If you were starting a registrar for domainers

[ReggyStar]

I'm in early planning to start a registrar for domainers. What features are most important to you? Obv good customer support and good prices but any technical things that other guys aren't doing?

 

[wayne wooldridge]

Easy-to-use portfolio management tools, good discounts on bulk transfer, accurate bulk whois.

Just to name a few

 

[deez007]

Hmmm I think these would be some nice to haves:

• No 60 day domain lock on new registrations.
  
• No BS premium domain prices decided by the registrar
  
• Proper support - maybe even a live support feature.

 

[doubleU]

Pricing is key to most domainers and timely support.

Easy interface to services, namesilo is a good example that packs a lot of info without much marketing clutter.

 

[ReggyStar]

Thanks for the posts. I want to keep prices low. Have to find a sweetspot where I can still have good support

 

[GoKaizen]

That is an ICANN rule.

No 60 day domain lock on new registrations.

 

[deez007]

That is an ICANN rule.

Ahh darn...I didn't know that.., I always assumed it's the registrars trying to screw us again....lol

 

[Asfas1000]

1. Easy portfolio management
2. Good support
3. Safety (2FA etc)
4. Fast transfers in and out

 

[Kate]

I'm curious, why would one want to focus on the clientele of domainers in particular ?

Here are some pros and cons I can think of right now. OP you tell me

pros:

• sophisticated users, won't need a lot of support
• large portfolios holders
  
• may act as business introducers (recommend you to their peers)

cons:

• not the most loyal customers, will gladly transfer out for better pricing
• coupon chasers
• demanding customers
• will expect cheap prices = low margins
  
• may require a wide range of extensions ie ccTLDs

 

[trp3]

Awesome Interfaces like Uniregistry.

 

[wayne wooldridge]

Those are great points to bring up. As far as your basic offerings, you are looking at a long turnaround on profit. Not saying it can't be profitable, but it may take a year or more to make any substantial profit from each customer.

Your bread and butter is going to be up-sales on add-on services, products etc (short-term) and loyal customer base(long-term)

It will be difficult to survive without appealing to more than just domainers(most who will just need a registrar and nothing else from you). You need end-users who will purchase upgrades, hosting etc

 

[matrigaldo]

Asfas1000 got a good point: fast transfers in and out. Assuming all the other points should be quite obvious, because a registrar with no safety, no support and hard to understand, as long as high prices, would never be appetible.
But the only thing i appreciate on GoDaddy is how fast is transferring out the domains. All the other registrars i'm using (especially Name.com) requires 3-5 days to complete a transfer, and they don't offer the chance to speed up the process, while on GoDaddy you can either choose to wait those days or approve the transfer within the control panel.

 

[The Durfer]

have a sale on a different tld all the time.

 

[frank-germany]

api for reg domains

 

[ReggyStar]

I'm a developer, so I can do a lot of the work myself. I hope that means I can sustain it and hopefully make money with it even with a smaller group of customers. Thx for the feedback

 

[Soofi]

I'm a developer, so I can do a lot of the work myself. I hope that means I can sustain it and hopefully make money with it even with a smaller group of customers. Thx for the feedback

I manage close to 15000 domain names of Domain name investors at NameCatch.org and let me tell you, if you cannot give them best deal in the market, you won't be able to sustain the registrar business for too long my friend.

Good luck