I worked for a domain registrar. AMA (Ask Me Anything)

[Mifuru]

Hello, everybody!

My name is Konstantin, I joined NamePros in 2016 when I decided to start working with domains. I have made 10 successful sales through NamePros, but I have done the most as a separate agent for my clients.

In 2019 I set up my own service to resell domains and within a year I had over 1000 domains under my service, and in 2020 I joined US domain registrar Epik as a regional manager and worked for over 1.5 years before I quit. I had 4500 domains as of February 2022 and 16800 domains as of September 2023. I am available to answer all your questions except for the details of working directly for Epik.

My old posts:

• https://www.namepros.com/threads/ep...d-happy-hour-mega-thread.1148974/post-8220299
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/flash-sale-com-transfer-for-7-49.1233611/
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/flash-sale-com-registration-for-6-99.1233610/
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/transfer-com-to-epik-for-7-49.1231307/

Ask Me Anything.

 

[Future Sensors]

In your title and in your text you prominently state that you have worked for a registrar, namely Epik. How does that even matter to the AMA, if you don't want to talk about that topic?

 

[Gabriel360]

Why are you reluctant to talk about your time with Epik?

 

[Future Sensors]

The 4 selected "old posts" you're referencing are all Epik promotions. So, what's your intention exactly?

 

[bmugford]

Sometimes, it’s better to talk about past mistakes to move forward.

I never worked for epik, but i feel terrible for promoting them in the past — after all happened. This guy might be the only ex-epik staff, not hiding; so gets my praise Ty!

I dont blame for excluding name ; ) GL going forward.

In your title and in your text you prominently state that you have worked for a registrar, namely Epik. How does that even matter to the AMA, if you don't want to talk about that topic?

It is kind of odd to have the title say - "I worked for a domain registrar. AMA (Ask Me Anything)", then say you worked for Epik, then link to 4 posts promoting them, and then say no questions related to that.

What should the questions be related to, as working for a registrar seems like the focal point of the post?

Brad

 

[Pierre Barnard]

Top OP quotes:
''I haven't worked with Russians since 2023, when I was able to get rid of all Russian and Belarusians clients...''
''...they have been hiring Hindus and I think this is a fatal mistake...''
'' ...I have to point out that clients from Eastern Europe are less than 5%. It is very difficult to work with clients who always want everything cheap.''

Good luck going internationally with your work ethic. Waiting impatiently for your company to go worldwide - so I can never ever work with you.

How to win friends and influence people.....NOT.

 

[Peak.Domains]

This is unnecessarily offensive.

OP trying to get a job at Epik 2.0

 

[VadimK]

I for my own personal reasons don't want to publish the name of the company. I am currently working on entering the EU and US market with an offer for everyone. Hosting, domains, DDoS protection. You will soon see my brand on NamePros as well.

Top OP quotes:
''I haven't worked with Russians since 2023, when I was able to get rid of all Russian and Belarusians clients...''
''...they have been hiring Hindus and I think this is a fatal mistake...''
'' ...I have to point out that clients from Eastern Europe are less than 5%. It is very difficult to work with clients who always want everything cheap.''

Good luck going internationally with your work ethic. Waiting impatiently for your company to go worldwide - so I can never ever work with you.

 

[Future Sensors]

Lately they have been hiring Hindus and I think this is a fatal mistake of the company.

This is unnecessarily offensive.

 

[Soofi]

Lately they have been hiring Hindus and I think this is a fatal mistake of the company.

I'm no Hindu but this particular statement from this idiot makes me wonder about what in the world is he trying to achieve with this thread.. to me he's probably someone craving for attention SMH

 

[Foxtrot Mod Team]

Though I have seen post have been edited please remember to follow namePros rules.

1.2. Be professional, tactful, and constructive at all times, including with your username and profile picture. Do not intentionally disrespect, harass, threaten, attack, instigate, insult, antagonize, or be aggressive toward others.

Thank you!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

OK, I sent you a private message.

Regarding this domain zone, I'll be honest - the promotion was good, but extremely unstable for the end user, not even for the registrar. For the registrar to spend ICANN Fee, to process the payment - it costs somewhere around 7% of the final price, if there is no additional tax for the payment.

I think a better idea for this zone would be the following scheme - for the first registrar, domain registration is $0.99 to gain customers, and renewal is $9.99. Jay's mistake is that he thought that with 15,000 domains (as far as I can remember this figure was playing in the public record) obtained in one small registration period he could make 300000% profit next year.

