Everybody used Godaddy coupons with their "Merry-Go-Round" transfer strategy! :D I'm guilty of it too.
Let's see how this used to work. You buy a domain from someone, and it's with Name.com or wherever, and you:
1. Transfer to Godaddy $0.99 / $1.99 / $2.99
2. Transfer away to NameCheap $3.99 special
3. Transfer to Godaddy $0.99 / $1.99 / $2.99
4. Transfer to Name.com- $8.25
5. Transfer to Godaddy $0.99 / $1.99 / $2.99
6. Transfer away to NameCheap $3.99 special (eligible again after 2 years)
7. Back to Godaddy bla bla bla
Godaddy coupons played a big role for many domainers- you would come across posts in the past where people bragged about how they moved their domains from registrar to registrar. Nothing wrong with it of course-it's being savvy... stretching that dollar for all it's worth.
I did save with Godaddy coupons, but at the same time, I would usually find myself buying replacements for domains which I wanted to drop, except that the domains I wanted to drop were already renewed 2 or so years in advance. As far as cost goes, it didn't have an effect really- the strategy was sound, but now, it does make one do things a bit more realistically-although at a higher total price.
Almost every year, I will buy domains, and mark other domains to be dropped-but it just never happened. At least this time the "It's only $0.99- $2.99" story won't apply, Now weaker names, for which replacemens were bought, will definitely be dropped. It may just be a blessing in disguise.
But I do think that Godaddy should have some promos, even at $3.99-$4.99 per month-for say 5 new/transfer domains per customer. It's not $0.99, but it's something that will still allow Godaddy to retain some customers that they may lose completely to other registrars-especially the domainer crowd.