discuss How to register new gTLD names in 2019 (and actually sell them).

[Brands.International]

How to register new gTLD names in 2019
(and actually sell them).

This is written particularly for new domain investors - I hope it will save you some money
It is only my personal opinion, and I might be wrong (of course). So here we go:
​

1. Register 1 word domain name, in most cases try to avoid 2 word domain names ​

Example of 1 word domain name: holy.life. Example of 2 word domain name: myholy.life or ourholy.life.
Why? Because chances of selling 2 word domain name in new gTLD space is very small (consult namebio.com). Do not think you can outsmart someone with your word1word2.gTLD combo...in most cases you will not outsmart anyone, and usually you will be dropping such names after 1 year. There are exceptions from this rule of course, but safest bet is to simply avoid it, particularly when you just start with domain investing.

2. Register names with not many alternatives in new gTLD space​

This simply means, that end users can not find alternatives for your name in other new gTLD extension, for reg fee.(use uniregistry.com to check that). Particularly when you ignore point no.1 and register 2 word domain name, you will usually find that your string exists in dozens of other new gTLD extensions...and is available to be registered by anyone for reg fee. This subsequently means you will have no leverage when it comes to negotiations with end users.To learn exactly what "alternatives in new gTLD space" means, read this new gTLD appraisal thread here.

3. Register names with large pools of potential end users.​

You can have perfect new gTLD name, but if there are only few suitable end users who can use your name, it will usually take long time to sell it. If you register name where millions of potential end users exist (so something pretty broad and generic), you will be getting much more offers, and you will be able to close much more sales.

4. To be first is not always better...sometimes it is better to be second.​

When registering new gTLD names, consider this: when extension is brand new, there is almost zero awareness about it among end users (unless there is a huge marketing campaign for it you know about).
It can take years for awareness to be created. This also means that for many extensions there is almost 0 aftermarket in early times. Usually only fellow domain investors. This is natural - if something is very new, almost no one knows about it. So if you want to be first to get best names, fine, but budget for your investments accordingly - it is not wise to expect that you will buy something totally new for USD 10, and you will be able to flip it to end user for USD 10k. It happens, but rarely. There are many experienced new gTLD domain investors, who simply wait for drops after 1st year and pick up some very nice names. But this wisdom comes with years of investing experience and is not something what can be intuitively understood, at least from what I see.

5. Make sure renewals of your domain names are sustainable.​

Second most important thing in new gTLD domain investment (after quality of the name) - make sure you understand renewal fees for your domain names. In order for you to be in a long term game, renewal fees of your domain names must be sustainable (aka low). Otherwise you will be dropping almost all of your names after 1 year, and all your effort will be wasted.

6. Make proper landers for your names​

Do not just let your domain names without proper landing pages. Do not be lazy and immediately prepare landers for them. Imo best option is undeveloped.com atm, but many good alternatives are available as well.
Some old school domainers are used to the fact that they were contacted by people who found their contact details in WHOIS database - this is not possible anymore, as due to GDPR legislation most records from WHOIS database are now masked. This also means that when you have new gTLD domain name, your details will be masked in most cases (again, there are few exceptions from this rule, but do not rely on them),. Buyers thus have no way how to contact you. Clear landing pages are a must in 2019.

7. Do not follow the herd.​

Just because all people at Namepros are registering .panda (just an example), it does not mean you also need to register .panda...Most people are not profitable and are actually loosing lot of money - so if you will do the same thing as most people, you will have the same results as most people....

When you follow the herd, it is not only that competition is huge, but you will end up registering nonsense word1 word2 names, in times where there is no aftermarket created yet, when you do not know if there are some renewal promotions in future, when major domain selling sites not yet support that extension, and when there is no awareness yet among end users. Likely result of your action: you will drop your names prior first renewal round. This is happening since 2014 in many forms and shapes, still it seems like most people like to repeat those mistakes happily again and again.

