new gtlds Domain Name News That Will Spook You!

[eenmakkie]

Imagine registering a new domain, at he moment you registered the new domain, it was not a premium top level domain. So you pay a fair price for it.
You think it is yours and every year you have to pay the same renewal price.

That is what I did by godaddy.com
I bought a new TLD domain when they came on the market.

started offering it for sale.

Now when the next renewal is coming close, I went to my godaddy.com account and suddenly they wanted 499.99$ to renew the domain for a year. A huge multiple increase compare to the price I paid to register the name.
I called help desk and they told that the domain has become top level domain name as they have seen the value of it.

what?!!!!!

So you buy a domain, spent a lot of money and work on the website, make a business around it, it becomes big on the market, you start to earn millions and suddenly the registrars can ask you what ever they want to renew your domain as they have seen the value of your domain now?

And if you do not pay the extravagant renewal price they ask, it becomes there's? So then they can sell your hard work?

Is this legal?

So what google.com or facebook.com they bought there domains for 1000 years upfront to avoid that the registrar can ask them a couple of billions to renew their domains?

 

[brindle123]

I just talked to ennmakkie via PM.

.villas is the gtld that changed in pricing for him.

His renewal went from $69.99 to $499!!! That is scary and everyone on here should be concerned about this issue. It seems like the renewal pricing didn't change across the board for the .villas extension. It was only because they now deemed "his" domain as a premium domain and changed the pricing in order to "STEAL" it back.
I knew this shit would happen and tried to warn everyone on NP that it could happen, but most people on here thought I was over reacting or just crazy.

I told the ennmakkie to contact Godaddy, the registry, and ICANN with this problem. Document everything in case of any future class action lawsuits.

We need to discuss this topic in full until this is resolved! When problems like this pop up, it seems like everyone on here would rather bury their head in the sand instead of dealing with the main issues and problems with the new gtlds.

We don't own the domains, even .com domains. We rent them every year. This doesn't happen with .com which is good.

I don't accept this crap and no one on here should either! ICANN allows this crap to happen and does nothing for the little guy in this game. We need to call on ICANN to stand up for us instead of allowing us to be screwed at every step along the way.

These types of domain theft will ruin the new gtld market in the eyes of domainers and the general public, which will make it impossible to resell a gtld in the aftermarket.

 

[Joe Styler]

I deal in the Aftermarket so I would have to ask the team that does gtld registrations about the domain. I would say that I have not heard of anything like this happening yet, although I have read the same blogs by Berkens and others warning about the possibility, I have yet to see any tld do so. That being said, if you can send me the domain name I can certainly have someone on our side look into it for you and then get back to you and let you know what I find out.

 

[brindle123]

i would like to thank Joe Styler and Andee Hill for coming into the thread to help sort things out. Joe I've seen you come into other threads and offer help. I'm glad that there are stand up reps from Godaddy on the forum.

Thank you both.
Now the ball is in ennmakkie's court to get them the domain so they can help.

 

[Andee Hill]

Imagine registering a new domain, at he moment you registered the new domain, it was not a premium top level domain. So you pay a fair price for it.
You think it is yours and every year you have to pay the same renewal price.

That is what I did by godaddy.com
I bought a new TLD domain when they came on the market.

started offering it for sale.

Now when the next renewal is coming close, I went to my godaddy.com account and suddenly they wanted 499.99$ to renew the domain for a year. A huge multiple increase compare to the price I paid to register the name.
I called help desk and they told that the domain has become top level domain name as they have seen the value of it.

what?!!!!!

So you buy a domain, spent a lot of money and work on the website, make a business around it, it becomes big on the market, you start to earn millions and suddenly the registrars can ask you what ever they want to renew your domain as they have seen the value of your domain now?

And if you do not pay the extravagant renewal price they ask, it becomes there's? So then they can sell your hard work?

Is this legal?

So what google.com or facebook.com they bought there domains for 1000 years upfront to avoid that the registrar can ask them a couple of billions to renew their domains?

Please message me the .villa name. I am from the Donuts registry and would like to investigate.

 

[alcy]

I say let the gtlds do this scamming behaviour.. the sooner they self destruct in this way and are off the market completely, the better for domainers.

