“On July 1, 2010, VeriSign, the registry for .COM and .NET, will increase prices – .COM will go up 7%, and .NET by 10%. The increase will be passed to registrars like Go Daddy and then, unfortunately, to consumers like you.”So I got an email from Mr Bob Parsons today and you probably got it too. Next paragraphs of the same email:
“As of July 1, we will be forced to raise registration and renewal prices for these two popular top-level domains.
If you wish to avoid this price increase, you can renew your domain names by June 30 and add another year to your current expiration dates. You have the option to register or renew for multiple years and lock in long-term savings.”
7% and 10% (for .com and .net respectively) is a HUGE growth in price. The registry fee for .com domain names will increase from $6.86 to $7.34 (+ $0.18 ICANN fee) and the registry fee for .net domain names will increase from $4.23 to $4.65 (+ $0.18 ICANN fee). It is getting expensive..
I am not a heavy investor in .com nor .net domain names, so I don’t really care so much about this increase but those of you who have thousands of .com and .net names in your portfolios – I would definitely get “uncomfortable” with these fees increase.
I am more experienced with ccTLD domain markets in Europe than with the .COM market. So the standard price for an average European TLD would be somewhere between €2 – €5, which equals to $2.6 – $6.6 per year. This is pricing for popular ccTLDs such as .de, .nl, .fr, .es, .eu. I invest a lot in .pl domains and €10 renewal fee is really expensive as for European conditions. But the price was €15 back in 2008, so the trend is right – domain fees are going DOWN.
It is the other way around when it comes to .COM and .NET fees – they go UP. So what will happen if they will go UP by 7% (.COM) and 10% (.NET) for the next 10 years each year?
.COM & .NET fees projection (ICANN fee included)
2010 $7.52 $4.83
2011 $8.03 $5.30
2012 $8.58 $5.81
2013 $9.17 $6.37
2014 $9.80 $6.99
2015 $10.47 $7.67
2016 $11.20 $8.42
2017 $11.97 $9.24
2018 $12.79 $10.15
2019 $13.67 $11.14
2020 $14.62 $12.24
VeriSign is in a position where they CAN increase the pricing. So why would they not do that? Domains is business for them as it is business for us. It is crazy that ICANN has accepted such an agreement with VeriSign allowing them to increase the fees each and every year. And they will probably prolong the agreement for the next period of time.
But aren’t you afraid of these fees increases in the future? Will your portfolios still be profitable when .COM and .NET fees double? I am asking all of the domainers investing in .COM domains. These are questions to you and for you.
Or maybe you are just fine with these fees increases and it doesn’t really influence your domain business at all?
Domain Market in Europe 
chirag modi said
I am more experienced with ccTLD domain markets in Europe than with the .COM market.
chirag modi said
I don’t really care so much about this increase
John said
I have about 10,000 domains in the com and net market, so yes, it will definitely hurt. I have to factor increased costs to see which domains may drop in the future.
Sedopro said
Increasing of dot com domains is very very unhappy news, from very nice pricing level they going i think in wrong direction, but what people can do? nothing.