You need to find your niche/extensions/areas of expertise and go from there. The most lucrative way is still to buy new gTLD names from fellow domain investors, but almost no one is doing it, except few people. Typical newbie new gTLD domain "investor" will rather spend USD 10 on 200 bad names and will not sell even 1 of them, prior dropping them all, then to pay USD 2000 for 1 great name which can sell for great profit. Which leads to:

8. Get 2-3 good names instead of 200-300 bad names (which you will drop anyway).​

Buy only quality new gTLD names, as only highest quality sells in 2019. And you know that you have great new gTLD domain name, if you have a good feeling renewing it 9 years in advance.This should be always your test: am I confident enought for this name, so I have no problem to pay years in advance for it's renewal fees? Now to critics which would tell you that you are blocking unnecessarily your capital by paying renewals in advance, I would like to remind:
a) renew your name years in advance if there is a great renewal promotion (you can save sometimes 90% of total cost, as some renewal promotions for new gTLDs are simply amazing)
b) when you renew your new gTLD name 9 years in advance, it tells your potential buyers something about your commitment....in my experience, it is much easier to negotiate if your name is renewed like that.

Buyers are not stupid: they will check everything possible about you and your names, and in most cases they are simply waiting if the name does not expire/if you do not drop it . But when we are in 2019 and your name is renewed until 2027, this waiting game is simply over for them, and they need to approach you if they want the name. But to play this game, you really need to have good new gTLD names.

9. Get to social media and make lot of connections.
​

Do not be a secret seller. Have your portfolio clearly visible to anyone, and go to Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook at least. People with most success have great online presence, and professionally looking marketplaces.

10. Price your domain names as a pro, do not be a chicken
​

Look, if you price your domains with $120 price tag (for example), this will result in following: you will sell your best domains quickly for low price (and when you report it, fellow domain investors will say Congrats congrats, congrats, and you will feel great as super-seller), but at the same time you will be left with portfolio of bad domain names, which no one wants even for this low price tag. This is sure way to poor financial status and poverty. You do not want that. New gTLD names are very unique, as they are are pure phrases without any suffix, and are therefore also geo neutral. They have great value, and this value grows in time.
If you have great new gTLD name, renew it for years in advance, and do not let it go for cheap - as one day you might retire on it...

11. Bonus point - do not listen to "voices of past" with "only .com is an good investment" mantra
​

This is already past us and so not 2019 - luckily we see this nonsense less and less ...

What is your opinion when it comes to new gTLDs registrations ? ​

 

[Kate]

Why just look at .global? I can see from NameBio that the latest 100 .xyz, .app, .chat sales are all from domainers.

.global is the striking example I had in mind.

As for .xyz or .app and other TLDs owned by Google, they have sold through EAP/premium release and the figures are not known. Definitely not all sales were made by domainers.

On the other hand, some registries do not report their own sales, or only those that are 'newsworthy'. So it may give the impression that the majority of reported sales are made by domainers but this is misleading too.

My impression is that almost all big nTLD sales are made by registries, and not domainers. People here routinely report sales they make, and I don't see a lot of nTLDs sold for a good amount.

It is a selection bias if making conclusion about ngTLDs by just looking at only one ngTLD extension. We should make conclusion based on all ngTLDs.

Indeed, it depends from one TLD to another. Some do not leave any opportunities to domainers and the pricing is designed to lock them out of the market.

 

[Kate]

BTW Google recently released .dev, currently in EAP phase. Fee starting at 12K.
I'm not sure they are going to sell a lot at this price, but they will make more than domainers anyway. The casino always wins.

 

[Henry Y]

As for .xyz or .app and other TLDs owned by Google, they have sold through EAP/premium release and the figures are not known. Definitely not all sales were made by domainers.

Among the latest 100 .xyz sales, the earliest sale date was 2017-03-10, so we can know that none of the 100 sales were sold through EAP. Also, when we see the prices, most of them are obviously not premium registration prices.

On the other hand, some registries do not report their own sales, or only those that are 'newsworthy'. So it may give the impression that the majority of reported sales are made by domainers but this is misleading too.

I agree that some registries do not report their own sales. But at the same time, there are myriads of aftermarket ngTLDs sales in China and Eastern countries not reported in NameBio and DNJournal, e.g. sales in West.cn (https://www.west.cn/web/domaintrade/historyoftrade).

My impression is that almost all big nTLD sales are made by registries, and not domainers. People here routinely report sales they make, and I don't see a lot of nTLDs sold for a good amount.

The registries held the best domains, so it is reasonable their sales were higher. But it doesn't mean there is absolutely no opportunity for domainers as the largest aftermarket ngTLDs sale was The/Club $300,000.

Indeed, it depends from one TLD to another. Some do not leave any opportunities to domainers and the pricing is designed to lock them out of the market.