 

[Joe Styler]

I spoke with Andee and Donuts has not raised the price on the .villa domain so there must be some kind of error or misunderstanding. We have both asked for the domain a couple times. I think having that would help us get to the bottom of this very quickly. I am about to head out for the day but I will be around to look into it again tomorrow after my live hangout, (plug https://www.namepros.com/threads/live-hangout-on-the-godaddy-investor-app-for-auctions.932770/ ) A pm with the domain name will help us easily get to the bottom of it. I think it is good news from the registry that the prices have not changed. If GoDaddy has made an error on the pricing I am happy to apologize and get it fixed asap.

 

[brindle123]

The registries will do this for as long as they can. Then they will come out with a different policy so they don't look so bad and continue to lose business. In the mean time they will steal back domains and resell them as much as they can.

All they have to do is raise the renewal costs to the point that we can't justify renewing our domains. We will drop 1000's of domains. Then the registries can reclassify any domain that they get back into the registry as a premium domain. Lower the renewals and restart the whole theft process on the next batch of new domainers.

If you don't think this can, will, or is happening, then you are the perfect target for them.

This process erodes trust in the domain industry.

 

[alcy]

bottom line is, new gtlds were always bad idea to most domainers.. creating nothing but chaos and confusion and diverting from real value domains.. and in the end, causing MOST domainers who ventured there to loose more money than to make money. (note most<>all)

so as far as I am concerned all new gtlds can disappear from market tomorrow. and I'd be jumping from joy for it and not even blink.

so yes, I am all for scamming behaviour from them.. I cheer it and encourage it (including for the ones I own) because down the line it will mean self dstruction and disappearence from market.

and that day will be a real good day for domainers. imo

 

[pchip]

Unfortunately, the concern over no regulation in pricing (increases) was voiced many times here at Namepros. That fact alone should have made anybody think twice about using/investing in a new gtld.

 

[Wannabean]

Registrars think that domainers holding their premium names hurts their extensions. They want end users to use and promote their product. Totally get that but I disagree.

What they fail to realize is that, in the main, domainers are the only ones who appreciate the value of good names. Premium pricing just pushes the vast majority of new end users to hyphenated .com's.

So ngtld's with premium pricing aren't friendly to either end users or domainers, which raises the question: Who are they for?

 

[Joe Styler]

I was off this weekend and just getting back into the office. It seems this has turned into a very long thread so I hope I answer all the questions in here. It was a few pages of reading so if I forgot something just ask.

- The name of the domain would help because then I can track everything back from that name and see if there is some kind of error. Also I would be able to follow up with the agent you spoke with about this. If you are seeing the price as $499 and the agent confirmed this and said other names are also premiums then I would think there is an error somewhere on our side. Andee at Donuts has said to me that they have not raised prices on these names and that means that potentially something broke or was mis-communicated etc. I'd like to get to the bottom of it so we can make sure everyone else has a better experience.

-If the registry raised the price then transferring to another registrar would mean you would need to pay the new higher registration fee there as well (unless they wanted to take a loss on the sale). This also seems to point to some kind of pricing error on our side.

• Which let me pre-empt the questions that will come. We do audit sales. We have proactively refunded the difference of pricing errors in the past. So I assume this would have been caught and refunded as well. Not ideal by any means but I would like to point out if there was/is an error we wouldn't use it to keep extra money from customers. These are pretty rare.

-Any registry can raise prices on the domains they sell. .com has done this almost every year. Yes it's a smaller percent but it is still a price raise. If there is a major price change on your domains Godaddy is normally very proactive at helping customers. We have award winning customer service and strive to create the best experience for our customers and help their small businesses to succeed so informing customers of big price changes would be in keeping with this focus.

-I have not seen any new tld significantly raise pricing on domains that a customer holds already with the exception of that article by Mr. Berkens. http://www.thedomains.com/2015/09/2...-in-the-new-gtld-space-goes-to-mind-machines/ but that price he said was communicated to the registrar and there was an error which resulted in them paying the price increase for him. This is a different registry than the one in question here which is Donuts. Also there are some good comments by people like George Kirkos that point out links to the actual agreements the registries have with ICANN.

Bottom line, if GoDaddy has made an error, again, I apologize. I'd be happy to look into it for you further and buy you a drink when I am in Amsterdam/Hague in May

I think that this thread shows the importance of choosing the companies you do business with wisely. If we made an error we will do what we can to make it right.

If you are buying domains from Donuts, I believe they have worked hard to build the domains on their registry into viable options when building a business which is important when choosing a name to invest in. Things like name.kitchen and their television ads etc that show real businesses using the names are important things to look at when investing. They are not the only registry doing a good job so do your homework when you invest like you would with any other investment. You can invest in com, net, or horse if you have a decent plan and have done your homework

 

[MisterSoft.com]

It's called price gouging!
See, registrars will always be the winner and the investors will be shafted. Very sad.
This will keep happening with all these ngtlds.
Bottom line is: just stick with dotcom!

