registrars Why do domainers use shitty registrars ?

[Kate]

Hello,

After so many years doing domaining and attending this forum I have noticed that domainers seem to be complacent and willing to use subpar registrars.

But domainers are supposed to know better. They are demanding customers with large portfolios and specific needs, so they should pay more attention than the average person.
Because things can go wrong sometimes.

Let's revisit History:

As early as in 2006 we told you that Registerfly was not a reliable registrar and was best avoided, because of their bugs, security holes, and deficient CP.
You didn't listen, Icann had to intervene and improvise a transfer process that didn't really exist at the time.

Back in 2008 we told you that Estdomains was an unsavory registrar associated with nefarious activity, and even run by a criminal.
You didn't listen, Icann had to step in again.
The funny thing, is that some people were so fond of that registrar that they even blamed Icann for initiating termination proceedings. Come on...

Then again, in 2018 we told you that Alpnames was not a good registrar and seems to exist only as an enabler of abuse and illegal activity.
You didn't listen, Icann had to intervene again (becoming routine), now pray for your domains if they are even worthy anything.

Told you so !

Then again, we have been telling you for a long time that Network Solutions is not good registrar. You know it.
OK, this one has been around forever and is unlikely to go down. But you know they are not trustworthy, and difficult to deal with. You want below-cost pricing but at some point those savings are gonna cost you. Time is money. Peace of mind is precious. Mental health is not an option.


Maybe you're thinking that in a worst-case scenario, Icann will intervene and organize a bulk transfer to another registrar.
But what if you have expiring domains that cannot be renewed in time ?
Or if whois data escrow is not reliable ?
Or something else does not go well ?

As a result of the bulk transfer your names may land at another difficult registrar, that you didn't choose.
Many problems could have been avoided if domain holders had paid attention to the early warning signs.

Bottom line:

• if you have valuable names renew them for a few years ahead and use a decent registrar
• do not assume that Icann or somebody will always save you, or act in time
• trust your instincts and move your domains if you see unseemly stuff
  
• if you sleep with dogs you'll catch fleas (quote is not mine)

 

[Axc]

Promos.Although i will admit its not worth it.Couple of examples.Exabytes-will try and bill you for renewal even if autorenew is off.tut tut.
Nomanalia €2 to reg €35 to push.lol

 

[HotKey]

Well it's amazing what we'll do to save a buck.

What we might sacrifice, in the end, to do so, is simply not worth it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for the sound advice @Kate. You raise numerous good points (although I would argue that saying "seems to exist only as an enabler of abuse and illegal activity" is going too far! jmho).

I agree entirely that peace of mind and time are both to be valued, more than a few cents in savings.

I hope that your thread will lead to a discussion of where is the most trusted registrar. If you have some really high value domain names, where is the safest places to register them? I think one needs to consider all of financial stability of the registrar, their security measures, the quality of the people there and their concern for protecting digital assets, and how steadfast they would be in defending your rights and standing by you.

We all know the famous cases of accidentally un-renewed names. I agree entirely that valuable assets should be renewed years in advance.

I also wonder what people think of using multiple registrars. I know it is awkward, and I do it partly to learn about them for writing, but I sort of like that my domains are spread across 10 domain names, so even if there is a difficulty with one, most of mine are somewhere else.

Thanks again for posting on an important topic, and offering your long term view.

Bob

 

[Kate]

Thanks for the sound advice @Kate. You raise numerous good points (although I would argue that saying "seems to exist only as an enabler of abuse and illegal activity" is going too far! jmho).

Mainly seems to be more appropriate then
Note that my strongly-worded post is not an isolated opinion: http://domainincite.com/22659-tech-giants-gunning-for-alpnames-over-new-gtld-abuse

I hope that your thread will lead to a discussion of where is the most trusted registrar.

I would say: your own if you can. I've already set up registrar credentials for some ccTLDs.

 

[Omar.]

NOT me, I only use The Premium registrar GoDaddy.

Somebody try to convince me of using a crappy registrar but I refuse to his offer, I ignore all the banner ads of this registrar in this fórum, it seems he is Desperate to get more clients, his registrar is dying slowly LOL :D

 

[HotKey]

I also wonder what people think of using multiple registrars. I know it is awkward, and I do it partly to learn about them for writing, but I sort of like that my domains are spread across 10 domain names, so even if there is a difficulty with one, most of mine are somewhere else.

I used to, but much like trimming your domain portfolio, I've trimmed my registrars down to less than a handful which I'm sticking to. Alp was the last of the rogue.
Trust, connection with customer/communication, usability and speed remain top importance for me, pricing is the icing.