I agree some ngTLDs are priced extremely high, just like Smart/Homes $600,000. But on the other hand, there are some ngTLDs that are fairly priced. And there are a few great domains left for domainers to register at reasonable prices, but we have to spend time to find them out.

 

[Henry Y]

BTW Google recently released .dev, currently in EAP phase. Fee starting at 12K.
I'm not sure they are going to sell a lot at this price, but they will make more than domainers anyway. The casino always wins.

I don't blindly support all ngTLDs. Frankly speaking, I will avoid buying .dev as the renewal prices of good keywords .dev are so high (can be high $xxx to mid $xxxx), and .dev itself does not have much commercial value imo.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

BTW Google recently released .dev, currently in EAP phase. Fee starting at 12K.
I'm not sure they are going to sell a lot at this price, but they will make more than domainers anyway. The casino always wins.

I think @lolwarrior rule re not rushing in at first provides guidance here. I think most domain investors would find it difficult to make a profit if pay the high rates for first few days of declining sunrise prices. It looks like the price is $12 after that ends, in line with .app and .page. About 500 were sold during TM period it seems. I agree with the DNWire that fewer registrations than .app but more than .page. I see that a number of big names like Stripe, Mozilla and Slack have .dev TLD sites up.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I agree (sort of) with @Kate regarding registry sales. If you look at Global and count registry vs nonregistry the vast majority are registry sales. I think if all registry sales were reported the same would apply for many registries - the vast majority, not just half by dollar volume, would be registry sales. However the total reported volume of ngTLD sales would also be larger. You can't use a ratio from a registry that does report to apply to sales data from those who do not.

The competition with registries does present real challenges to ngTLD domain investors. They have a sizeable holding of great names and you must compete against them. The large amounts the new registries had to pay to get a TLD plus their annual ICANN charges mean most registries survive through their premium sales and renewals.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

If that ends up being the case my conclusion re status is wrong. Thanks for the information @3sixty. When the registration record showed 318 days and three changes in DNS I had thought it was non-registry but possibly I was wrong. BTW I also would like to hear comments from @Fancy.domains who has such an impressive record in ngTLD sales and holds a diversified total portfolio. Thanks again.
Bob

 

[oldtimer]

"lolwarrior: Generally I am pleasantly surprised how many people here are seriously discussing new gTLDs at the present time - 2 years ago, situation was very different, discussions were pretty heated. Some people were posting pictures of tombstones with texts like "RIP new gTLDs" or "gTLDs 2014-2016" etc, they were almost hysterically crying "new gTLDs are dead", etc. Exciting times for good debate! Those people now behave in much more civilised manner, and I think most people who are dealing with new gTLDs (at least partially) are now coming to very similar ideas and conclusions, and some general consensus starts to form as of how to approach this investment asset, in a best way possible."

- - - - -

Believe it or not the heated debates about New gTLDs stared five years before the first New gTLD was even released in 2014 and have been going on since. That environment although being kind of harsh, but has allowed those who had faith in New gTLDs to pick up some nice keywords due to lack of competition.

By the way I don't see what difference it makes as to whom the end users are buying their domains from, whether it's from the Registries or domainers the important thing is that there seems to be more awareness about New gTLDs than before, the fact that the Registries are selling the top keywords to the end users directly might actually be a good thing in creating more awareness for New gTLDs. If all the top keywords were in the hands of the top domain investors who wanted to keep them in their vault for 20 years, there wouldn’t be any awareness or sales that we could talk about today. Lets face it the New gTLDs were designed to bypass domainers and hoarding of domains, but even though most top domains are owned or reserved by the Registries there are still some good opportunities for those who want to take their chances with New gTLDs. (although there is now going to be more competition thanks to lolWarrior )

https://www.namepros.com/threads/boycott-icanns-new-domain-name-extension-release-thread.488342/

 

[kriss05]

That environment although being kind of harsh, but has allowed those who had faith in New gTLDs to pick up some nice keywords due to lack of competition.

even though most top domains are owned or reserved by the Registries there are still some good opportunities for those who want to take their chances with New gTLDs. (although there is now going to be more competition thanks to lolWarrior )

It is funny, but imho it is current newcomers that will mostly make a fortune selling ngTLDs rather than oldtimers (didn't mention you @oldtimer, just funny coincidence because many newcomers listen to @lolwarrior, and many oldtimers prefer Rick Schwartz.

