The Cheaper Way to Renew Domain Names than GoDaddy
I have kept GoDaddy as my domain registrar for quite some time for two of my domain names. But upon seeing my email notice recently reminding me to renew one of the domain names, and with the renewal rates they were trying to charge me at $18.49 for a year, I thought to myself: there must be something wrong with GoDaddy.
Indeed, a few Google searches over, foraging through a few tech forums, and it was revealed that GoDaddy charges at least 30% higher than competition for domain name renewals.
You see the dirty tactic they employ here: entice you with the super low new domain registration — even for as low as $1 for the first year, then hit you hard in the latter years with exorbitant fees. If you’re not savvy enough about how domain registrations work, you’ll just yield to their whims and pay.
As for myself, I transferred my domain name to Name.com. At least, looking around on their website, they’re transparent enough to show you how much are they charging for new registrations (i.e. at reasonably discounted prices) and renewals thereafter.
I paid $9.50 for the domain transfer with Name.com, and that includes domain renewal for the first year. Moreover, their dashboard indicates that domain name renewals thereafter cost $12.99 per year.
By the way, I tried Namecheap.com and Domain.com as well. But I experienced problems while trying out their domain transfer facility, so I gave up.