What is the “right” registration price for a new domain name extension?

by Morgan on July 22, 2014

Now that we are well on our way into the new gTLD process I thought it would be a good time to poll the domain community on what pricing seems to be working and what isn’t. Without a doubt it is clear that the registration price of a domain name directly impacts the growth of the TLD but price it too low and you’ll have to sell millions to make a profit. Price it too high and you’ll have trouble selling 100.

Another important factor to consider is that not all domain name extensions are created equal. Strings like .GURU, .CLUB and .BERLIN are just naturally going to be more popular than something like a .HOLDINGS that is a bit more niche. For the sake of this poll let’s just assume all domain name extensions are created equal.

Of course it wouldn’t be fair for me to write this without sharing my own opinion. First I think a price-range is a fair answer since none of us have a crystal ball. I think the sweet spot is between $20 – $40.

Now it’s your turn – what do you think? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Photo Credit: mag3737 via Compfight cc

{ 10 comments… add one }

Domenclature.com July 22, 2014, 8:11 am

Personally, I think the important aspect of any gTLD success is steadiness, fairness, and professionalism; any new gTLD that adopts all the regulatory bounds imposed on Verisign, such as price increase restrictions, Can, and Can’t dos, etc will have a leg up. The price is also important. Any prudent extension will have to take a long term view. Becoming profitable in the first year or two should be out of the question. Therefore, to answer your question, the price cannot be over $10 given the dominance, and in fact hegemony of dot COM, as well as other legacy names.

My opinion is that the price range should be from FREE to $2.99 for the first two years; I would even market it by charging $10 for 5 year registration, in order to minimize drops, and encourage use, and adoption. That will show a long-term approach.

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- Morgan July 22, 2014, 3:56 pm
  
  Great feedback everyone, I think the free option is one that a few registries are trying via giveaways, the big question is, when you give someone a domain name for free do they do anything with it. I do like the idea of having a lower price the first year which is what .CO did and worked very well.
  
  If I were to give a more granular answer also incorporating what Domenclature said which I think is pretty astute I would recommend a low first-year price, maybe in the $4.99 – $9.99 range and then up to the $20 – $40 range.
  
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Dan @ Droplister.com July 22, 2014, 8:25 am

I’d say the range should be $10 to $20. There are hidden costs to these new gTLD’s, like them not being recognized as domains and therefore not getting autolinked on many apps. Or simply having to spend more money on advertising to educate the consumer on what a dot CODES is, so in my opinion the sticker price isn’t the full story.

I could see FREE to $2.99 at first working, that’s basically how dot INFO rolled out, but I have to bring up dot RICH in relation to what is reasonable for a domain registration. My understanding is they are going to charge $3000 per year. Which is such a scam.

I think we’ll see a wave of new gTLD’s fail, worst case scenario those websites on those domains go dark, but I think what’s likely is successful registries buy up the failed registries. Is there already some sort of process for that?

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Sunshine Brown July 22, 2014, 9:12 am

Matters naught, Morgan. Gtlds are all bad options and will continue to be at any price, even free.

Watch this. Let’s say that a random gtld registry actually agrees to PAY YOU $100/yr but you would need to exclusively use their tld. Would it be worth it knowing how much traffic and email you will unquestionably lose? Absotively NOT! For starters, you will need to spend waaaaaay more than that on extra advertising and promotion just to get some legitimate visitors. The math doesn’t work and you will soon rue the $100 bad deal.

So, if it’s a bad deal with them PAYING YOU, why even consider paying them?

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Leonard Britt July 22, 2014, 10:24 am

For a TLD to gain acceptance it needs to have a number of developers and end users branding on the extension. If 99.9% of a TLD’s holdings are in the hands of domainers a TLD will have a difficult time blossoming into its potential. On the other hand, end users are not going to jump on board in mass in 2014. So domain investors are needed to help pay the bills for the first five to seven years after launch. Premium prices make sense so that the best keywords aren’t just given away but investors will struggle to pay premium renewals if they hold more than a few domains. My view is that while there are likely some opportunities in the new TLD space, the risks far outweigh the potential rewards. As well, I believe there are better opportunities in existing TLDs that are going to be much easier to sell in the next few years than TLDs that few people have even heard of. Note that even when marketing relevant .COM keyword domains to end users I still frequently get the response, “I already have a domain name.”

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Michael July 22, 2014, 1:43 pm

$8.50, what I pay yearly for .com

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Joe July 22, 2014, 5:57 pm

Morgan Well, good post!

I think gTLD domain names should be priced according to xyz to have to pay for this $ 12 change in other registrars be cheaper xyz extension.

In relation to these new extensions like leaving written CLUB GURU and are having the most accepted among us.

Leaving a bit of writing this post, with your permission Morgan, I would ask a question if anyone of all who read this blog to make a comment response.

When one of us buy a TLD first see if the keyword is a word of less than 4 characters or more than 2-4 letters the domain name is valued at a great price many times these past and present times.

If two keys which like many of you words becomes also a good domain name TLD but if one of these to be paid at the time http://www.personalloans.Com $ 1000000 now becomes several gTLD that have value in the market index personalloans.Com domain currently being valued at $ 1,000,000.

The question is on the table as a set of open porker that have value in the current market with a personalloans.Club, personalloans.Social, personalloans.Guru some say between $ 500 and $ 1000, I ask myself if this market and industry is a game of speculation as it was in its principles with generic domain names, that now has to be the same.

In Flippa sold a domain name with new extension for $ 25,000 that (Frank Shilling buying as TLD for $ 445,000) would like to clarify your answers or invest if I get lost in the wilderness for another way.
Best

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Deon Takpuie July 23, 2014, 12:49 am

Hi there, hope you are well, good question! $10 or less for new gTLDs, afterall .coms are about that much and even cheaper with a coupon. Even niche, domains like .info and .org did not turn out to be as expensive as some of these ‘niche’ new gTLDs. Also, there needs to be more exposure of these too the public and what they can be used for, maybe celebrity advertising (like what .club did with 50inda.club), to promote growth. Go Daddy, is also doing a good job of advertising the new gTLDs to public through tv ads.

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Joe July 23, 2014, 3:32 pm

Hi yesterday write a comment today to be a link to the July 12, 2014 The Domain, com gives the result of which have new gTLD that you like me too. or other domainers register.

http://www.thedomains.com/2014/07/12/new-gtld-domain-registrations-pass-1-5-million/

On our David is the cheapest of all the new extensions to pay $ 12 and so writing about it is true that post are demasido expensive many think this is the beginning of any business because in name.com be expensive but the $ 10.50 renewal is what I pay for a new domain name. Com. at Namecheap.com. wholesalers are best in price not Trellian and its subsidiaries do pay $ 35 for renewal when before pay only $ 10 is not normal market is unpredictable and many abuse,. their power that always exist in any country of this globalization

Do not have an official price regulator as in other markets where companies be controlled to not harm those who buy.

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Jeramy January 29, 2015, 10:18 pm

Thanks for finally talking about >What is the

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