Has anyone had experiences (positive or negative) with sub-$10 registrars such as namecheap.com and dotdealers.com? They both seem to have excellent deals on domain registration, but I'm just wondering if it's too good to be true? And any other recommendations for good registrars who give you full access to the DNS would be appreciated.

The only sub $10 registrar that I have used is Stargate, and while they seem alright, I've had some issues where domains would go missing from the control panel and the like.

On the other hand I've heard good things about GoDaddy, but haven't used them myself. Personally I wouldn't trust them, as they send out spam email to their customers, and their owner has run several companies into the ground in the past.

Right now I've decided to cough up that little bit extra and use Dotster. IMHO the piece of mind that a solid registrar like Dotster gives you is worth it in the long run.

I've registered a couple of domains with Namecheap.com and am planning to transfer another over to them sometime soon.
Their free dns services work quite well if you want to use them but they could be better documented in some places.
No major complaints thus far from me.

I use GoDaddy, and yes, I do receive emails from them from time to time, but it's not like I mind that much. They also have good customer service. Well, I had good customer service, anyway.

Hi!

Stargateinc.com is great! No problems with them.
Domains go missing because when you register a new domain and you login to your account during the ordering process you change the registrant info right away. To avoid getting this problem, just register using the info in your existing account and change the info afterwards. That should do it.

Anyway, it is easy to recover the lost/missing domain in your control panel. When you click on Account Login, there is a field at the bottom where you enter the domain under "Forgot Your Password?" section. An email will be sent to your designated email address when you register the domain. And then you can login and change the login and password for this domain to be the same as your preferred account. This way all domains are managed altogether under one account.

One thing more, use the support ticketing system on their website. It is faster and efficient. You can also keep track of your transferred domain.

As of this writing, we recommend Stargate (see our site if you must).

Originally posted by avara
The only sub $10 registrar that I have used is Stargate, and while they seem alright, I've had some issues where domains would go missing from the control panel and the like...

:)

I'd have to go with GoDaddy, they sell inexpensive domain names. Good support, you get treated like you paid $89.95 instead of $8.95 for the domain name! :homer:

Thanks for all the leads everyone... I'm checking them all out!

You guys should check out GKG.net (http://www.gkg.net/)

It's USD 9.99/year for domains and the service is rather top notch! Not that I work for them... but comparatively, they're much better than my previous registrar - joker.com

For those of you using stargate, have you had any issues with being able to change DNS settings to your own (or hosts') name servers? Stargate's FAQs seem to imply you need to use their name servers in order to use their control panel... or perhaps I haven't read far enough yet?

Hi! Merry Christmas!

Well, no problem changing with DNS servers. You only use Stargate's DNS servers if you want the URL forwarding/masking feature and one(1) free email account. But, you will not have any problem fielding your own (or your hosting company's) DNS servers.

I have several domains with them. No problem at all.

:)