Small guys got a nice opportunity, thanks to Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Mann. Unexpected yet very pleasant.

 

[Joakim]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am certainly not heavily invested in new TLDs, but have a handful of them that I would like to keep.

Obviously I've thought of this many times, but I took great interest in what you wrote about renewals and registering years in advance. That is something I'm considering for some of my names, but the renewals at my registrars are quite high for some.

Isn't there a thread where we can share coupon codes etc?

 

[Ostrados]

The main reason why new gTLDs market is not flourishing is very simple:
lack of awareness, most people do not know about them, they only know about famous extensions (.com, .org, .net).

I did some outbound for new gTLD, in my emails I educate potential buyers about what these new extensions are , from some of the responsive I received like "thanks for the info!" I conclude that they never heard about them before.

Think about it, the only chance a customer will ever learn about new gTLD extensions is when he wants to register a new domain and gets all other suggested domains in Godaddy or others. But for all previous websites owners that do not need to register new domains 99% will never hear about new gTLDs!! and those are huge sector of end users. Think about how many companies will think about rebranding when they learn about new gTLDs.

In my opinion new gTLD publishes (those who own the extensions) didn't do enough marketing and relied mainly on registrars search engines! and that is main reason why sales are not taking off.

Maybe it is part of domainers responsibility to spread awareness about new gTLDs in social networks, blogs, forums.. and everywhere.

 

[johnnie018]

The main reason why new gTLDs market is not flourishing is very simple:
lack of awareness, most people do not know about them, they only know about famous extensions (.com, .org, .net).

I did some outbound for new gTLD, in my emails I educate potential buyers about what these new extensions are , from some of the responsive I received like "thanks for the info!" I conclude that they never heard about them before.

Think about it, the only chance a customer will ever learn about new gTLD extensions is when he wants to register a new domain and gets all other suggested domains in Godaddy or others. But for all previous websites owners that do not need to register new domains 99% will never hear about new gTLDs!! and those are huge sector of end users. Think about how many companies will think about rebranding when they learn about new gTLDs.

In my opinion new gTLD publishes (those who own the extensions) didn't do enough marketing and relied mainly on registrars search engines! and that is main reason why sales are not taking off.

Maybe it is part of domainers responsibility to spread awareness about new gTLDs in social networks, blogs, forums.. and everywhere.

You want to "educate" people? They already know which domains are popular, they are not stupid for not buying or knowing about new tlds. The people who need education and those trying to sell them fruitlessly. What business continues to try and sell a product that sells badly?

Unfortunately prime and obvious enduser is domainers, Namepros members, people who go to Namescon, and they've been marketed to a lot. People must stop pointing the finger at others, the product is a small niche!

 

[johnnie018]

It is funny, but imho it is current newcomers that will mostly make a fortune selling ngTLDs rather than oldtimers (didn't mention you @oldtimer, just funny coincidence because many newcomers listen to @lolwarrior, and many oldtimers prefer Rick Schwartz.

Small guys got a nice opportunity, thanks to Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Mann. Unexpected yet very pleasant.

Mr Schwartz invested millions in new tlds, Mr Berkins was one of the biggest buyers and reported zero sales a couple of years ago. That is why Godaddy bought all his names except new tlds.

 

[Brands.International]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am certainly not heavily invested in new TLDs, but have a handful of them that I would like to keep.

Obviously I've thought of this many times, but I took great interest in what you wrote about renewals and registering years in advance. That is something I'm considering for some of my names, but the renewals at my registrars are quite high for some.

Isn't there a thread where we can share coupon codes etc?

@BrandsOpen you are very welcome. As for your question : it is not that much about coupon codes, but it is more about whether particular registrars have some good trasfer and renewal promotions for new gTLD extensions in wich you actually own your names.

There is no simple answer on that, as various registrars are best for different new gTLD extensions, and that largely changes in time as well. But to get some pretty good picture on what is going on, you can check this thread:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/new-gtlds-renew-or-drop-advice-thread.1110552/

If you go via posts from OPs there, you will notice that some of them are keeping their new gTLD names for surprisingly low renewal fees. And if that would be of your interest, you can visit WHOIS for those names, and check where exactly they are keeping their names. Then visit that registrar's webpage, and check what are the transfer and renewal fees. I have myself got lot of great info from this thread, as I was not aware of some renewal and transfer options other investors were already using. GL

 

[Bob Hawkes]

By the way I don't see what difference it makes as to whom the end users are buying their domains from, whether it's from the Registries or domainers the important thing is that there seems to be more awareness about New gTLDs than before, the fact that the Registries are selling the top keywords to the end users directly might actually be a good thing in creating more awareness for New gTLDs.