 

[brindle123]

The unfortunate thing is that ICANN will do nothing.

ICANN is in the pocket of the new gtld registries so they will not act on behalf of us!

There are some good gtlds but it seems like ALL the registries suck.

If this starts happening across the board then we will have a good class action lawsuit case against ICANN and the registries. Document everything and be prepared for the lawsuit, because I think it is in the works.

Ennmakkie contact Godaddy today via email and keep that email. Also contact them over the phone and let us know what they say.

Here is a link to complain to ICANN about the registry.

https://forms.icann.org/en/resources/compliance/complaints/registries/form

Here is the link for other complaints.

https://www.icann.org/compliance/complaint

 

[brindle123]

I have never heard any seasoned namePros members report this before and this is @eenmakkie's first post, kind of hard to believe.

So you don't think has happened or can't happen? Peoples first posts on here are not always about appraisals or how to sell a domain.

I specially made an account at this forum to be able to react on this post.

Dommmain started an account just for this topic. I'm not sure they were wronged.

I've seen other posts where similar things happen to domainers by the registries. Raising prices and reclassifying a domain that wasn't premium into a premium domain price structure.

I wrote the following complaint to ICANN:

"It came to my attention that a .villas domain name renewal pricing has gone up from $69.99 to $499 just based on the domain name not the extension.
To me and the domaining community, this amounts to domain theft by the registry. If we are told that renewals are not at premium pricing at the time of the domain purchase, then how can a domain within an extension be reclassified to a premium pricing structure? This needs to be address asap or there will be public mistrust of new gtlds, domains, registries, and ICANN if this is allowed to continue. Please advise on what ICANN's policy is towards this type of problem. I see this as causing class action lawsuits in the new future if this is allowed to continue. This is already being discussed within the domaining community. If mistrust continues and the general public also has this concern, the gtld market and aftermarket will be in ruin."

I might need more info from the OP in case I am contacted by ICANN. Instead of doing all my bitching on NP, I'm going to take it right to the source of the problems!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wwwweb]

As far as I know the registry is the one that makes the domain a "Premium" not the registrar. So even if he transferred the domain, it would still be deemed premium.



The terms of service or user agreement says prices can change "without" notice. They don't say anything about the domain being reclassified into a "Premium" domain though.

I'm not sure how it got out there that you can renew at the current or old price for 10yrs or even the next year. That is only the case if you get prior notice via email or find out on here that there is an upcoming price change. Once the price change has gone into effect, you have to pay the new price change. Even if it's not time to renew.

Some of my gtld domain renewal prices have gone up since I bought them two months ago and I have not received a single email stating that renewal prices have changed.

I highly doubt that any action will be taken from ICANN on this issue. I don't even expect a response from them. That's the amount of faith I have in the support from ICANN. I wish they would chime in on this forum to clear things up. I also wish there was a REP from every registry on here that we could hash these things out in the open.

If someone from Donuts is on this forum, please point them out so I can drag them into this. I never hear Reps get involved in these types of threads, because they don't want the truth to come out.

http://www.thedomains.com/2015/09/2...-in-the-new-gtld-space-goes-to-mind-machines/

All new gTLD registries have the basic same contract with ICANN

New gTLD registries, including Donuts can raise renewal prices, but they have to give a registrant a 6 month notice and give them the opportunity to renew the domain at the current rate for the remainder of the 10 year term

 

[brindle123]

I started a this thread to see if we can get some answers from the registries and registrars.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/ca...entatives-where-are-you-on-this-forum.932250/

Let's see if any reps come to our aid or clear up any issues we have.

 

[Kate]

So ngtld's with premium pricing aren't friendly to either end users or domainers, which raises the question: Who are they for?

For suckers.

 

[DnEbook]

Attention All Registrars ............ Go Jump (you greedy $$%^%%!!!)
~
I am pretty much dropping my 10 New Gtlds
~
.com seems more "governed'

 

[candomain]

Yes you are correct no one is forcing anyone to reg adasdfasdfa.whatever but these reg fees will kill the extensions when they were supposed to provide affordable alternatives to all of the "overpriced" .coms.
Changing reg fees more than 10%/yr after you register a domain should be criminal.

