Hello

I just wanted to let anyone who has domains at Name.com know that they are now charging for Private Whois. Name.com has only posted a blog post announcing this new fee, I am sure not a lot of the customers visit that blog so I just wanted to let you guys know.

Link: http://blog.name.com/2010/04/private-whois-changes/trackback/

Although personally, I don't use Privacy, this was a big selling point for Name.com. Still it's free with their promocode FREEWHOIS for 1 more year. So I still recommend Name.com

Thanks for sharing.

They do state that current domains which have it turned on will continue to receive it for free. (even though it doesn't really seem that way in the control panel)

We are running a promotional price of just $1.99/domain per year, which is one of the lowest prices available.

What is the price if its not promotional? :rolleyes:

Hi

This is a bad news. Why do they charge for private whois ?

there is no need for private whois anyway,

there is no need for private whois anyway,

Well, some people need it

Reason being?

Reason being?

Simple. They don't want to disclose their details to anyone but the registrar.

Reason being?

The private bit might have something to do with it...

This is really unfortunate. It sounds like the new regular price will be $7.99/year.

Even i don't use these private services for your hosting account details. I think these are mainly used by people who are running warez or porn websites or some illegal websites.

This will not affect much people..

I just read about it as well... what they said about existing domains will continue having free WHOIS prot is not true. You will have to pay for WHOIS prot if you renew now although they do have a coupon out to waive WHOIS fees.

I'm looking to move to namecheap now, any other registrars worth considering ?

I just went there to register a domain and saw the whois charge, immediately went to namecheap.

It was a bad move, namecheap always gave free whois for the 1st year and then it costs 2 bucks, now name.com charges 2 bucks having to use a coupon to have it free in 1st year (and I didn't know about the coupon), and say 2 bucks is a promotion threatening us of raising it.

name.com has a nice DNS management, but namecheap is more trustful. Without the free whois I might move all my domains to namecheap and receive a free whois for each of them...

I believe many ppl will do the same. They should have started offering free for 1st year and 1 buck per year, would impact much less.

Why do they charge for private whois ?

To offset certain costs?

I guess one thing people want is a detailed, explicit explanation why Name.com decided to charge for their WHOIS privacy service when others do it for free. I won't be surprised if Name.com wants to do exactly that, though not everyone can freely explain why without possibly risk revealing their business model to their competitors.

Consider something as an example: Name.com charges $8.99 for new .com registrations, while say NameCheap does so for $9.69. That $0.70 difference can make a difference to them, though it's not obvious to the end user.

(Of course, there are coupon codes to offset them. Given the somewhat "loss" Name.com and/or NameCheap take accepting new orders or renewing existing ones, they'll make up for that in some other way or someone pays a higher cost for those taking advantage of them.)

The point (however unacceptable it is to some folks) is that some registrars can afford to do so, depending on their business model. Some make money on A and maybe lose on B, while others lose money on A while break-even or make up on B.

Then again, in my previous registrar experience, people don't know and don't really care...except to get results based on what they're willing (or unwilling) to pay for. That's life.

Anyway, lots of options exist. Name.com will adjust depending on how much feedback they get.

Just a shame some people think they're scum of the earth or something for some perceived wrongdoing. Then again, they can handle it.

Is there any reason, why they start to charge for it ?

thanks for the update,i dont use privacy myself,but for some of my clients i was using privacy and i have sent them mail about these charges,thanks again for your post

I just found out about this today - Name.com sent me an invoice for renewal on one of my domains... and I saw the extra $1.99 charge for the "Whois Privacy".

I am unhappy about this for a couple of reasons. One of course being the additional money involved when I renew (or add new domains). Another is the fact that they DID NOT INFORM PEOPLE through an acceptable means - they put it on a BLOG on their site! I've never gone to their blog (not many have) until today, when I did a search on "name.com charges for whois privacy" and found it. I wonder what genius at Name.com decided to inform their customers THAT way instead of emailing??? Very, very unprofessional of them.

Additionally, when I did visit that blog, I noticed with interest that Name.com only really answered those bloggers who said they thought it was *okay* that they started charging (it seems obvious to me that they were Name.com 'plants'). It's like, "Oh, thank you so-and-so". Doh!

As far as the question, "Is there any reason, why they start to charge for it?", my only guess is that old standard, "Because they can". Is it a wise move? According to a high percentage of the feedback I've seen - the answer is an overwhelming "NO".

I personally think this is a bad thing for them to do. If they were going to do this, they should have gone about it differently. Perhaps given SOME NOTICE via email to customers? Maybe raised it just a little bit - like 50 cents - for the first year, then $1.00 the next year? That would've given customers some time to get used to the idea. And it should be FREE and remain FREE for all the current customers - we shouldn't have to enter some stupid code (that doesn't work). However, perhaps because of a billing/payment system they need to do it this way - fine... MAKE SURE IT WORKS FIRST! Helloooo - "beta testing"????

