We’ve been contacted by a number of customers confused about rumored price increases on Uniregistry Corporation-owned domain extensions. This article seeks to clear up misconceptions and give our customers the information they need to make informed decisions about impending price increases.
Q: Are prices dramatically increasing? Should I be worried?
A: Yes, but only for 12 TLDs and not until September 8, 2017. You should be concerned if you own domains with any of the following Uniregistry Corporation-owned extensions:
.audio
.blackfriday
.christmas
.diet
.flowers
.guitars
.hiphop
.hosting
.juegos
.property
.sexy
.tattoo
Our wholesale cost is slated to increase at least $10 on each of these extensions and in some cases our cost at the registry will increase over $100. Most notably .hosting and .juegos will see a wholesale price increase that will result in those domains being sold for over $300/year. We’ve yet to determine our final retail prices.
In addition, we expect a few dollars per year increase on:
.click
.link
.pics
.help
Q: Ack! I own domains in those TLDs! How do I avoid paying the increased price?
A: Since our costs are going up, there’s not a lot we can do after September 8th. However, there is something you can do now: add multiple years of registration to your domain before the price goes up. To do so, click the little circle arrow icon next to your domain in Domain Management:
…and click “Renew Now” to add a maximum of ten years of registration at today’s pre-hike rates.
Q: How do other registrars feel about this?
A: We’re already seeing the impact of this price increase ripple across the industry. Last week, GoDaddy took the extraordinary step of boycotting Uniregistry domains, prohibiting transfers in and new registrations of Uniregistry domains in an apparent protest against the price increases. We have no plans to drop support for these domain extensions and will mark up Uniregistry domains as little as possible so as to reduce the impact to our customers.
Q: Do I need to worry about other TLDs following suit?
A: We don’t think so. We haven’t heard of any other registries planning dramatic price increases. If anything, the prevailing trend has been a general decrease in prices across the industry and frequent discounts over a wide swath of TLDs.
We will continue to keep our customers apprised of any updates to this story as it unfolds.