After 20+ years: Goodbye GoDaddy, hello Porkbun

[supergml]

After Godaddy raised the cost of the Discount Domain Club to 100%, I decided to move all my domains to Porkbun.
I spoke to their customer support, and try to convinced me to join the Basic Membership which is good for 49 domains, if you have more than that you have to pay full price for the rest domains you own.
He was also trying to convince me about the hassle I'll have transfering all my domains to another registrar.
After I hung up, I received an email from GoDaddy asking me how was their customer service, with a coupon for a 25% discount on my next purchase.
I own around 150 domains, to pay $240 to have a discount which will end even a more expensive price than the one Porkbun is offering, after reserching to see if they are legit, today I transfered the first one.

 

[internext]

Porkbun is my favorite registrar. Enjoy the OINK!

PS - prefund at Porkbun for special ACH pricing ($9.22 .coms etc)

 

[eyedomainous]

Sssshhh! No Need To Shout! Godaddy can do the math too.
The more popular a cheaper alternative gets the sooner it makes sense for a Big Daddy to buy them out.

Folks who get priced-out find the better deal. Folks who can afford Big Daddy prices just keep paying them...
until they hear that all the 'smart buyers' are going elsewhere... then, to be cool, they join the crowd.

When the Big Daddys' lose the Big Spenders to smaller ops... THEY BUY THEM OUT!!!

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

After Godaddy raised the cost of the Discount Domain Club to 100%, I decided to move all my domains to Porkbun.
I spoke to their customer support, and try to convinced me to join the Basic Membership which is good for 49 domains, if you have more than that you have to pay full price for the rest domains you own.

The increased price of the domain discount club was a wonderful motivator for me to finally switch to a different registrar.

I own around 150 domains, to pay $240 to have a discount which will end even a more expensive price than the one Porkbun is offering, after reserching to see if they are legit, today I transfered the first one.

Congrats on being open to change! Porkbun does have some great pricing. What really also impresses me about them is their pricing transparency. You can easily find a listing of their pricing for registrations, transfers, and renewals.

That's a nice feature that hopefully all registrars will eventually provide up front.

 

[SuperDudePro]

After Godaddy raised the cost of the Discount Domain Club to 100%, I decided to move all my domains to Porkbun.
I spoke to their customer support, and try to convinced me to join the Basic Membership which is good for 49 domains, if you have more than that you have to pay full price for the rest domains you own.
He was also trying to convince me about the hassle I'll have transfering all my domains to another registrar.
After I hung up, I received an email from GoDaddy asking me how was their customer service, with a coupon for a 25% discount on my next purchase.
I own around 150 domains, to pay $240 to have a discount which will end even a more expensive price than the one Porkbun is offering, after reserching to see if they are legit, today I transfered the first one.

Renewals with discount domain club are $9.45, the price at Porkbun shows at $9.73. Are you getting different prices that make GoDaddy more expensive than Porkbun's .com price?

I'm still paying $119 for the discount domain club, and just renewed in January. Did you let your membership lapse? I know a few people still paying the grandfathered amount.

Still, at $0.28 difference, it would take 425 domains to break even. With the double DDC price, it would take 850 domains to break even. If I were paying the double ddc price, at 800 domains, it would be marginally better for me to switch until I hit 850 domains later this year.

I also have quite a few .orgs and there, Porkbun does beat Godaddy DDC by $1.27 ($11.99 - $10.72). I only have a handful of non-com or orgs and it looks like Porkbun beats GoDaddy DDC on many of them.

At my volume, it is essentially a wash. I've been lucky and I haven't had a single issue that GD hasn't resolved quickly in the 12 years I've been using them. The VIP Account Exec is a great and helpful bonus also.

Good luck with switch, let us know how it goes. I'm always curious to see what the grass looks like on the other side of the fence.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I'm still paying $119 for the discount domain club, and just renewed in January. Did you let your membership lapse? I know a few people still paying the grandfathered amount.

The grandfathered amount, to my knowledge, was never offered to me. My recollection was that the discount club costs simply increased, and that was what you had to pay to continue with it.

If they wish to provide different prices for certain customers, perhaps Dynadot's feature might make sense. If someone spends over a certain amount per year with them, they get lower prices for the renewals at the "bulk" and "superbulk" levels.

Glad to hear that you have been happy with their service.

 

[Future Sensors]

Renewals with discount domain club are $9.45

You must add $0.18 ICANN fee to this. At GoDaddy it's not included, at Porkbun it is.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

You must add $0.18 ICANN fee to this. At GoDaddy it's not included, at Porkbun it is.

Wow, you're sharp! Thanks for clarifying this. So, basically it's a 10-cents difference between the discount club vs. Porkbun in the previous example?

 

[HappyW]

Frankly, even though GD didn't do a good enough job and NC is just as much of a hassle to operate. But the bad experience in the past has deterred me from choosing a new registrar just to chase the slight cost difference. The registrar pretty much determines the fate of a domain name at certain critical moments, which is what makes me most afraid to try other registrars.

 

[Future Sensors]

Wow, you're sharp! Thanks for clarifying this. So, basically it's a 10-cents difference between the discount club vs. Porkbun in the previous example?

With Porkbun ACH prefunding it is $9.22 for .com, this is including ICANN fee. Even greater discounts can be found in the non-com scene (all other TLDs). It's about serious money. No paid discount membership is required to get these discounts.

 

[internext]

And the great thing about the Porkbun ACH discount program is that you set up your main (parent) account for regular usage (Paypal, credit cards etc) and then you set up a sub-account (you can have up to 10) strictly for ACH use. And you can easily push the names between accounts as needed.

So you get the best of both worlds: ACH pre-funding (as low as $10) and discounts when you need it and everyday pricing with normal funding, too.

 

[supergml]

Other problems I had with Godaddy is that suddenly they renewed my DDC automatically, and I'm VERY SURE it wasn't set to auto-renew, that way they got me hooked for another 2 years (I renewed everything for 2 years to get like the DDC for $120.00 per year). But I had to advance the cost of the domains one year.
And of course, that way they got me hooked for another year.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Other problems I had with Godaddy is that suddenly they renewed my DDC automatically, and I'm VERY SURE it wasn't set to auto-renew, that way they got me hooked for another 2 years (I renewed everything for 2 years to get like the DDC for $120.00 per year). But I had to advance the cost of the domains one year.
And of course, that way they got me hooked for another year.

Did you challenge the renewal charge with customer service? That seems like a charge that could easily be reversed.
You could also check with your credit card company first, to see what your rights are in this circumstance. I wish I had done so when I had a very painful issue with an auto-renew. Ultimately,concerns about GD's auto-renew policies, along with the much higher baseline registration fees, gave me a strong impetus to move virtually all of my domains away from them.