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question .best premium question

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Hi,

In Junuary of 2019 I registered a .best domain at the promo price the registrar had at that time $10

Now when going to renew it it says it is premium at $83

I contacted the registrar and they told me that the registry had a promo at that time for premiums at that price of $10. Is it correct?

But I would be sure that the domain didn't have a premium tag when I searched for it

What do you think?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Most promo prices are discounts from the registrar. When the promo is over the registration returns back to its original higher price, which is what happened with you. Sometimes a registrar will label the domain name "extension" with a premium tag where as any name you select will have the premium higher price registration.
 
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The current price is now around $18 for standar registration

But I think that when I registered the domain it was an standar fee one

It would be good if @Cyril.Best could comment on this
 
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Anyone?

I think the domain was labeled premium after registration and showed up in renewal price

Anyone experienced similar situation?

I feel disappointed with these premium bisiness practice
 
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Well if they did label it premium after, they are within their rights to do so, and they don't have to inform you about it, just the register of record.

This is all outlined in the TOS, didn't you read it when you registered your domain?

Nothing new here, and doubtful you will get any help, they will probably give you a pat on the back, and say wow you are so lucky to be able to own this domain for only $83 a year, what a gem.

This the the pitfalls of the promo pricing, most have it on auto renew, and catch it after they already get charged,
 
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I thought that if one register an standar domain it will remain like that (at least for ethics) but you say otherwise
 
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The issue you are experiencing is probably the most damaging policy decisions by ICANN to the reputation of the NewG's. The increases allowed on the NewG's is absolutely non-satisfactory. It is a money grab, at best.
 
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I think if one buys an standard fee domain It's a contract even if not specified. So it have to remain like that at least while being registered
 
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I think if one buys an standard fee domain It's a contract even if not specified. So it have to remain like that at least while being registered

For one year (or more years, paid upfront, still they can do whatever they like)
 
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Now when going to renew it it says it is premium at $83.....What do you think?

I posted about that situation months ago. Same thing happened to me on 3 .best names. My answer is it sucks doing that.

When I got the names there was no indication they would be premium in future and were considered standard. In fact, I may be wrong but do not believe .best had premiums in the past and simply assumed earlier registrations before the big discount promos of last March/April must be premium quality.

It is something I really dislike about .best registry. Out of those 3 now premium renewals I let one recently expire (not worth the $81) and the other 2 reluctantly renewed for $81 each.

My experience with ,best has sadly not been good what with them saying they were suddenly premiums and the vast majority of the others being very dubious value and not worth renewing for the current high $18 (except for a relative few).

Also real disappointed about the claims from Cyril that hotel.best and hotels.best were selling for 1 million $ almost a year ago and no news on it. Plus very little heard about the new social media benefit.

P.S. Maybe Bob Hawkes (who has written about .best before) can chime-in on this if he wants to?
 
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For one year (or more years, paid upfront, still they can do whatever they like)

But I think there are laws that protecs consumers from deceptive pratices

Or at least for ethics
 
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Ariel,

It is not with just the .best that this has happened to investors. Making a domain so-called "premium" after a registrant has purchased, regardless of whether or not there was a promo on.

I call it, taking an honest name, and making it a Premium Turd. And it smells as bad as it sounds.

My solution has been this, no compromises:

1) I immediately cease business with the current registrar by moving all my names out (yep, a real pain in the ass, but principles will never take a backseat to convenience). Now, registrars will argue they have no control over the situation (and they are correct, of course), however, that doesn't mean squat to me. It is the registrar I am paying, not the registry. It's not my job to oversee, as you say, deceptive registries.

2) I immediately cease further renewals with the extension that which screwed me, in your case, it would be .best.

After doing this, it almost feels as if I've drained the swamp from my backyard. Luckily, I invest in many names/extensions, so if this was a sole name or just one out of a few, I can understand the pain for sure.

Hope it works out, whatever you do, but just so you know, it is totally legit for them to do in the eyes of the law. In our eyes, it is obviously unacceptable.
 
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But I think there are laws that protecs consumers from deceptive pratices

Or at least for ethics

Consumer protection law & price-cap regulation & domains? That's history. dot Best is a French based private company, they can do whatever they think it's ok - for them (#1) or ... registrants (#2).

