Changing Registrars

I bought from one but I'd like to renew with another

[Metaphorically]

The first couple domain names I bought were through a reseller that charges $25/year. I initially used their free hosting as well.

Fast forward 3 years and I've got around 15 names spread over 3 regstrars. Most are with my current hosting company and cost $6/year, but those first two are still at the more expensive company.

I've done things like moving sites from one host to another and lots on the site development side of things, but I'm painfully ignorant when it comes to details about who I'm renting my names from.

What I'd like to do is move them all to one registrar (maybe my current one, maybe someone else) who is:

1. reasonably cheap
   
2. offers private registrations
   
3. can handle the .ca tld (this isn't essential)

I'm not looking for a recommendation of a particular registrar, just advice and opinions on how to do this and the problems I might run in to. I'd like to do this as painlessly as possible, with the potential to buy more names in the near future.

[Webwork]

The easiest approach is simply to search Google:

".CA domains", "Register .ca domain", etc. Everyone who is eager to sell you a .ca domain will appear.

Be vary of super bargains. Read the fine print before agreeing/clicking to authorize payment.

Start here: [cira.ca...] You will find a link to all approved .ca registrars.

Offers of private registration of ubiquitous, though different names may be used for the same service: Proxy, private WhoIs, etc.

Unfortunately, for every honest post about locating a domain registrar there are 5 people who would be more than happy to become WebmasterWorld members for no greater reason than to spam the boards about their favorite domain registration company. I whacked a whisper campaign by a major registrar in this forum within the past year, so I appreciate your post focusing responses on ideas or general information - not specific registars.

[Metaphorically]

Thanks for the pointers. I guess I was just leary of googling the obvious phrases for keywords that I know are going to be insanely competitive.

I should've looked at cira sooner, there's actually more info there than I expected. With a little searching I see .ca registrars that are way cheaper than my current one.

The only thing I'm not clear on is really the mechanics of going to a different registrar. If I ask for a transfer, then is that usually the name and the hosting? I'm going to dig in to my current registrar's docs some more I guess.

[Metaphorically]

For what it's worth, I've gone through the entire list at the CIRA site and found that there are some dupes in there (under different names). I narrowed it down to about 15 that are under $30/year and some are substantially cheaper than that.

All of them are more expensive for .coms than my current company though. For all the effort I should've just dumped the .ca that I own - I hardly do anything with it anyway.

[Lobo]

could check for registrars that offer the first year free when you move .. obvioiusly check the tie ins, but they can be worth while..

[Metaphorically]

For .ca domains I've seen some that do that, but their prices haven't been good - if you intend to hold the name for more than a couple years.

I have found a couple that include cloaking (same as private registration info I assume) in the advertised price. To me that's the same as knocking a couple bucks off and I know up front that the feature won't be an expensive add-on. The only prices anyone seems to list up front are the basic annual fee.