new gtlds GoDaddy drops Uniregistry's gTLD's

[TRY]

GoDaddy dropped Uniregistry's gTLD's today.

World’s largest domain name registrar will no longer carry Uniregistry’s top level domains.

GoDaddy has stopped selling Uniregistry top level domain names after Uniregistry announced a wholesale price hike effective this coming August.

This afternoon I tried to transfer a .click domain name to GoDaddy but got an error that the domain couldn’t be transferred. .Click is a Uniregistry domain. Further searches revealed that no Uniregistry domains are available on GoDaddy.

GM of Domains Mike McLaughlin stated:

"We have stopped registering or transferring Uniregistry domain names into our system. The dramatic price hike Uniregistry announced left us no choice. Until we can assess the impact on our current and potential customers, we have stopped new registrations.

GoDaddy works to deliver a great customer experience. We now have customers who will be paying up to 3,000 percent more for their renewal. That’s an extremely poor customer experience and does not reflect well on the domain name industry in general.

GoDaddy will continue to support our current customers who have Uniregistry registered domain names.”

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“It’s unfortunate that Uniregistry is going with such a dramatic price increase. Regardless of the economics, it’s an extremely poor customer experience."

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[AIS01]

GOOD JOB GODADDY...

 

[AutoDealer]

Sudden price increases of up to 3000% is "fair-play" to you?

I suppose this is a desperate move to bring more value to the gTLD's.

 

[AuctionBio]

GoDaddy dropped Uniregistry's gTLD's today.

World’s largest domain name registrar will no longer carry Uniregistry’s top level domains.

GoDaddy has stopped selling Uniregistry top level domain names after Uniregistry announced a wholesale price hike effective this coming August.

This afternoon I tried to transfer a .click domain name to GoDaddy but got an error that the domain couldn’t be transferred. .Click is a Uniregistry domain. Further searches revealed that no Uniregistry domains are available on GoDaddy.

More info

I think good and +ve move from GD, my ratings of gd are not high, but this move improved that a bit.
@Brandingtheweb.com, Thanks for sharing this info

 

[Acroplex]

I do business with both GD and Uni
The reason I do is because GD wanted double reg fees on my premiums than Uni wanted.
The reason I do is because the Uni platform gets higher sales prices than GD IMHO better quality buyers.
It's a bit hypocritical for GD to take this kind of stand when they have been double dipping for quite some time.
If GD was upfront with customers "we are charging double because we can" they would get the same backlash.

You nailed it. It was a decision based solely on revenue stream.

When the wholesale pricing from Uniregistry increases, GoDaddy takes in less money. They also cut off Uniregistry completely, not just the gTLDs that will have their pricing increase.

I'm guessing there are underlying issues and this was just an excuse.

 

[FreshAvails.com]

The price increases were very steep but I am not "offended" or anything. The renewal price are not that high of a burden for a small business but too high for domain investors. This is a move to push domainers out of these tlds and see where the true market for these extensions is. Some may die but others might flourish at low numbers but high margin. I can see value in the uniregistry strategy.

 

[Kate]

The renewal price are not that high of a burden for a small business but too high for domain investors.

I doubt that TLDs with high renewal fees ($$$+) are selling well, regardless of whether the buyer can afford them.
Would you pay $500/year for your domain names as an end user ? (I wouldn't, especially in the absence of price caps and guarantees of long-term stability).

This is a move to push domainers out of these tlds and see where the true market for these extensions is.

I think you are missing the point. Domainers are not the problem, they actually are the lifeline for the troubled registries. Without speculators, they would be making much less money.

There is very little demand for those extensions even when they are priced moderately (around $30). Uniregistry now realizes that. Since they know demand is going to remain flat, they are jacking up the price massively to make up for the lack of volume. And taking end users hostage in the process. The expectation must be that those who are currently using their domains can afford the price hike and will remain loyal customers. Time will tell.
As far as I can see, this isn't pure greed or short-term vision, it is a sign the business model is deeply flawed and failing and they are struggling.

 

[FreshAvails.com]

Don't underestimate the power of inertia. Many companies pay hundreds of dollars a year for hosting when they could get the same for $75. Most of the prices are $100 or less. If the extensions take hold, it is a small price to pay for even the smallest of companies. They were selling the idea of "new opportunity" and more highly targeted as a benefit--should have a cost. How is this any different than "premium" prices for choice .tv and other tld domains? Is it abrupt and a shock to the system? Yes. But the business model has always been flawed in my opinion. The entire GTLD was a money grab from the start, starting with ICANN and the Registries all the way down to the sunrise registrants and domain flipping vultures.