Unfortunately, registrar and zone maintenance is VERY expensive. I myself personally convinced when I created my hosting infrastructure. The best solution for any registrar or registry, is to register for $4.99 and renew for $29.99. A comfortable price means more retail customers.

Thanks....i did just respond to your PM and look forward to learning more from your posts here on NamePros

 

[Mifuru]

Since you were @ Epik in 2020 and 2021 you probably know of me, the guy from Virginia Beach, Va and the biggest promoter of the .Realty domains when Epik was selling them for $1 each.

As a business guy very familiar with real estate I really liked the .Realty extension and I still like it despite 99.9% of the domains registered dropped after a year........one reason being the renewal fee was $299.

Fast forward to now, and you probably know that Jay Westerdal sold .Realty to Shayan Rostan who use to work for and I believe was one of the founders of Uniregistry.

To cut to the chase, you've learned like me that few if any of the new TLD extensions sell via inbound. However, i believe a strategic targeted outbound marketing plan for .Realty can be a real winner for the new owners, if only they knew how to do it. What do you think Mifuru?

If you're interested in talking or meeting with me I'm available. Thanks

ps. send me a PM if you're interested, or connect with me on Linkedin

OK, I sent you a private message.

Regarding this domain zone, I'll be honest - the promotion was good, but extremely unstable for the end user, not even for the registrar. For the registrar to spend ICANN Fee, to process the payment - it costs somewhere around 7% of the final price, if there is no additional tax for the payment.

I think a better idea for this zone would be the following scheme - for the first registrar, domain registration is $0.99 to gain customers, and renewal is $9.99. Jay's mistake is that he thought that with 15,000 domains (as far as I can remember this figure was playing in the public record) obtained in one small registration period he could make 300000% profit next year.

Unfortunately, registrar and zone maintenance is VERY expensive. I myself personally convinced when I created my hosting infrastructure. The best solution for any registrar or registry, is to register for $4.99 and renew for $29.99. A comfortable price means more retail customers.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Samer,, you can see sigs on smartphones if you hold your phone sideways. The way it doesn't work at Dan. And quick view of OP profile says Kyiv.
Thanks @Mifuru for starting thread and being so open.
Hope all is well over there

 

[JB Lions]

i’m going to assume you live in one of:
Russia, Iran, or Belarus.
It sucks, i know!

I cant fault companies for geopolitical laws must follow.
If you dont live in one of those 3;
i beg for your forgiveness; pardon my ignorance.

? It's literally in his sig and profile

sig - CEO in Ukrainian startup. Domainer for 8 years.

Profile - Ukraine, Kyiv - https://www.namepros.com/members/mifuru.992621/

"futility of my region (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and slavic countries) for the company."

 

[Samer]

? It's literally in his sig and profile

sig - CEO in Ukrainian startup. Domainer for 8 years.

Profile - Ukraine, Kyiv - https://www.namepros.com/members/mifuru.992621/

"futility of my region (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and slavic countries) for the company."

i cant see sigs on smart phones : ((
But i really appreciate that, JB - I’m so sorry, OP.
I edited my second post, and wish i could edit my first.

 

[Mifuru]

Samer,, you can see sigs on smartphones if you hold your phone sideways. The way it doesn't work at Dan. And quick view of OP profile says Kyiv.
Thanks @Mifuru for starting thread and being so open.
Hope all is well over there

All OK, thanks!

OP trying to get a job at Epik 2.0

My earnings at Epik were not as high as I now earn separately, offering domain administration and hosting services to my Slavic clients. Now my salary is 15 times more than what I used to earn at Epik.

I am not waiting for Epik 2.0. I certainly want to see a registrar that cares about domainer clients. A banal standard registrar that will not be sold later by GoDaddy like Uniregistry. This is Frank's big mistake, GoDaddy is a market parasite destroying competition with its monopoly.

 

[Mifuru]

All is well, i feel terrible, for assuming OP was from one of those three countries. Really Sorry, again!

It's OK, don't worry.
Living in Ukraine is better than in Russia or Belarus.
Business on the Internet is welcome here and is easier to run.

Compant name, pm or so
Thanks

I for my own personal reasons don't want to publish the name of the company. I am currently working on entering the EU and US market with an offer for everyone. Hosting, domains, DDoS protection. You will soon see my brand on NamePros as well.

 

[Mifuru]

What is your region? Is it “Russia”?
You realize sanctions are outside our hands.
It helps to not invade others and re-define borders 2022.

? It's literally in his sig and profile

sig - CEO in Ukrainian startup. Domainer for 8 years.

Profile - Ukraine, Kyiv - https://www.namepros.com/members/mifuru.992621/

"futility of my region (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and slavic countries) for the company."