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

If you have (a) domain name(s) at a registrar that was accredited and got terminated by ICANN ("Alpnames Limited" for example), then your domain name(s) is (are) not lost because it (they) will (due an invoke by ICANN) get bulk transferred (with all other domain names) to a new registrar (chosen by ICANN) and the new registrar will then contact you (and all other registrants) with information on how to access and maintain your (their) domain name(s) - you won't even have to pay a fee for the (bulk) transfer that (will) happen(ed) (only if you want to transfer it / them then away from the new registrar but that's logical)...

...so no paniccc

PS
I do not have a single domain name at GoDaddyyy and I hope that they won't become the new (gaining) registrar of the upcoming ("Alpnames Limited" -) bulk transfer... ...because they still do not offer the world's #1 new TLD which makes me scepticcc

 

[HotKey]

Other reasons one may be stuck with a pooper of a registrar, buying a domain from someone. There are times I would rather create an account at the offending site, receiving the push, and then handle the arduous task of transferring out the domain name myself.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

In fairness there used to be some good people associated with Alpnames and all of my personal interactions with them were fine. They did not false bill, trick you into buying things, etc and responded to queries. This shut down or whatever sure has suffered from lack of clarity though.
Bob

 

[carob]

Because things can go wrong sometimes.

And things can change.

At one time Moniker was popular and respected amongst domainers, and comparisons of ToS made them look more secure than others, and their boss was responsive.

But they were full of bugs and had no interest in fixing them - big warning sign. Then they began getting hacked and domainers fled.

It is important to listen, and watch the warning signs too to see what may be coming.

 

[Recons.Com]

Lots of sales posted on NP are $xxx bought at $1 from NetSol.

I guess it works fine for some, but I value my time and name choices to much to go around creating multiple accounts and risking dealing with an awful registrar that NS is.

I'd rather pay my $8.29 at GD and sell at $xxxx and not deal with dropping hundreds of names/picking 100s more etc.

I have built a portfolio of around 2800 quality names and will steadily increase its size without having to waste my time, while knowing that quite a few of those will sell on auto-pilot even when I am busy doing other business or being on vacation.

 

[Gube]

Or when you register a name at Lws (Ligne web service) and that you can't transfer out because whois email is wrong "for privacy and to respect GDPR".
Even when I sent them an email they couldn't set a real email in the whois.. I had never seen that before
The name was expiring so I contacted the new registar to unblock it from Lws
(Thanks for the help @namesilo )

 

[KWNG]

Thanks loved this post. You’re one of my favourite members to follow in terms of the quality of content you post.

Regards

KWNG

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

In fairness there used to be some good people associated with Alpnames and all of my personal interactions with them were fine. They did not false bill, trick you into buying things, etc and responded to queries. This shut down or whatever sure has suffered from lack of clarity though.
Bob

I can confirm too that my personal experienceee with "Alpnames Limited" was a great oneee
There was never a reason for me to leave them, everything worked fine till the end.
Maybe they "just" have temporaryyy financing problems, maybe they will be able to turn back into the gameee

However, regarding my experince with them, I would never call them "sh*tty" and I would use them again at any time hahaahaaa

@AlpNames

WHERE ARE YOU???
COME BACK!!!

 

[golan]

Netsol - for $1 domains. I dont reg anything valuable there that i would afraid to loose.

 

[E-Promote]

Because they are either ignorant suckers or they bought it on the drop and have a year to transfer it

 

[Mahouni]

Some people play the numbers game and then these 1 and 2 USD deals that these registrars mentioned put out are golden. It's just another angle to make money.

 

[Recons.Com]

Honestly, though, the NS $1 makes lots of sense for whoever starts with small capital. You can spend $500 on some geonames, brandables etc., get 500 names, sell 10 of those within 2-3 on aggressive outbound, earn $300x10=$3000, while having all listed on marketplaces. Within a year, 4-5 could sell to bring another $5000. So suddenly now you have $8000 to play with (this assumes that, while lacking money, you have plenty of time, $/hour expectation is not high, and you know how to choose names).

You can now weed out, based on info during the year, and drop most names, keeping around 100 and moving them to a better place. And also you can reinvest $5000 and buy 100 names at $50 average that you can sell at low-mid $xxxx at 1%-2% sell through annually and rinse and repeat.

But if this is your area of focus, regardless of your financial situation and you put zero value on your time, peace of mind etc., you will never really succeed.

 

[Fancy.domains]

I can confirm too that my personal experienceee with "Alpnames Limited" was a great oneee
There was never a reason for me to leave them, everything worked fine till the end.
Maybe they "just" have temporaryyy financing problems, maybe they will be able to turn back into the gameee

However, regarding my experince with them, I would never call them "sh*tty" and I would use them again at any time hahaahaaa

@AlpNames

WHERE ARE YOU???
COME BACK!!!

Personally, I think they’re gone and the only way to save them is for another company to buy them up and rebrand.

However, time will give us the answer...