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Comment by stkdump | Hacker News Reader

> the domain I bought would cost in the 10s of millions if it was a .com

I don't know much about the pricing of domains, so please excuse my ignorance.

Isn't that just due to the fact that your name was already taken on .com so you had to use a TLD, where is was still free? The 10s of millions you don't have to pay to registrar, you have to pay it the current owner of the domain, who like an owner of anything can dictate the price.

If that is correct, then how is 'google one of the best things to happen to domain registrations'? I guess this is not refering to pricing, because 1k$/a sounds like a lot of money for a domain.

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You are right - it relates less to pricing and more to having a trustworthy registrant to partner with. And it’s very easy to adjust various DNS setting with Google, the whole process is very well done. Highly recommend them here and many others do too.

Re pricing, I’ve noticed a few others bringing it up on 1,000 per year. This is a premium domain and instead of some scalper grabbing it up, by setting the annual price high, an actual end user like myself gets to buy one. In a perfect world we will be the first to snag up a domain, but this model of charging premium prices for domains, as long as it’s not exorbitant, works better for both end users and registrants.

1,000 sounds a lot per year, but when the .com is in the millions, it’s much fairer.

> (...) but this model of charging premium prices for domains, as long as it’s not exorbitant, works better for both end users and registrants.

I don't understand how it can be argued that arbitrary price hikes works better for those who have to pay those arbitrary price hikes, specially if it's under a scheme where anyone can swipe your domain out of your hands regardless of how much you've invested in it without you being fairly compensated for it if their pockets run deeper.

You make a valid point - my underlying assumption is that this would not be done. I am hopeful for brand name registrars like Google they will not do this.

Also it would kill their brand equity and the overall value of the extension, so I am hopefully for considerable price increases of 10% per year but not 50% or 100% etc.

In the eyes of someone else you are now "some scalper" when it comes to this .dev domain. It's a matter of perspective after all.

Presumably the OP is actually using the domain for something rather than just sitting on it awaiting a buyer.

I actually wouldn't see them as a scalper. I don't think it's just an equivalence. I've always been fine when looking around for a domain and one is taken but it's being used productively. The thing that feels annoying is finding a domain where the only thing it's being used for is as an advertisement for itself. It feels kinda like coming across a billboard that says "advertise here!".

The economist in me had to struggle to remember that if the prices are smart, it will lead to allocative efficiency. But it still feels a little ugly.

How do you determine that the domain is being used for something productive? Is my personal email domain up for grabs because I don't have an http presence?

No. That's something productive. If your domain were just advertising that you'll sell it for $xxx and doing nothing else, that's what is at issue here.

The differentiating factor is that I will lose money on the domain by itself. Paying 1,000 per year on registration fees on a domain that can potentially have an unlimited price increase means the value of the domain in any sale will very rarely compensate for the money I invest into it.

The key thing about .com is that once you buy the domain, the annual registration fees are more or less nominal — that’s what allows for very high sale prices. If I could buy my .dev name in .com for even 10,000 I would do it. Alas it is easily in the millions, IMO at least 10m+ as apart from protection for future material hikes in registration fees, .com is still THE gold standard.

For me, it made sense because I am actually using the domain, and I can make it my brand name, eg “Name.Dev” incorporated. This helps me from a trademark perspective as well, so for a small time guy with an idea, it’s a great feeling to get a chance to get a good name that I can put to use.

An individual can sell the transfer rights for as much as they like, but that is separate from the registrar fees.

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