Russia is my old region, which I worked with before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The region is primarily former Soviet Union countries, as there are few Russian speakers in European countries, I work with Slavic countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, etc.).

I haven't worked with Russians since 2023, when I was able to get rid of all Russian and Belarusians clients. It was hard mentally and physically, because it is extremely difficult to get rid of a portfolio of 2-3 thousand domains in a couple of months.

When working for registrars, I have to point out that clients from Eastern Europe are less than 5%. It is very difficult to work with clients who always want everything cheap.

 

[VadimK]

We do not offer services to Russians.

People like you are the reason for what is happening in Ukraine right now, not the consequence.

 

[Samer]

Why did you work for Epik instead of a larger domain registrar business, such as NameCheap, NameSilo, Dynadot, etc?

They have faceless CEOs that never post on NP.
Mr. Han (Dynadot CEO) had 1 successful NP AMA. love it; was legendary. Unfortunately, it felt like a NP cameo. Today —feels like no CEOs post. Sorry, it it feels like i’m answering for you @Mifuru; i appreciate this thread, you.

Thank you, Captain Hindsight, tetrahed.

 

[Samer]

In your title and in your text you prominently state that you have worked for a registrar, namely Epik. How does that even matter to the AMA, if you don't want to talk about that topic?

Sometimes, it’s better to talk about past mistakes to move forward.

I never worked for epik, but i feel terrible for promoting them in the past — after all happened. This guy might be the only ex-epik staff, not hiding; so gets my praise Ty!

I dont blame for excluding name ; ) GL going forward.

 

[Mifuru]

What is your go to registrar (the one you hold most of your domains at) and why?

You have accumulated quite the amount of domains in a relatively short period. I take it it's working out so congrats! Managing a big portfolio is not an easy task.

I prefer those who give full access to API and offer ready-made plugins for all billing panels (WHMCS, BillManager). Most registrars make a major mistake - they offer VERY little API documentation. I.e. it is possible to perform actions with already registered domains, but domains are registered manually without API as a result of which - they lose clients like me, who serve a lot of domains and pay ONLY for access to API.

My main registrar is Internet.bs after Epik (no API), NameSilo (Payment problems), etc. Only it has extremely well described documentation for my requirements. For regional domains, I use Netim - they have the lowest prices on the market for resellers.

For domain management, I recommend you to use a ready-made panel or customised. Believe me management from one panel is much easier than having several accounts.

 

[Mifuru]

They have faceless CEOs that never post on NP.
Mr. Han (Dynadot CEO) had 1 successful NP AMA. love it; was legendary. Unfortunately, it felt like a NP cameo. Today —feels like no CEOs post. Sorry, it it feels like i’m answering for you @Mifuru; i appreciate this thread, you.

Thank you, Captain Hindsight, tetrahed.

Sometimes, it’s better to talk about past mistakes to move forward.

I never worked for epik, but i feel terrible for promoting them in the past — after all happened. This guy might be the only ex-epik staff, not hiding; so gets my praise Ty!

I dont blame for excluding name ; ) GL going forward.

Thank you for your answers.

I believe that most CEOs are closed because they are restricted by corporate secrecy and they just don't want to reveal the numbers and tell the truth.

If you see that you are enticed at a reduced price to transfer domains, then know that they do it for reporting to shareholders. Is there an uptick in domain registrations? New investment from the bigwigs! This market works very egoistically.

In my experience, I will tell you honestly - most companies, customers do not care at all. They are handed over to personal managers (which are very few, only two companies have seen such) or to support by phone / mail.

ONLY numbers are important. More registrations, more clients, more services. Quality is not important, the main thing is more numbers. This is the problem of all TOP registrars.

From my work at Epik - I'm not ashamed of it. It is a valuable experience that I have gained during the course of my work and was able to increase my skills.

 

[franka46]

I don't want to talk specifically about teamwork, but about the functions of the registrar, reseller job, I'm happy to answer your questions. I hope you undertand me.


Most people are VERY misled about the work of resellers and registrars.

For example, that they organise domain transfer campaigns at their own expense, making gifts of unprecedented generosity to domainers.

My task is to answer your questions, if you have them.

I was the Super Affiliate during those years while you ''worked' for Epik I might have even ''sourced" you but cannot recall that you did anything important for Epik

 

[branding]

What is your go to registrar (the one you hold most of your domains at) and why?

You have accumulated quite the amount of domains in a relatively short period. I take it it's working out so congrats! Managing a big portfolio is not an easy task.