. If you can't find a company that works the way you want why not start one yourself. I imagine it's a pretty easy thing to get into.
     
    sarahk, Apr 27, 2017 IP
    Best Seller likes this.
  6. nekowai

    nekowai Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Domain names are too cheap, any idiot can buy domains like butter.
    Domains should cost at least 1 million dollars! 8D
     
    nekowai, Apr 28, 2017 IP
  7. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #7
    re: nekowai - was that english? I have no idea of the point you are attempting to make.

    Well it used to cost $75 at Internic.... then it went down to about $10 - now it has crept back towards $20. It has only crept back as there is again an emerging monopoly... and it doesn't have to be this way.

    GoDaddy is an abysmal registrar - constantly trying to trick you into paying more money.

    Between myself and 2 of my colleagues we have over 250 domains to renew each year - why give all that extra money to a shitty company?
     
    ceebee, May 1, 2017 IP
  8. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #8
    Petrol? I suppose you mean gas?

    The price is being fixed, but not at a low level. There is no labour cost associated with domain registration, so the price should be going down, not up. This is not a non-renewal resource - you can't compare this product to commodities like food or oil.


    The number is shrinking, not growing... less registrars manage more domain names - hence the ability to fix prices.
     
    ceebee, May 1, 2017 IP
  9. Safaseo

    Safaseo Active Member

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    #9
    I would love to see the possibility. I'll definitely buy from dp if they become domain register. :)
     
    Safaseo, May 1, 2017 IP
  10. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #10
    I guess I don't speak Canadian. Down here gas is used for heating and cooking, diesel and petrol are used to fuel vehicles.

    You've never run a business, huh? The owners need dividends to grow, they may have premises with rising rents, they may employ staff who want pay rises, their accountants need paying and the tax bill in their country may rise. There's hosting and advertising - all costs that will grow year by year.
    Hmm, so why are people leaving the business? Why isn't it working out for them? Would you dive into a market that people are avoiding?

    And why don't you want to do it? It would give you the ultimate ability to be part of the price fixing business and help us all out.
     
    sarahk, May 1, 2017 IP
  11. superrichguy

    superrichguy Well-Known Member

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    #11
    I agree, I will sell each of my 500+ domains for $999,999.
     
    superrichguy, May 1, 2017 IP
  12. mike30

    mike30 Well-Known Member

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    #12
    I agree up to some degree, If you think all the infrastructure they are built into, and the use they have, its dirty cheap. But the point of the thread starter is valid too. I think he must re-think to offset those increasing fees(which is normal in this economy)
     
    mike30, May 1, 2017 IP
  13. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #13
    1. Smaller registrars have left the business as the bigger players moved in, fist by undercutting prices, growing their market share, then changing the rules.
    2. Digital Point has a very large user base... many of who are interested in domain names... they could accomplish this due to their member base.

    3. To your point about me. I have my own business and it is going just fine for me, but I am not the owner of a large forum. This is not a suitable business for me, but it would not be a bad step for DP.
     
    ceebee, May 6, 2017 IP
  14. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #14
    If you have that many domains, you no doubt do not enjoy renewing each year.
     
    ceebee, May 6, 2017 IP
  15. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #15
    I've run my business since the 90s. I haven't made the mistake of running a typical B&M type business. I can work from anywhere.

    GoDaddy for years made their money by up-selling the auxilliary services, like hosting, email hosting, auctions, etc.

    You can't take arguably the world's largest domain registrar virtually doubling its registry fee in 18 months and say it's because it's due to expenses. That is incredibly naive.

    You are missing my point however. There are literally 100s of thousands of dissatisfied customers who are simply looking for somewhere else to do business, and this number is increasing as their customer service has deteriorated to the point where it has crossed the line. They are going to NameCheap and those 2 brands are becoming the top two contenders. There is room for one more - and a grass roots based startup would have a good chance.

    So here is a window - and i am posting an idea.

    It's easy for armchair quarterbacks to pick apart an idea - usually people who haven't accomplished much. This post is for ALL DP users to consider... and if is had traction, then it would take on a life of its own.. if not, then this forum is not as busy as I thought.
     
    ceebee, May 6, 2017 IP
  16. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #16
    GoDaddy is a nice reliable domain registrar as long as your site isn't "risky". They are worth the extra few dollars they charge for your domains. If paying $15/year for your domain makes you cringe then you really need to consider why you want to renew that domain name.

    I've let a lot of domains expire because I felt they weren't worth $15. I also have domains I have absolutely spent over $150 on over the years though I haven't done anything with them but feel they are worth keeping.
     
    NetStar, May 7, 2017 IP
  17. ceebee

    ceebee Active Member

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    #17
    So, they treat risky domain names differently than others? News to me. Makes no sense at all.

    You don't get it... it is not a nice company. It is predatory and has abysmal customer service.
     
    ceebee, May 7, 2017 IP
  18. NetStar

    NetStar Notable Member

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    #18
    I didn't say that. I'm just saying I have read about situations where they cooperated a little too freely with the law.
     
    NetStar, May 7, 2017 IP
  19. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #19
    I wasn't justifying their price increase, I was questioning your expectation that a price could be set "forever".
     
    sarahk, May 8, 2017 IP
  20. matt_62

    matt_62 Prominent Member

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    #20
    A few things to note.
    1. For all we know, the owner of DP might have alot of other assets that we do not know about.
    2. Making money with domains is next to impossible. I think we have in part a false economy, where the pricing is lower then it should be, simply as the competition is too fierce. It is common to use a loss-leader to attract new clients. Godaddy sucked in many with $1 coupons for domains. Even if they lost money, it was a cost effective approach to gaining millions of potential long term clients, and the ones that stay will pay enough long term to recover the loss from the campaign. In terms of advertising, the $1 approach was brilliant and I would say worked very effectively for them.
    3. It is not just a domain you need, there are other features that need to be provided, and for every person that needs no support, there are 9 that likely need some level of support during their registration.

    I admit, that as a very small provider, that it is not cost effective to provide domains. But domains that I can get at a cost price of maybe $6usd... I lose money selling at $10usd due to the way all the fees work (and hidden fees charged by the wholesaler). Just keep in mind that everytime you pay $10 to a business, there is always %% lose in fees. There are also taxes to factor in as well.

    The site in my sig is the first time I can actually make $1 per .com, and if I am honest, at tax time, I will lose 30% of that to local taxes.

    I have always recommended namecheap, tried many places, but I still go there. 2 factor authentication, captcha for those who choose not to have it (helps to protect your assests) while support is good or ok, it is now 12-24hour wait for replies to tickets now.
    Now they have been in business for years.... And they cannot sell their domains at $10 flat fee either, and to improve their support, they would likely need to hire more people.

    That means either:
    1. keep prices the same and run at a loss, and go bankrupt
    2. increase the price of domains and have everyone upset and then start asking for digitalpoint to start to sell domains.
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2017
    matt_62, May 8, 2017 IP
    malky66 and sarahk like this.