GoDaddy vs Network Solutions

I first registered my dot-org domain back in September 1999 (prior to that I ran the website using the webspace and domain provided by my ISP). Back then Network Solutions was the only registrar. From memory, I paid $35 for the privilege.

Since then the market has opened up and competing registrars have been allowed in. These registrars generally undercut the Network Solutions price by a considerable margin. And people are starting to take notice: GoDaddy recently overtook Network Solutions as the number one registrar (as measured by the number of domains registered).

Under the pressure of this competition, Network Solutions has lowered some – but not all – of its prices. Their base price for a dot-com domain is still an incredible $34.99. Incredible because the same domain can be had for $8.95 or less at GoDaddy (or countless other registrars).

GoDaddy manages to make a profit even when it sells domains at or below their cost price because of the add-on services they offer. Even if only a small percentage of customers choose these extra services GoDaddy still comes out in front. Network solutions also offers add-on services but most of their profits come from their fat profit margins and their reliance on their historical monopoly; many people go to Network Solutions and pay their premium of over 400% simply because it’s the oldest registrar.

For a while I continued to register domains with Network Solutions because I wanted to keep all of my domains consolidated with a single registrar and because I didn’t want to switch to a start-up with an unproven track record. By registering for multiple years I was able to obtain a discount that went some way towards bringing the Network Solutions price in line with the prices of the rest of the market.

But things are changing; in fact, they’ve already changed. The fact that GoDaddy is now the number one registrar indicates to me that the days in which one could justifiably register a domain with Network Solution are over. The consolidation argument still holds, but now I’m consolidating all my domains (transferring them) to GoDaddy. GoDaddy is no longer the unproven start-up.

The other day I called Network Solutions to get an authorization code to transfer my dot-org domains to GoDaddy.com. They asked me why I was transferring. I answered because of price and because of desire to consolidate. They then offered me a special price of $8.50 per year if I chose to keep the domains with Network Solutions. I’m sorry, Netsol, but that’s too little, too late. (And if you can sell domains for $8.50 per year, why are you asking $34.99 for them?)

The current prices charged by GoDaddy ($7.95 per year for transferred domains) seem fair to me. My one remaining complaint with the domain name market is that private registrations are not free. With private registration you pay an extra fee to keep your personal contact details (name, address and phone number) away from prying eyes. Without private registration anybody on the Internet can do a whois lookup and find out those details. In my opinion, domain name registrations should be private by default (and privacy should not come at an extra charge); if you want your personal contact information made public then you should be able to opt out of the system.

This is an unfortunate situation because privacy should be free. GoDaddy currently charges an additional fee of $8.95 per year for private registrations. That’s more than the cost of the domain in the first place. I don’t believe this service costs that much to provide. $2 per year might be fairer. Free would be better. In fact, I’d rather be paying $9.95 per year for my domains and have private registration provided by default for that price.