Anyway, if you're planing to sell dot Best, you need to study / concentrate on the market value, end-user usage growth and profitability ... which still doesn't make up for game. Good Luck!

Regards
 
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To be honest .best has very little aftermarket activity, unless you are totally married to the name, I would just drop it, and move on, rather than pay these people their ransom fee.

The way these contracts are setup, is not pretty, they can raise the annual renewal from $18 to $10,000 per year, without any notice to the registrant, within 6 months of informing the registrar, no caps, it's a dangerous game for anyone that builds a business on one if they don't have the trust of the registry.

What if you built a business, and online identity on such domain while paying $83 a year, and you weren't informed of a price hike, and they raised it to $10,000 a year since your business was doing so well, what choice do you have? There is a reason .com commands a premium.
 
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Everything was already in detail desribed and analyzed in this thread (read at least last few pages):

https://www.namepros.com/threads/what-are-your-best-domain-names.1126251/

GL :)
Yes, it appears .best was questioned on this very issue. Unfortunately, it was never properly addressed and now we have this unfortunate situation.

@Cyril.Best : so the registry has switched to premium some.best domain names that had been registered at standard rates? It would appear so. To my knowledge this has very, very rarely been done with continuously registered domains in other TLDs and makes domainer investments in the extension difficult since future renewals are uncertain. Also it means that information to be given to potential purchasers could be misleading.
 
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To be honest .best has very little aftermarket activity, unless you are totally married to the name, I would just drop it, and move on, rather than pay these people their ransom fee.

The way these contracts are setup, is not pretty, they can raise the annual renewal from $18 to $10,000 per year, without any notice to the registrant, within 6 months of informing the registrar, no caps, it's a dangerous game for anyone that builds a business on one if they don't have the trust of the registry.

What if you built a business, and online identity on such domain while paying $83 a year, and you weren't informed of a price hike, and they raised it to $10,000 a year since your business was doing so well, what choice do you have? There is a reason .com commands a premium.

Yes, you are right with the little aftermarket activity. I wanted the name for personal use but I will not renew it

I hope other registries don't do this too

Everything was already in detail desribed and analyzed in this thread (read at least last few pages):

https://www.namepros.com/threads/what-are-your-best-domain-names.1126251/

GL :)

Thanks
 
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Yes, you are right with the little aftermarket activity. I wanted the name for personal use but I will not renew it

I hope other registries don't do this too



Thanks
I hate to see this kind of stuff happen to honest registrants, serves no purpose to anybody, you lose the name, and the registry loses the revenue, really no winners.
 
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Yes, it appears .best was questioned on this very issue. Unfortunately, it was never properly addressed and now we have this unfortunate situation.

And Cyril seems to have disappeared. I am shocked!!!

I can't think of one term in .best that I would pay $80/year for.

Brad
 
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I hate to see this kind of stuff happen to honest registrants, serves no purpose to anybody, you lose the name, and the registry loses the revenue, really no winners.

And the registry burns through any credibility they might have had...

Big promises, and a bunch of people left holding the bag.
Pretty pathetic really.

Brad
 
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And Cyril seems to have disappeared. I am shocked!!!

I can't think of one term in .best that I would pay $80/year for.

Brad
The.Best is a good option, but .best registry uses it to pay people to leave paid review on .best sites, go figure.
 
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I remember the big debate/discussion when the hotel.best "offer" was announced. Some people on here got very prematurely excited despite the warnings of others.

Ultimately, I think we can conclude that .best has served as a valuable lesson in the domaining industry.
 
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The.Best is a good option, but .best registry uses it to pay people to leave paid review on .best sites, go figure.

They would be lucky to get a nickel for a domain. That is more than 99.9% of them are worth.

(18) total .Best sales on NameBio for $3,074. There is no secondary market.

If anything it might be a blessing so people can drop the garbage sooner.

Brad
 
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I remember the big debate/discussion when the hotel.best "offer" was announced. Some people on here got very prematurely excited despite the warnings of others.

Ultimately, I think we can conclude that .best has served as a valuable lesson in the domaining industry.

Yeah. It appears that all the "haters" were right after all.

The sad thing is the people who could least afford to lose money are likely the ones who did lose money, as seasoned veterans have seen this hyperbole and empty promises over and over again.

Brad
 
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