question Creative.tech $3k registration fee?

[valentinv]

Can someone explain this to me? .tech domains cost like $50 dollars per year but this one is at 3k. I don't get it. Who decides this?

 

[henry93]

The .tech registry believes it's one of the valuable keywords/domains. Hence, the premium tag and price. Other registries are also selling their dictionary word domains at higher prices. Simply put, avoid them for now.

 

[bmugford]

Just say no to registry "premium" domains.

Brad

 

[pb]

One one hand, if this domain had a regular price, it would long be taken by someone, maybe a domainer who'd list it for sale at $3k. On the other, the registry expects you to pay $3k *every year*. They are blinded by greed. Took the domainers' bread and butter and turned it into muck.

 

[HotKey]

Just say no to registry "premium" domains.

Brad

Exactly, these weren't meant for investors. They are from registries who have turned into domainers under the guise of "premium renewals" which is actually pretty slick.

 

[valentinv]

So the ICANN sold the rights for those new TLDs to registries and they can then do whatever they want... I don't know but this seems absurd, shouldn't the registration fee be a fee for registration and therefore be the same for every SLD? Instead it's a registration price. I'm surprised the ICANN isn't more strict here.

 

[bmugford]

So the ICANN sold the rights for those new TLDs to registries and they can then do whatever they want... I don't know but this seems absurd, shouldn't the registration fee be a fee for registration and therefore be the same for every SLD? Instead it's a registration price. I'm surprised the ICANN isn't more strict here.

New domain extensions are the wild west.

You can have "premium" registration and/or renewal fees.

Some domains can be thousands, or even tens of thousands per year.

I only deal in domains that have standardized, reasonable registration and renewal fees.

The greed of many of these registries tanked the demand before they even had a chance to become popular.

Brad

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

Honestly, $3k might seem like a lot to an investor who’d probably seek to sell the name for the same amount if they could register it for the good ole sum of $10-$15 they’re accustom to. It’s reasonable to assume the “premium” for creative.tech helps keep the name available for an individual or company that may want to actually utilize the name to build out their business/endeavor. Granted, the registry stands to reap the monetary benefit a middleman domainer would.

Think about it this way, if creativetech.com was being offered at $3k many domainers would view the price as a steal. However, most domainers wouldn’t dare list creativetech.com for 3k if they held it. They’d likely command far more. Some potential buyers might argue $3k+ for a domain that does exactly what every other domain does isn’t exactly a deal regardless of whether it uses .com or not etc. Even with an installment option.

All in all, creative.tech is a solid name. Especially in this tech era. It reads well to the left and right of the dot; and will likely find a home as the masses come to learn there’s a range of TLD options outside of just .com. Even some that offer greater utility. Some domainers scoff at the idea anything other than .com could be worth an investment; but remember domains selling for 4/5/6/7 figures is preposterous to some people regardless of what name it might be. .Coms included.

So, yeah.

 

[bmugford]

Honestly, $3k might seem like a lot to an investor who’d probably seek to sell the name for the same amount if they could register it for the good ole sum of $10-$15 they’re accustom to. It’s reasonable to assume the “premium” for creative.tech helps keep the name available for an individual or company that may want to actually utilize the name to build out their business/endeavor. Granted, the registry stands to reap the monetary benefit a middleman domainer would.

Think about it this way, if creativetech.com was being offered at $3k many domainers would view the price as a steal. However, most domainers wouldn’t dare list creativetech.com for 3k if they held it. They’d likely command far more. Some potential buyers might argue $3k+ for a domain that does exactly what every other domain does isn’t exactly a deal regardless of whether it uses .com or not etc. Even with an installment option.

Well, it's not just $3k. It's $3k/year.

According to GoDaddy for example -

"$3,299.99/yr when you renew"

That is absurd.

The registries own greed has killed much of the potential demand for new extensions.

Not many people are going to pay massive premiums when it comes to oddball extensions, never mind thousands per year.

Brad

 

[pb]

That's what I'm saying. It's ok for domainers to sell domains for $x,xxx and it's ok for registries to try and cut out the middleman and try to sell their best domains for $x,xxx but it's NOT ok to try and charge $x,xxx per year. If it was pay-once and then standard renewal fee, many of these domains would be snatched up, even by investors.

Let's say a registry has 10,000 of their best domains priced at $1k each and the standard registration/renewal fee of $10. How many of these domains will they ever sell? How many will be renewed? Honestly I don't have any stats but they would have to make 100 sales/renewals every year* to get to the level of just making these domains freely available and letting regular folks register them (if they're really that cool, they will all be snatched no doubt). A steady stream of cash (+ good PR) vs a hope of someone sometimes buying a "premium" domain without realising its exorbitant renewal fee (+ bad PR). Which one is more profitable? Maybe someone here has an answer, because I'm honestly curious.

(*) incidentally, that's a "standard" domaining STR of 1% per year, however I think in the case of registry premium domains it might be lower because of premium renewals...

 

[bmugford]

That's what I'm saying. It's ok for domainers to sell domains for $x,xxx and it's ok for registries to try and cut out the middleman and try to sell their best domains for $x,xxx but it's NOT ok to try and charge $x,xxx per year. If it was pay-once and then standard renewal fee, many of these domains would be snatched up, even by investors.