 

[eenmakkie]

I answered the questions addressed to me in line above.

thanks Joe for your brief reply.
I did not received your email address to sent the printscreens via personal message as asked, I understood you wanted to see them via here.
the domains .pink .red . blue mentioned Sunday at 12:54 AM still show up as a 90$ renewal for the last 3 days attached print screens . I registered then for 16.99$ I see on Godaddy those extensions for 13,99$, why I have to pay 90$ now?

Apologies that the contact is going via this way, I tried first different via phone etc and lost a lot of time on all this. Included the idea of security. As the answer is still unclear. Can or Can't ...
then the only protection is the registrar informing me upfront of an upcoming price increase for a particular domain outside for the whole extension (as that would not be possible to inform all)

When you have time, can you please answer the question below, thanks:
4.Regarding the comment of George Kirkos: If a registry increases the renewal rates of a particular domain, and passes that info to Godaddy as registrar, does Godaddy informs the registrant about the upcoming renewal price increase ? So at least we can take the right of the renewing at the old price before the 6 months expire?

 

[NameYourself]

I warned of this as did some others many times before but it fell on deaf ears amid the new excitement of eager domainers looking to scoop up all these new opportunities (scams). All your time, effort, and money invested in a new tld can be gone in an instant, without warning should the registries decide to alter their prices on a per name basis to whatever they want. They win either way by doing this as you'll either pay them what they want to keep what you built or paid in already through premium fees, or if you don't they will get to reclaim it and either monetize it or reauction it to someone else. This is permissible by ICANN as there are no pricing restrictions on the new tlds. Such loose pricing policies and lack of oversight by ICANN allowed this to happen and it will continue to happen. There are so many problems with the way the internet is being governed right now.

 

[Joe Styler]

thanks Joe for your brief reply.
I did not received your email address to sent the printscreens via personal message as asked, I understood you wanted to see them via here.
the domains .pink .red . blue mentioned Sunday at 12:54 AM still show up as a 90$ renewal for the last 3 days attached print screens . I registered then for 16.99$ I see on Godaddy those extensions for 13,99$, why I have to pay 90$ now?

Apologies that the contact is going via this way, I tried first different via phone etc and lost a lot of time on all this. Included the idea of security. As the answer is still unclear. Can or Can't ...
then the only protection is the registrar informing me upfront of an upcoming price increase for a particular domain outside for the whole extension (as that would not be possible to inform all)

When you have time, can you please answer the question below, thanks:
4.Regarding the comment of George Kirkos: If a registry increases the renewal rates of a particular domain, and passes that info to Godaddy as registrar, does Godaddy informs the registrant about the upcoming renewal price increase ? So at least we can take the right of the renewing at the old price before the 6 months expire?

Thanks, I did give you my email address in the response earlier and respond to the number 4. I don't mind you posting on here though as long as we have the info I can look into it. I offered my email in case you did not want to share your domain purchases publicly. Now that I have the domains I can have someone take a look at it and get back to you.

 

[SiteMachine]

Here are the results my program got for your domain.

"IsPremiumName"=>"false", "PremiumRegistrationPrice"=>"0", "PremiumRenewalPrice"=>"0", "PremiumRestorePrice"=>"0", "PremiumTransferPrice"=>"0", "IcannFee"=>"0", "EapFee"=>"0"

Your beef is with the registrar not the registry.

The pink red and blue domains reflect the regular godaddy price it has nothing to do with premium. It looks to me like you are getting a lesson in transferring domains 101, its a good skill to have. They are not premium so you can transfer them for ~$9.89 each now.

 

[Joe Styler]

OK so here is what happened. There was a technical error and it is being addressed. For it to have happened you needed to push a domain or receive a pushed name from one account to another in a group of names, if that group was mixed premium/non premium renewal something broke and caused the gaining account to think the renewals for all domains in that group were premium.
This is fixed in most tlds, but there are a few being cleaned up still, likely the reason the .red etc names are showing up higher still but will be fixed shortly.
As I stated above we do audit things routinely and this was apparently already caught in an audit and anyone who paid more than they should have are already being refunded proactively by us for the difference. This was happening already without my intervention.
We had some meetings as a result of this thread which should help increase the customer service level on any pricing issues with the gtlds so that calling in and asking about it will get you the right answer the first time, that something is broken, not that there was some kind of increase by the registry.
So again I apologize for the error. I am glad you brought it to our attention. We work very hard to get things right the first time but if there are errors we do what we can to find out what happened, try and prevent them in the future, and make things right.