Here is an excellent link to the largest registrars. (I don't find this link from their main page) http://www.webhosting.info/registrars/top-registrars/global/

From this link you can research each registrar for their pricing. However, generally, you will find cheaper pricing at one of the registrar's resellers. You can do a google search for "(name of registrar) reseller" to find several resellers for any given registrar.

You should NEVER buy your domain registration from a hosting company who offers cheap/free domain registration as part of their hosting package. ALWAY buy from an accredited ICANN registrar or one of their domain resellers (whose primary business is domain registrations, not hosting). Then buy your hosting from a hosting company.

Of the top registrars, here are some of their recommended resellers....

Registrar - Reseller
GoDaddy - BlueRazor (a GoDaddy company)
NetSol - ? (they probably won't be cheap)
Enom - NameCheap (or sub-reseller of an ETP = top level Enom Reseller)
TuCows - ? (they probably won't be cheap)
MelbourneIT - Yahoo (very cheap but be prepared for problems and poor support)
Register - ? ( probably won't be cheap)
Schlund and Partner - 1&1 (cheap but many problems mentioned by noobs)
Directnic - ?
WildWestDomains - BlueRazor (both Godaddy companies)
Moniker - ? (you can generally work out reasonable prices directly. Secure reputation)
Dotster - MyDomain/NetCheap/NamesDirect (Dotster service at cheaper prices)
DotRegistrar -?
Onlinenic - ?
Public Domain Registry - ? (probably won't be cheap)
Fabulous - (cheap enough already if you open a wholesale account)

OK. That's the top 16.

Two other worth a mention.

Website.in (previously Directi retail) are often mentioned when looking for a cheap registrar, as well as through a ResellerClub (previously Directi reseller) reseller. Checkout you are dealing with a top-level reseller, not a sub-account.

Domainsite is often mentioned for being secure and reasonably priced. Beware that lowest price doesn't include forwarding/dns management. It's another $1 for that, but they charge more if you buy after registration. But still reasonably priced and good reputation.

I deliberately have not mentioned any prices because they change so often. Do your own research. Beware, that as a general rule of thumb, the cheaper the price, the more problems you are likely to experience. I'd highly recommend staying in the $7-$10 bracket (for .com/.net) if you are looking for cheap domain registration. Some tld's, like .info might be cheaper, some country level tld's can be much more expensive.

Can a moderator turn this post into a sticky, to answer all those questions about who is the best/cheapest registrars?

I doubt it will be made a sticky, but it is a good resource, good work! I am sure when other users do a search for these terms they may find this thread.

I agree your list in order of pricing is correct.

It's true what you say about registering a domain name, rather use one that really specialize in domains, but, using a good registrar like godaddy.com or oppiWeb.com to also host your site, may solve a lot of problems.

I find lots of postings on forums about name server problems with certain domains like .de and others. One thing I noticed was that all those who had problems, registered their domain at one place ( USA ) but with hosting in countries with nameserver systems that's up to ??

Public Domain Registry is a Directi site. It is not cheap on front end but these numbers came from their resellers on resellerclub.

thanks for the lists. its helpful :)

And here's a list of domain resellers http://domain-registration.domaintools.com/

I make no representations as to the quality of the list or the resellers listed. Caveat Emptor!

Good post stu2, excellent advice. As meantioned earlier a lot of DirectI's domains would be from resellerclub.com