This week Versign increased prices of .com and .net domain names. It is said they will continue to raise the prices 7% each year for 4 years. From this 7% increase Versign adds another 27 million on to their bottom line.
I think with the way the internet is going that this move is almost a move in the wrong direction. If you ask what it is that Versign does to earn that money it is not very much. They hold meetings to decided on policies and have servers that keep databases of details secure.
What is your thoughts on this increase?
Christian
April 7, 2007 10:49 am
Can you say ” Monopoly ” ten times fast.
This all started because of the lawsuit between Verisign And ICANN
Over the .com .net dispute.
And how much does Verisign currently earn from .com alone.
$323.4 million a year
Can you say ” Greed ” ten times fast.
Matt
April 7, 2007 1:06 pm
See, Verisign is just getting greedy now. An extra 27 Million Dollars a year is a lot, and they have no excuse to why they actually need more money, other then more profit.
Running all those database servers isn’t costing them so much that they’re losing money, no, in fact their servers are probably pretty low end. Wow, they employ a few people, hold a few meetings and keep some servers going, a lot of companies do this, and do you see them raising their prices? No.
This price change will most likely make Godaddy raise their prices, since they sell .com’s for $8.95, and that’ll affect a lot of people, including me. Not to mention that they offer domains for 1.99 when you buy non-domain product, which they might lose a little money on, but now they’ll be losing more.
If anything, the General Domain Owning Public should have a say in these decisions, a 7% increase a year is quite a lot. Over 4 years the domains will have rasied 28% (that is, if they do raise the prices for each of those 4 years), making the price for a .com or .net 8.41 (assuming they aren’t counting this year in the 4 years and they do the 7% on both the original price and the extra 7%). Which, you can probably get a .com or .net for now. So, what will Domain Buyers be paying? A lot more. And what about people who own hundreds of domains?
Also, DomainTools is saying that .com’s only cost 14 cents.
http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/04/ex-icann-board-member-says-com-costs-014/
Which could be true, and if it is, VeriSign is basically shoulder deep in money. Which would be a huge scam.
Thinkreferrals
April 8, 2007 11:42 am
I guess it could be viewed as a move to please shareholders, domain owners mean nothing to shareholders, except maybe a continuous flow of money. In this day and age, FAIR is not a word that is associated with big business.
At a cost of 14 cents per domain, the shareholders must be thrilled with the profits. I only wish I had invested in their company. Looks like it would have been a pretty solid investment.
Should domain owners have a say in this? Well . . . I guess I really don’t think that will happen so that question doesn’t need to be answered, when was the last time Lord Billy Bob Gates asked for your advice on the cost of Microsoft products? Have you ever been asked if the corner gas station should raise their prices? Have the income tax Bandits ever asked if you think you are paying too much in taxes?
Face it folks, it ain’t gonna change so get used to it.