I know many do not take this view, and I totally respect varying views on it, but my thinking is exactly the same as @oldtimer. I think it is not that there is some fixed number of ngTLDs that will ever sell. Rather by the registries doing promotion they increase knowledge of new extension options and ultimately help domainers sell new extensions too. In fact I wish more of the registries were doing a better job at promotion and selling. Now they are also our competition, so I think we need to competitively price relative to available similar premiums.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think we (almost) all agree that @lolwarrior started this list with 10 excellent points. In the same spirit as his OP, I wonder if others might each add a single additional item that they regard as important for ngTLD investors (or perhaps even all domain investors) to keep in mind? (a bit of that has already happened in this thread, but room for more I think)

Bob

 

[illumy]

I agree that some registries do not report their own sales. But at the same time, there are myriads of aftermarket ngTLDs sales in China and Eastern countries not reported in NameBio and DNJournal, e.g. sales in West.cn (https://www.west.cn/web/domaintrade/historyoftrade).
.

Well said, I'm to quote my post from another thread (https://www.namepros.com/threads/app-registration.1079463/page-23#post-7116374):

You can't possibly think Namebio automatically collects "most-if-not-all" domain sale public records in the world right? The screenshots only demonstrate one of a few dozen domain trading sites in mainland China for .APP alone and alone for this site ONLY and there's 5000+ trading/push-traded records. Not many people/domainers in mainland (or other Eastern non-English speaking countries) will bother submitting to a site e.g. Namebio/Namepros that they've very likely never heard of in mainland (or other countries) in their entire life before (there's reasons why there's room for brokers). Not to mention all other non-English speaking Eastern countries that weren't counted, which is pretty much in the same situation, there's just simply no reason for them to do so. Imagine if you've ever submitted any of your sales to a Chinese (or Japan/Korea...etc) domain news medium? I guess not.

On a side-note for a completely irrelevant info regarding gay.app, since it was mentioned briefly:

Gay.app was owned and sold by one of my personal good friend and veteran domainer in mainland China Guangzhou - Da Bao (trademark owner of Tesla in mainland before Tesla Motors entered the market, they eventually resolved the trademark conflicts) at USD1,000,000 to the founder of Blued.com towards end of May last year, Da Bao (this is his nickname, his real name is also well known and reported publicly a lot on domain related media in the Chinese market) is also a very well-known entrepreneur and domainer in mainland domain industry since 15 years ago.

 

[johnnie018]

Gay.app fake sale

 

[Kenny]

Gay.app fake sale

Can you back that up with facts or is it just a hunch?

Peace,
Kenny

 

[illumy]

Can you back that up with facts or is it just a hunch?

It's fake because it's not reported by Namebio/DNJournal, but even if it's reported by them it may still consider fake to him as he previously stated. So like @lolwarrior previously mentioned, people with similar mindset can never be satisfied unless it sounds logically in his own world, and his world only. Even if you throw evidence at them it's still fake. It's like we live in different dimension.

 

[johnnie018]

Can you back that up with facts or is it just a hunch?

Peace,
Kenny

The escrow screenshot did not show any payment.

 

[johnnie018]

Many fake China sales, banana.com, father.com, lian.com, 6 figure .xyz sales, .top, all fake!

 

[Henry Y]

I like to go with the 80/20 rule which in this case means 80% of the portfolio should consist of .coms , ccTLDs , and other legacy extensions and 20% should be New gTLDs.

I think the 80/20 rule should not be applied to asset allocation (i.e. domain extension allocation). The rule is about around 80% of portfolio revenue comes from around 20% of domains in the portfolio, just like around 80% of a company's sales revenue comes from around 20% of its customers.

As for asset allocation, you should allocate in a way that the expected return is as high as possible and the risk is as low as possible (i.e. a balance between expected return and risk). Maybe 70% .com and 30% ngTLDs, or 90% .com and 10% ngTLDs, which depends on your portfolio and your investment view.

