How do you go about finding the best deals for foreign - cc TLD - domains?

Just check search engines? How do you tell a good deal from a bad deal?

[Ashley88]

My company is looking to buy our domain name at .cn, .eu, .de, .ru, .dn, .il etc.

These are frequently very expensive.

Does anyone know <snip/edit> how to go about finding less or the least expensive domain sellers? </edit>

thanks.

[edited by: Webwork at 5:34 am (utc) on Feb. 28, 2006]
[edit reason] Charter [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[Webwork]

Hi Ashley and welcome to WebmasterWorld.

Generally speaking, there are "domain sales" going on all the time all over the Web.

Unfortunately, most domain sales carry a lot of "small print", meaning what you save on the domain you make up in other ways - so the company selling the domain remains profitable. You know the deal.

The best way to find "cheap domains" is to use a search engine. Lots of ads will pop up and you'll have to do some reading.

Since we have a strong anti-promotion policy at WebmasterWorld posts couched in terms of "Tell me where to get the cheapest . . . (whatever, domains - for example)" tend to be removed entirely. In your case I thought the members might give a "fishing lesson", under the mantel of "teach a woman/man to fish . . . "

So, members: How do you go about finding cheap or low cost domains and once you find "cheap domains" how do you determine IF it's really a bargain?

And please: Not posts about "Buy your cheap domains at Bob'sDomainStore.com." Thanks.

[Rodney]

I usually don't look for "deals" when registering domain names mostly because I like having all my domains in one place and I don't like the "surprises" that come with the loss leader type low cost domain sales.

So I usually check my preferred registrar to see what their prices are and register it there.

Some extensions aren't offered there, so in those rare cases, I'll check the major domain registration companies and see what their rates are.

If I'm doing a Google search, i'll usually type in the extension with a . in front of it followed by the words: domain registration

I usually stay away from any domain registration services offered by any hosting company. Even though they usually offer "bargains", they usually want to tie you to their hosting company or offer limited domain management abilities.

[jtara]

Some of the European ccTLDs can be quite expensive when bought from the large registrars. what we are used to paying for gTLDs. Like $60-100/year. While you aren't going to find them for $6, you can maybe cut the price in half by shopping in Europe.

READ THE FINE PRINT, from both the registrar and the registry. Policies differ from those of gTLDs, and can vary between ccTLDs.

Financial stability of the registrar could be an issue (as I found out the hard way...) as some ccTLDs have a policy of billing the registrant directly (at an inflated "retail" price) if the registar doesn't pay them. (Fortunately, my situation was resolved.)

We tend to be a bit cavalier about registrar financial stability in the U.S. because (a) there really hasn't been much history of registrar financial failure (and failed registrars are usually bought by somebody else) and (b) we figure that, ultimately, our registration is at the registry, and they will somehow make a smooth transition of any registrar failure.

Now, when you suddenly get a bill from the registy for double what you've already paid the registrar, THAT'S an unexpected surprise!

This is just one example. Make sure that you understand how things are different when you register obscure ccTLDs.

As when buying any service (and this is a service) it's wise to test technical and administrative support before you buy. Find something you have a question about (or DON'T have a question about...) and ask it. See how long it takes to get an answer and how it is handled.