Moderator's Note: If we're going to have this conversation - about choosing a more expensive registrar - then we're going to keep it generalized and not get into voting for or against any specific registrar. So, let's make the question not about any specific company. Let's try: "What would you look for that might justify paying a higher fee?"
[edited by: Webwork at 4:12 am (utc) on Dec. 26, 2006]
[edit reason] Charter [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]
1. Those who charge high (like $35/year for .com) offer 24/7 toll-free phone support. I hardly see chose charging $7-$10 a year doing the same.
2. I've seen a few who charge $7-$10 yet offer toll-free phone support for biz hours only. I only know 2, however, that does whatever domain changes you want to do, while I've yet to know how others' domain management tools do.
3. Those who charge a lot are able to pay their in-house support people to handle more potentially complex issues.
All in all, why registrar A charges high and registrar B charges low yet both offer more or less the same things along with domain names come down to one common thing: their respective business models.
But then, many people really don't care about anything else except to get the results they want based on what they're willing to pay.
I asked a csr at the the largest one how come they charge $35 a year while others charge under $8. She replied that they will be here tomorrow. So, stability is there pitch.
If it's THE big registrar that charges $35/year then it will be a good thing they will be here tomorrow - it will take days for them to resolve issues.
I have 150+ domains and kept my top 10% with the $35/year registrar thinking the 1800 service would be a good fall back on if I had trouble. Recently I had a problem moving a domain to another account (within their service) and it took them a month to resolve the issue. The process, repeated several times, was: call 1800#, explain problem, csr says they will elevate it and give me a ticket number and says to wait a few days for email conforming resolution.
In other words, the phone service option sometimes can be more of a feel good for the customer than a quicker resolution to the problem.
if they go out of business somedays, ICANN is responsible for the risks involved.
if they go out of business somedays, ICANN is responsible for the risks involved.
ICANN does not help individual registrants and to force ICANN to a see your interests through the courts will cost you. Save your gray hair and your wallet by choosing a registrar that you think is competent and reliable. Even if it means a few extra bucks. Having ICANN come to the rescue when a registrar goes out of business is a worst case scenario.
However, that said, the registrar that I hate the most is one of the most expensive (no names mentioned) so price is not necessarily a good indicator. They have 24/7 service but it is pretty crappy low tech stuff . . . the kind of stuff I can do on my own anyways.
If your domain names are extremely valuable to you, and your business is long term, generating cash flow, etc etc
the difference between a domain for $8 an one for Say $30 is going to be fairly irrelevant, its even more irrelevant when you pay to register the domain for like 10 years, then in many cases that $30/yr drops to like £15/yr or less, from this perspective, you'll probably be considering other factors as being more significant.
On the other hand, for the newbie into the web, cost is critical an i shudder when i remember the monies i have paid for zero gain ,, alas, sigh
For the mass domain buyer, speculative buyer, cost is also critical, but all the factors listed by the other respondents to this thread matter also
So , if you where sitting on a product.com one word generic domain, where would you want it registered , the cheapest registrar or the one you trusted most?
When it comes to judging the quality of tech support: use eMail response as your yardstick. If you use/need phone support for technical issues, odds are you're also one of those poor sheep who signed up for your ISP via a CD-Rom in the mailbox...
I've had excellent service at *one of the leading low-priced registrars*. No problems whatsoever.
When it comes to judging the quality of tech support: use eMail response as your yardstick. If you use/need phone support for technical issues, odds are you're also one of those poor sheep who signed up for your ISP via a CD-Rom in the mailbox...
Sometimes phone support is the quickest way to get a response. If it is an issue that can't be resolved through the web control panel, you are either waiting hours in an E-mail queue or minutes in a phone queue.
Another major reason
For once I tried yesterday another well know one but kind of new kid on the block for reg DN.
For some reason my cdt card was mishandled (at the moment I did not know that)
But I was sent a purchase confirmation.
I was quite happy because that DN really mattered to me as the corner stone of another just created company, further I was really surprised to have that very DN available.
It took them ½ a day to find that the DN was not purchased
Imagine.. I could have lost it!
I jumped back to my usual reg site, was done in a few seconds
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