Let's say a registry has 10,000 of their best domains priced at $1k each and the standard registration/renewal fee of $10. How many of these domains will they ever sell? How many will be renewed? Honestly I don't have any stats but they would have to make 100 sales/renewals every year* to get to the level of just making these domains freely available and letting regular folks register them (if they're really that cool, they will all be snatched no doubt). A steady stream of cash (+ good PR) vs a hope of someone sometimes buying a "premium" domain without realising its exorbitant renewal fee (+ bad PR). Which one is more profitable? Maybe someone here has an answer, because I'm honestly curious.

(*) incidentally, that's a "standard" domaining STR of 1% per year, however I think in the case of registry premium domains it might be lower because of premium renewals...

In the same extension one renewal fee can be $20, and another is $500, $2000, $5000, $15,000, etc.

I would never invest a single dime into an extension that did not have a standardized renewal fee.

While new extensions should have been concerned with putting top terms into the hands of top end users to build usage and credibility, instead they were blinded by greed...thus really hurting actual usage and demand.

Brad

 

[HotKey]

Yeh recurring premium fees killed the domaining star

There are some exceptions that have an initial "premium" registration but fall back to standard renewal after the fact. I kind of find those ok but still weird coming from the registry.

End users who aren't versed in historical normalcy with pricing when it comes to purchasing domain names probably don't care and that's who the registries are targeting.

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

There’s a bit of irony in the fact the renewal fee for creative.tech is being critiqued here. Especially when most domainers incorporate what some buyers would consider a hefty premium into their asking price. Heck, a name being offered in the ballpark of $40k, with a 12 month installment plan, puts a buyer in the position of paying a bit over $3k per MONTH until the domain is paid off. Yet, some here are taking issue with the idea of a $3k YEARLY renewal.

Needless to say, pointing out the discrepancies isn't a matter of justifying registry pricing. It's a matter of pointing out the pricing culture domainers have perpetuated and benefitted from. With all the talk of top sales and how anything other than .com stands no chance, it was inevitable that registries would consider pricing their names in line with domainer culture. After all, domainers are literally downplaying other TLDs despite them ‘fuctioning’ exactly like .com.

Now that Web3/Blockchain names are gaining traction, one could only imagine many centralized GTLD/CCTLD registries see value in bridging their names with the blockchain and giving them broader functionality. All while circumventing browser resolution hurdles some native Web3/Blockchain names are working to clear. It would be naive to say renewal pricing is a problem. It's simply wise not to discount the fact times are changing; and folks are realizing other TLD options exist.

Seasoned domainers can yell from the mountaintop that everything is a cash grab, trash and the like; but a constant pessimism about the various options in domaining does nothing more than hurt the industry in the long-term. Creative.tech is $3k a year. A speculative $30k one-time fee for creativetech.com, and roughly $16 a year until Verisign decides to raise its renewals, has its things worth critiquing. Especially since paying $30k doesn't mean you'll own the name. Now some would consider that ridiculous.

 

[HotKey]

Quad so get rid of sales and just pay year over year hefty renewals for infinity?

Since you referenced chain names even those, at least with Handshake, have a negligible "renewal" every couple years and that's just to update the status on the chain, and it amounts to literally pennies for the renewal.

These premium renewals are being critiqued from the eye of the investor, not the end user. They simply don't make sense to hold in a portfolio. There is no guarantee of a sale it's just throwing money away and the winner is the registry. Hat's off to that but what does it mean for investors?

If registries want to play domainers, that's great for them sucks for us but we're all going to stay away from these types of domains and keep on chopping up dot-coms until usable names become so horrid that you may as well just base your business solely on a social media account.

There is a feeling of ownership when one buys a domain for 4k, 30k, 100k whatever and it has just a regular renewal fee. I don't think one gets that same feeling on 3k renewals.

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

Quad so get rid of sales and just pay year over year hefty renewals for infinity?

Since you referenced chain names even those, at least with Handshake, have a negligible "renewal" every couple years and that's just to update the status on the chain, and it amounts to literally pennies for the renewal.

These premium renewals are being critiqued from the eye of the investor, not the end user. They simply don't make sense to hold in a portfolio. There is no guarantee of a sale it's just throwing money away and the winner is the registry. Hat's off to that but what does it mean for investors?

If registries want to play domainers, that's great for them sucks for us but we're all going to stay away from these types of domains and keep on chopping up dot-coms until usable names become so horrid that you may as well just base your business solely on a social media account.

There is a feeling of ownership when one buys a domain for 4k, 30k, 100k whatever and it has just a regular renewal fee. I don't think one gets that same feeling on 3k renewals.

@HotKey

As always, your viewpoint is appreciated. In all fairness, we can’t overlook the fact that with, or without, a $3k renewal most ‘conditioned’ domainers wouldn't give creative.tech the time of day because of sheer bias. Even if the renewals were “standard”. So, we have that part.

Another thing worth noting is the difference in investing and portfolio management strategies from one domainer to the next. Sure, a domainer with a larger portfolio might find $3k to be a hefty renewal whereas one with a smaller portfolio might not think so.

Remember, two parties can pay the same amount in renewals but have completely different assets. Therefore, $3k for one person could be a steal depending on their plan(s) for the name. After all, the plan for the name is key. We can never discount the power of a plan in this evolving space.

By the way, another thing to consider is the potential reduction in renewal prices over time. Especially for the end-users and domainers who renew consecutively. It's not a far-fetched concept/strategy. The point being made here is the domain system, as it stands, is outdated.

Needless to say, every renewal won't meet the taste of every domainer. However, if domains are digital real estate, we must accept that pricing will differ from property to property. If there's room for multi-million dollar sales in domaining, there’s surely room for x,xxx renewals.