Having just jumped from Google to Nameheap this is more than mildly frustrating.
edit: apparently this is the result of Verisign putting up their wholesale prices
Cloudflare is also upping prices. Since Cloudflare sells domains at cost, I expect domain prices have simply increased.
I just tried to check the pricing of domains at cloudflare and they just don’t have a list. You need to transfer a domain to see the price. So I will probably stay with inwx for the time being.
It’s accessible here, but I believe you have to log in to view it: https://dash.cloudflare.com/d7138cf214ac65bec690a57a66bb66ec/domains/pricing
Edit: Here is a screenshot of the page https://imgur.com/a/wL0bEde
Aside from the obvious fighting and bidding over an already claimed single domain name, what factors into the inherent pricing of a domain?
The domain registry (basically owner of the domain ending) sets the price.
Edit: Though it should be mentioned there’s a power above them (ICANN) that has to approve the price.
I’ve been with namecheap a long long time now. They rarely raise prices and it’s usually because upstream costs go up and everyone is raising prices. I’m a happy customer and ain’t switching. I don’t get bothered for endless upgrades. I only get emails when my domains come up for renewal or on the very rare occasion this happens.
This isn’t only namecheap. Porkbun notified me about it a couple of weeks ago:
Verisign — the registry behind .com and .net — is set to increase wholesale pricing on .com domains industry wide on September 1. This has become an annual trend, and we expect the .com price will steadily increase through 2029. This increase affects every registrar that offers .com domains, not just us.
go cloudflare, renew for 10 years. nobrainer.
@diffuselight @nik282000 Seconding cloudflare, last I checked most if not all domains are sold at-cost.
I believe they are seeing higher prices for those domains so they are passing it along. Email I received from Namecheap.com:
We partner with many registries to bring you a wide range of top-level domains, but occasionally their prices increase, which means we need to increase our prices too.
On September 1, 2023, the domains registry for .COM and .XYZ will implement universal price increases of up to 9% for .COM renewals, and up to 9% for .XYZ renewals, registrations, and transfers.
If you want to take advantage of the current price tag, renew your .COM and renew, register, or transfer your .XYZ domains before September 1, 2023.
It always puzzles me when technology gets more expensive. Processors and storage are cheaper, why does it cost more for them to have a database entry for a domain that’s updated every X years?
Because capitalism means that you always have to keep making more money year over year even if you’re not doing anything more than you ever were. So sometimes the only way to do it is to squeeze your customers even harder.
I don’t know enough bout registrars to know for sure, but I don’t know if this is namecheap’s doing. This is the only increase I’ve seen in years, I think those actual domains have gone up in price. I may be wrong though
I know there are other factors it just feels like the only people getting screwed are the little guys. In Canada the rates that third party ISPs pay and charge are dictated by the giant telcos. Our regulating body even allowed the telcos to raise prices to the point where reselling is no longer viable. Fucking the little guys again.
I mean, just make sure you’re blaming the right people is really what I was trying to say
Get a .ca domain (assuming you’re Canadian), it’s the same price as a .com and the prices don’t change much since they’re controlled majorly by the govt.
I got this same email. Of course the only domains I own are .com and .xyz. Going to lock in as many years as I can before September.
I signed up at gandi.net earlier this year. I even read their Wikipedia, which said they merged with another company in February. Still went ahead, because they had email included in the cheap domain name. A month after I got the mail they’ll be increasing prices too. Not sure if I’ll go somewhere else now, or if I’ll just start paying for email (4€/month or something)
I pay like 5€/year with https://purelymail.com
What a hilariously and refreshingly honest company! I don’t think I want to join in the beta phase yet, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind and will check back in the future.
I heard .org domains were preferred to avoid these kind of price hikes, how true is this?
It’s administered by a nonprofit (Public Internet Registry) which cap the wholesale price to ~$9 per year. There was a proposal to remove the price cap and transfer the management to a an investment firm a few years ago and it was met with uproar so it was canceled.
