advice Registrar Rant

[cocaseco]

Sure you may save a buck or two when purchasing names at some tertiary registrar. But if your goal is to resell to fellow domainers, consider the sale too. Using these small and often inferior registrars is often a pain in the butt. I'm so tired of these crappy registrars that can't easily handle a domain transfer, let alone a simple push, that I am no longer buying anything from anyone who uses these. IMO it devalues your domains, regardless of how good they are or how low the price. /rant

 

[davidthornton]

Which registrars in particular?

 

[cocaseco]

Well currently its a hassle with Domain.com. But this morning I saw some domains here I wanted at auction here on NP. But they were registered at iPage. WTF is that? I've never even heard of them, but despite how much I wanted those domains, I decided I'm just not buying anything anymore from second class registrars. So in this specific case, the choice of registrar absolutely cost the seller a sale. I'm sure other will buy so he won't miss it, but it is something to consider.

 

[davidthornton]

Well currently its a hassle with Domain.com. But this morning I saw some domains here I wanted at auction here on NP. But they were registered at iPage. WTF is that? I've never even heard of them, but despite how much I wanted those domains, I decided I'm just not buying anything anymore from second class registrars. So in this specific case, the choice of registrar absolutely cost the seller a sale. I'm sure other will buy so he won't miss it, but it is something to consider.

See http://whois.domaintools.com/ipage.com - it looks likely to be associated with Domain.com, given the the domain name is registered with them so possibly a sister registrar.

Looking at https://www.ipage.com/legal/legal_domain.bml#fees, section 8. Registration Renewal, part a. Renewal Obligations, you may find a sentence giving https://www.ipage.com/domains/ as the link to the current renewal and redemption fees (search page for "redemption"). I followed that link and was unable to locate said redemption fees. Were you able? It's a breach of the ICANN RRA not to display these fees I believe and I've seen other registrars picked up on this in breach notices.

I understand your thoughts about perceived rinky-dink registrars. I deal with one entirely by email and have no control panel account at the moment, however I know the owner so I don't mind. It can be off putting if you don't have a relationship with the people operating it already.

 

[bluebox]

iPage and Domain (+ HostGator / HostMonster / Directi / Dotster / ResellerClub etc) are owned by the same corporation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Endurance_International_Group - read "Brands Owned by EIG"