 

[Brands.International]

I agree with limited clientele. Probability of selling a ngTLD over $100 even is only maybe 1/3 to 1/4 as good as probability of selling a .com at that $100+ figure. Will that change? I am hopeful but agree it is not clear. Median prices partly make up for this lower sales probability, but not completely (when registry sales volume is excluded).

Re expensive renewals, I think that is overstated, as @lolwarrior has pointed out many times. The economics of premium renewals make it very difficult to make them work in my opinion and I never pay them. I have 130 or so ngTLDs and 0 premium renewals. In my opinion the only potentially profitable route with ngTLDs is either choose extensions where the premium is a one time charge, or with names not designated premium.

By shopping around the renewal rate can be much better than many who criticize ngTLDs from the .com sidelines imagine. For example right now I could pick up two top 20 ngTLDs for 10 years at an average of $4.90 a year (before ICANN). If you wait for multi-year promotions, or really find the best places to hold and renew you can easily have average renewal less than a com/org/net portfolio.

I have paid more than $11 for a ngTLD renewal only once (and it was only about $13). I wish I had done even more multi-year renewals which @lolwarrior covers in his post. I might sometime work out the exact number but the average renewal i have paid on ngTLDs is probably no more than $5 per name per year. The most expensive renewals I have right now are in ..ca, .net and .info, not in ngTLDs.

While it needs updating, about a half-year ago I compared renewal costs for non-premium ngTLDs in the top 10 extensions with the top legacy/general cc extensions. They are very comparable. You can see the details on my personal blog here.

Bob

I totally agree with your post @Bob Hawkes regarding renewal fees for new gTLD names! New gTLD domains can be very easy to hold, if we do it correctly. The notion that we need to pay lot of money (high premium renewals) for each good new gTLD name is a total myth, mostly spread by people who have no idea about opportunities which are actually possible. To give more details and examples, I will now write from my direct experience: if I put aside my .property portfolio and focus on the rest of my domain names, the average cost of all my domain names is approximately 5 USD / year. That's it - 5 USD! (I believe we can not hold even .com names for 5 USD / year longterm - although I am not expert on it, as I do not really follow .com promotions, so please someone correct me if this is a wrong information, thank you).

Prices of my domains in detail (grouped per extensions in my portfolio $ what I pay for them yearly). I hold:

- approx. 40 .life names, and I pay USD 6 / year for each of them (I admit there are 2 exceptions, with keywords immortal and enjoying, with medium premium renewal of USD 36 for those 2 names)
- approx 40 .world names, with renewal USD 6 / year for each of them.
- approx 80 .vip names, with renewal USD 4.5 / year for each of them
- approx 120 .online names, with renewal USD 8 / year for each of them
- approx 30 .live names, with renewal USD 5.4 / year for each of them.
- and it goes on and on for many other new gTLD extensions where I own my names...

So how to achieve such low pricing for new gTLD names? We really need to study various opportunities in more then 700 different new gTLD extensions, and not to put them all in 1 group as "new gTLDs"...as this is very lazy thinking. One basically needs to know for any given year:
a) what extensions one is going to invest in
b) which registrars are best for those extensions
c) which transfer and renewal promotions are actually ongoing for which extensions, and where
d) and of course, to get the best possible names...

This way, you will not pay USD 80 / year for your domain name at Registrar1, while you can have the same name for USD 5 at Registrar2. Only lazy people (and of course new gTLD critics) are complaining that new gTLD names are expensive - while most new gTLD investors are silently registering correct names, at correct registrars.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks so much for sharing your detailed renewal rate data @lolwarrior. You have summed up perfectly the key points in the following. If I could give a super like or thanks I would .

not to put them all in 1 group as "new gTLDs"...as this is very lazy thinking. One basically needs to know for any given year:
a) what extensions one is going to invest in
b) which registrars are best for those extensions
c) which transfer and renewal promotions are actually ongoing for which extensions, and where
d) and of course, to get the best possible names...

My biggest regret in domains is not having locked in more with long term renewals when I had the chance to get some extensions at great rates. I was also too hesitant about moving registrars (I just used almost exclusively 2 I had become familiar with) until not long ago really. It is simple and fast and no reason to pay much higher rates! If the difference is slight, the new 60 day lock make it not worthwhile of course, but if one is at $6 and one at $24 (and that happens!) the move is definitely worthwhile.

Bob