Also, if they are giving a "promo code" or "coupon" ('freewhois') to get the $1.99 Whois Privacy fee removed, then why are they even doing it (charging) in the first place? Plus, on their blog, it appears that for those who have tried it the code isn't even working properly, so you have to send off a trouble ticket to support. Geez! And by the way, it only works for ONE YEAR; in other words, you can't get the discount for Whois if you renew for more than one year (I've tried it). And if you want more than 1 year at a time, the "promo code" won't work... even for the 1st year. Grrrr....

You'll also note that the checkout site shows the cost of Whois is actually going to be $7.99 per year - not the $1.99 it seems to be (you can see the cost in the top part of the menu bar when you go in to purchase a domain name). I wonder when they are going to drop the ball on this one? Next week? Next month? And how much, if any, notice will they give this time? And how will they notify people - via their "blog" again? How stupid.

Realistically, I understand companies need to raise prices to keep up with the increased cost of living. But, in my opinion, there is a big difference between that and "price gouging" customers. Also, the "bait and switch" thing doesn't set well with me, either. Look on that blog site (or do a search) and see how many folks signed up one day only to be smacked with this rude awakening about Whois the next. Little did they know the "free" Whois wasn't going to continue to be free. Add to that the fact it's not on their website predominately disclosed anywhere . And Name.com seems to be skirting a definate Yes or No answer to this question: how long will the Promo Code "freewhois" work for the current customers who use it? To hear their response, it *seems* like it'll be grandfathered in, but their answers are ambiguous and not really answering the question specifically (plus you can't get it for more than 1 year at a time). Guess we'll just have to watch and see, but betcha it's not. Just sayin...

People use the Whois Privacy for a multitude of reasons, and the majority is NOT for evil purposes! With the onslaught of phishers, scammers and spammers doing (and getting away with) the bad crap they do, I certainly *do not* want to make it any easier for them. It's like deliberately leaving your wallet/purse on a public table inviting anybody to come along and snatch it. Try utilizing some self-preservation and privacy-protection methods instead of just letting them (the spammers) have at it. It's called "being smart".

Namecheap has WhoisGuard, but they make you pay for it too, so to clarify: Namecheap offers it free for the first year and then charges for subsequent years. I used to use Namecheap - they were great, but when they started charging for Whois and raised their prices a couple years ago, I went to Name.com. A short-lived reprieve, I guess.

Now that Name.com is doing the same thing, I'm looking for a new registrar (as I'm sure a lot of their customers now are!) who offer reasonable rates (under $10 a year) and that also offers FREE Whois (free for transfers, new domains, as well as renewals). Can anyone recommend a registrar?

I just found out about this today - Name.com sent me an invoice for renewal on one of my domains... and I saw the extra $1.99 charge for the "Whois Privacy".

I am unhappy about this for a couple of reasons. One of course being the additional money involved when I renew (or add new domains). Another is the fact that they DID NOT INFORM PEOPLE through an acceptable means - they put it on a BLOG on their site! I've never gone to their blog (not many have) until today, when I did a search on "name.com charges for whois privacy" and found it. I wonder what genius at Name.com decided to inform their customers THAT way instead of emailing??? Very, very unprofessional of them.

Additionally, when I did visit that blog, I noticed with interest that Name.com only really answered those bloggers who said they thought it was *okay* that they started charging (it seems obvious to me that they were Name.com 'plants'). It's like, "Oh, thank you so-and-so". Doh!

As far as the question, "Is there any reason, why they start to charge for it?", my only guess is that old standard, "Because they can". Is it a wise move? According to a high percentage of the feedback I've seen - the answer is an overwhelming "NO".

I personally think this is a bad thing for them to do. If they were going to do this, they should have gone about it differently. Perhaps given SOME NOTICE via email to customers? Maybe raised it just a little bit - like 50 cents - for the first year, then $1.00 the next year? That would've given customers some time to get used to the idea. And it should be FREE and remain FREE for all the current customers - we shouldn't have to enter some stupid code (that doesn't work). However, perhaps because of a billing/payment system they need to do it this way - fine... MAKE SURE IT WORKS FIRST! Helloooo - "beta testing"????

Also, if they are giving a "promo code" or "coupon" ('freewhois') to get the $1.99 Whois Privacy fee removed, then why are they even doing it (charging) in the first place? Plus, on their blog, it appears that for those who have tried it the code isn't even working properly, so you have to send off a trouble ticket to support. Geez! And by the way, it only works for ONE YEAR; in other words, you can't get the discount for Whois if you renew for more than one year (I've tried it). And if you want more than 1 year at a time, the "promo code" won't work... even for the 1st year. Grrrr....