 

[JayT]

Yea this higher price $50+ is too much. Let me say I have some ngtld about 20% of my profile. I also have developed sites on a few ngtld (and .com and .org). Most sites are NOT very serious projects, but just for my own entertainment and a tiny chance of selling down the line.

I have a couple newgtld affected by this price hike and I cannot justify renewing them anymore. I have 100+ domains and only a handful developed. I obviously really like the ones I build a site on. $20 seemed like a fair price for some satisfaction, but $50+ now...this is crazy amount for me! Instead I will use more reasonable extension, 1/5th the price, to build my sites on. $50 a pop is not even in the realm of reason for a 'hobby'.

I want to put sites on my names while I wait for offers, spend hours and hours to build these sites! I am SAD to lose my time and satisfaction via large price increase. He is not only pricing out domainer he is pricing out hobbyist, small time, 'fun idea' people. He doesn't understand that he overpriced it now, and 'average joe' won't even try now.

I will also say the problem isn't so much the pricing as it is Frank Shilling reserving 1000's of the BEST names for himself. If he let these go for a reasonable price, the extension might support itself. Frank Shilling wants his cake and eat it too. Pricing increase should come after more time + releasing his reserved / lowering 'premium priced' ones. Any slow boat to China chance these exts. had to be profitable, he just sunk it.

 

[toughdomains]

interesting move by godaddy but how does not offering a name equal a good customer expereince?

 

[TRY]

interesting move by godaddy but how does not offering a name equal a good customer expereince?

Maybe you didn't have time to read the posts,...I copied the following from an earlier post that will hopefully explain it to you.
The issue imo is GoDaddy upsells other products such as privacy, hosting, website builders, etc. So if a customer has an issue with the domain name it directly affects their other revenue sources, .. not the least of which the upset customers that find out to keep the website they built and marketed will cost dramatically more and their only option would be to change their website address.

 

[toughdomains]

@Brandingtheweb.com I understand godaddy makes money in other areas they have a rich multi rev stream model. But the name price has nothing to do with them. now anyone who owned those names must use another registrar and separate their portfolio. .rich names are $2974 but other regisrars sell them....companies sometimes say we are doing this to better serve you when in fact its not. again i dont see how not being able to renew a name or transfering a name to your regisistrar is good customer service. also the points you make about upsell have nothing to do with customer experience. If a name price effects their bottom line then the memo should read. "Due to the insane 3000% increase in fees from Frank S we are no longer offering his names in hopes that he reduces the price so we can make more money on the volume purchases and upselling you our other services."

 

[TRY]

@Brandingtheweb.com I understand godaddy makes money in other areas they have a rich multi rev stream model. But the name price has nothing to do with them. now anyone who owned those names must use another registrar and separate their portfolio. .rich names are $2974 but other regisrars sell them....companies sometimes say we are doing this to better serve you when in fact its not. again i dont see how not being able to renew a name or transfering a name to your regisistrar is good customer service. also the points you make about upsell have nothing to do with customer experience. If a name price effects their bottom line then the memo should read. "Due to the insane 3000% increase in fees from Frank S we are no longer offering his names in hopes that he reduces the price so we can make more money on the volume purchases and upselling you our other services."

I agree it's not the price, imo I believe that higher new gtld prices will boost other extensions such as com and cctlds.

Its the drastically higher unexpected price change, many using his extensions will be forced to drop them. They will be complaining to the registrar not the registry.

If you lease a car from a dealer at $600 a month and halfway through your lease the dealer calls you up and says
" Mr. Jones as a courtesy we are letting you know that in 6 months your monthly payments will increase to $6000 a month, very sorry but it's out of our hands as it is the manufacturers decision. Pretty please don't be mad with us and if for some reason you can't afford the payments and it gets repossessed we sincerely hope you lease with us again. Have a nice day"

I personally don't own any new gtlds, I couldn't get myself to invest my dreams into something that can be taken away from me so easily. I love everyone, I trust no one.

P.s. I like Frank, don't know him personally but he participated in many of the blogs and forums for years and he seems like a good guy. In business sometimes you hurt those you love.

 

[Ram G.]

..

 

[Smooth]

All good. This will drive prices of the .coms & .nets of the world further. Most of these new extensions were crappy to begin with. Frank perhaps believed that investors & end-users are a dumb lot.