I believe its jsut as easy to buy a cheap .com in the UK as it is in the US.
Scott
It's entirely down to personal preference and consideration of exactly what you're after as to who you use to purchase domains through. If you're concerned about being UK based but dealing with a US registrar, don't be - it really isn't an issue.
Are you after domain registration only? If so, there are plenty of good Registrars out there who offer good pricing (from $7) and more importantly, good after-sales service.
If you're after domain names and additional services (i.e. hosting, e-mail perhaps) then your choice of provider will be somewhat different.
Remember that choosing your provider should be based on more than just the basic cost - there have been mention of Registrars offering cheap registration initially, only to be offset by appauling customer service, domains being left in limbo, transfer out charges and the like.
As we do our own hosting, our choice of Registrar was based on reputation, competitive pricing and good customer service. As such we chose BulkReg' and have had no regrets or problems with them to date. Many others have praise the excellent service and value of GoDaddy and if you use the site search, you'll no doubt find many more. I'm sure others will be happy to let you know their preferred registrar.
R.
A domain name is 1 of the "most" cricial elements in relation to your site.
You pick a bad registrar who is cheap but screws up, then you will be crying for a long time.
a few come to mind in the UK, resonably priced and excellent support when required.
Shak
I don't see why phone support is needed for a domaiin name purchase.
No doubt about it (and I'm a Brit), go for the US. Using somewhere like PairNic or RackShare or some of the many others, you will get a cheaper deal and pretty much full control over the domain name.
Don't undervalue the latter by the way - it is VERY important.
purchase from uk - it will be better to get phone support
In three years I've only used telephone support two or three times at tops and always to ask some incredibly obscure question that I didn't want to wait for an e-mail answer for.
A good registrar will get back to you pretty damned quickly with any e-mail queries you have but to be quite honest, it's rarely necessary IMHO. If this is an issue though I'd certainly understand why you'd want to go for a UK based company & this being the case, make sure they offer telephone support that is a) not via a premium rate number & b) available out of office hours if possible.
R.
1. Simple management of DNS (A, IPS TAG, CNAME, MX and nameservers)
2. Easy billing and payment
3. Easy transfer of ownership
4. Low cost
I can do any of the the first three in a few seconds for any client and it is a real time saver.
I never host with the registrar I use because that is a completely separate issue depending on the requirements.
Never confuse registration with hosting is what I am saying.....