You'll also note that the checkout site shows the cost of Whois is actually going to be $7.99 per year - not the $1.99 it seems to be (you can see the cost in the top part of the menu bar when you go in to purchase a domain name). I wonder when they are going to drop the ball on this one? Next week? Next month? And how much, if any, notice will they give this time? And how will they notify people - via their "blog" again? How stupid.

Realistically, I understand companies need to raise prices to keep up with the increased cost of living. But, in my opinion, there is a big difference between that and "price gouging" customers. Also, the "bait and switch" thing doesn't set well with me, either. Look on that blog site (or do a search) and see how many folks signed up one day only to be smacked with this rude awakening about Whois the next. Little did they know the "free" Whois wasn't going to continue to be free. Add to that the fact it's not on their website predominately disclosed anywhere . And Name.com seems to be skirting a definate Yes or No answer to this question: how long will the Promo Code "freewhois" work for the current customers who use it? To hear their response, it *seems* like it'll be grandfathered in, but their answers are ambiguous and not really answering the question specifically (plus you can't get it for more than 1 year at a time). Guess we'll just have to watch and see, but betcha it's not. Just sayin...

People use the Whois Privacy for a multitude of reasons, and the majority is NOT for evil purposes! With the onslaught of phishers, scammers and spammers doing (and getting away with) the bad crap they do, I certainly *do not* want to make it any easier for them. It's like deliberately leaving your wallet/purse on a public table inviting anybody to come along and snatch it. Try utilizing some self-preservation and privacy-protection methods instead of just letting them (the spammers) have at it. It's called "being smart".

Namecheap has WhoisGuard, but they make you pay for it too, so to clarify: Namecheap offers it free for the first year and then charges for subsequent years. I used to use Namecheap - they were great, but when they started charging for Whois and raised their prices a couple years ago, I went to Name.com. A short-lived reprieve, I guess.

Now that Name.com is doing the same thing, I'm looking for a new registrar (as I'm sure a lot of their customers now are!) who offer reasonable rates (under $10 a year) and that also offers FREE Whois (free for transfers, new domains, as well as renewals). Can anyone recommend a registrar?


I have moved my domains back to 1and1. They offer free WHOIS Privacy and domains cost less than $10 year. The only reason I moved to Name.com was because they allowed me to create more than 5 name servers (1and1 only let's you create 5) but now I don't need more than 5 name servers and they raised their prices so I am back with 1and1. By the way, they currently have the free .com domain and you can use that for your transfer and get a free year added to your domain.

Good luck

Namecheap has WhoisGuard, but they make you pay for it too, so to clarify: Namecheap offers it free for the first year and then charges for subsequent years. I used to use Namecheap - they were great, but when they started charging for Whois and raised their prices a couple years ago, I went to Name.com. A short-lived reprieve, I guess.

Now that Name.com is doing the same thing, I'm looking for a new registrar (as I'm sure a lot of their customers now are!) who offer reasonable rates (under $10 a year) and that also offers FREE Whois (free for transfers, new domains, as well as renewals). Can anyone recommend a registrar?


I suppose a lot of registrars will be raising their prices this year as Verisign will increase the registration and renewal fees for COM & NET domains as of July 1st, 2010

I suppose a lot of registrars will be raising their prices this year as Verisign will increase the registration and renewal fees for COM & NET domains as of July 1st, 2010

Speaking of which, Dynadot mailed me informing about the proce increase.

No other registrar told me, and as said above name.com shocked us all starting to charge for private whois without any notice or time to "adapt".

Well, this year I'll just move my domains to namecheap and get my free first year private whois, next year I'll see if I keep them in namecheap or move elsewhere.

@tempurr According to the blog which I have never come across before, they stated that:
All domains that currently have Private Whois already turned on will continue to receive it for free.
The new pricing will begin today and will only apply to domains that don’t already have Private Whois enabled and/or new domain registrations.


So I do believe it's not meant to affect people that already have domains with Name.com or does not have their Private WHOIS enabled (which I think is quite unfair) - it only apply for future Domain registrations I believe. I have been using Name.com for a very very long time, never expected this to happen (especially since I wasn't provided any prior notice like everyone else) :S Anyhow, I do not plan on moving... yet.

I just wanted to let anyone who has domains at Name.com know that they are now charging for Private Whois.

As far as I know every firm charges for whois privacy here in the UK

I would wait with the moving of domains AFTER the price increase, than u can see what effect it is gonna have on the prices everywhere.