Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Domain Names : Will domain registration prices crash?

[ezyvps]

I am curious if anyone besides myself feels it is likely that yearly domain price registration fees will go down significantly in the next few years? With the release of possible thousands of gTLDs in the next few years... will it cause a crash? I remember when the price of RAM crashed... any thoughts?

.com .50 cents per/year... maybe.

What are the actual costs to the registrar and will it go down if the registrar has hundreds of gTLDs to resell next year in a market of other registrars that also have hundreds of gTLDs? It is likely the number of domains registered will increase by a large factor.

Paying for a domain may never happen again... it will be ketchup for your fries... how many do you want?

Name space will be free. Search engines will develop new methodologies to define value and keywords will become key structures defined by cross referenced name space. Links will be diluted or highly valued depending on how link indexing will change with the release of thousands of gTLDs.

Jxff

[Acroplex]

RAM is an actual product. Domain names are essentially services. With the current state of monopolies enjoyed by the Registries, prices are definitely going up, not down.

[nancysmith]

I am agree with you. But .com price .50 per/year is very less. It might be approximate $3-$4 per month.

[ezyvps]

Originally Posted by Acroplex

RAM is an actual product. Domain names are essentially services. With the current state of monopolies enjoyed by the Registries, prices are definitely going up, not down.

Imagine any service where the amount of choices change by 1000%

Jxff

[Acroplex]

Originally Posted by Jxff

Imagine any service where the amount of choices change by 1000%

Jxff

Currently the rules specify the annual increase in prices the Registries can impose; between 6% and 8% I believe.

[ezyvps]

Originally Posted by Acroplex

Currently the rules specify the annual increase in prices the Registries can impose; between 6% and 8% I believe.

Rules will be a main factor. If a name space like .xxx is for adult, then any name space that has an allowed rule set will gain a value depending on it's popularity. What I feel will happen is that ICANN will put growth of name space outside of the virtual world and onto tangibles. IPv6 along with IFRD will drive new name space requests. Governments will give citizens free name space. Charging for a domain registration would at first help the growth of domain name space, but ultimately it will be free. I believe we are close (within years) of entering that time.

Jxff

[Acroplex]

Eventually, there will also be an orange iPhone.

[ezyvps]

Originally Posted by Acroplex

Eventually, there will also be an orange iPhone.

Of course!

Anyone else... read https://www.markmonitor.com/mmblog/

[realtimeregister]

I think with the vertical intergration of Registries and Registrars we will see more gTLD promotions.

It will also be very intresting to see what the price range willbe for the new gTLD's.

[astutiumRob]

Domain registration costs have been rising year-on-year for the last 3, and are expected to continue to do so as a direct relationship to
* inflation (money gets worth less each year)
* costs (power, servers, staff etc continue to cost more)
etc

The new gTLD program is unlikely to have any impact on the base-cost of the existing gTLDs, and therefore no impact on the prices charged to a registrar (and passed on plus admin costs and markup to the registrant)

Several places still sell domains at less than their cost price as part of an overall marketing program/land-grab - it works for some, it puts others out of business.

[m8internet]

I also agree, it is very unlikely to see a sudden price crash on the cost price of Domain Names

There is however a fear factor at losing a Domain Name, and this results in stability in price increases
The only other main factor is if there was a sudden lack of interest in the internet and websites

[Techno]

What are the actual costs to the registrar and will it go down if the registrar has hundreds of gTLDs to resell next year in a market of other registrars that also have hundreds of gTLDs? It is likely the number of domains registered will increase by a large factor.

Opening a new TLD registry requires an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars and incurs ongoing operations expenses and fees. I don't see how a decent ROI can be achieved with 50 cent pricing. Registries that tried to quickly grow with with free and low-ball pricing (.tk & .info) just became magnets for spammers and scammers and have yet to lose their bad reputations.

[Dave Zan]

And as long as VeriSign manages the .com Registry, sadly prices aren't going down. To think few other parties proposed to handle it at lower (?) costs years ago.

[ezyvps]

Originally Posted by Techno

Opening a new TLD registry requires an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars and incurs ongoing operations expenses and fees. I don't see how a decent ROI can be achieved with 50 cent pricing. Registries that tried to quickly grow with with free and low-ball pricing (.tk & .info) just became magnets for spammers and scammers and have yet to lose their bad reputations.

Good point. The new name space will need to compete. Maybe in a year or two ICANN announces plans to regulate name space (already suggested with country code name space). If so, does any of this reduce the demand for existing name space? Maybe Google decides to index name space to give priority to .music for music sites, the demand for .com starts to fall. The courts rule that name space is not a brand (after all), but the content it contains is covered by trademark laws and the new space flourishes. I can foresee taxes on name space and that might cost you more in the long run, but the demand for existing name space has peaked, maybe a few years ago.

Jxff

[sterankofan18]

Originally Posted by humawebdesign

I am agree that prices will go down because of strong competition among registrars.

Prices will go down at bad registrars. But domainers will pay a premium for quality service.