Registration vs Renewal vs Premium
Registration is the first-year fee you pay to claim an unregistered name; renewal is the annual fee to keep it; premium is the aftermarket price someone else sets. They are three totally different price buckets.
Typical First-Year Ranges
- .com – $8–$12 promo, $12–$18 regular
- .io – $30–$45
- .ai – $60–$90
- .co – $10–$25 promo
- .xyz – $1–$3 loss-leader promo
Why Renewals Jump
Promo coupons only apply to the first year; registrars recoup margin on renewal. Always check the renewal price in the cart before you fall in love with a $1 name that becomes $80 next year.
Premium Tier Pricing
Registries tag certain keywords as “premium” and charge higher wholesale rates forever. Examples: crypto.eth, insurance.co. You pay $2k every single renewal, not just once. Read the fine print.
Aftermarket Sales
Public sales range from $100 on NameJet to seven figures privately. Median for 2024 was $2,800 on Sedo. Generic one-word .com names trade like virtual real estate; niche brandables sell to end-users at 5–50× wholesale.
Hidden Add-On Costs
- Whois privacy – usually free now, but GoDaddy charged $9.99 for years
- ICANN fee – $0.18 per year per domain baked into U.S. registrar invoices
- SSL certificate – free via Let’s Encrypt, but hosts upsell $50–$200 “premium” SSL
- Domain guard / ownership protection – $5–$15/year to hide auth-codes
How to Budget
Multiply renewal price by 10 years to see lifetime holding cost. If that number scares you, pick a cheaper TLD or shorter holding period. Portfolio investors cap annual carrying cost at 5% of domain liquid value.
Price-Cutting Hacks
- Transfer between registrars yearly to exploit promo renewals
- Buy five-year registrations during Black-Friday sales for stable cost
- Use coupons from the registrar’s newsletter—sometimes 40% off
When Premium Is Worth It
If the exact-match domain saves you $5k/month in Google Ads spend, a $50k purchase pays for itself in a year. Calculate customer-acquisition-cost delta before dismissing a high price tag.
Future Trends
ICANN will raise .com wholesale 7% every year through 2029. New gTLD renewals are falling as registries compete. Expect .com prices to keep climbing while niche TLDs plateau or drop.