Hidden Domain Costs?

DoomieBey · Dec 2, 2009

My web site address is showing that it is available on www.godaddy.com for $10.69, for one year. Are there any hidden fees? Once I register the name, do I have to do something else with it at this time?

I'm not nearly ready to actually create a web page, but don't want to lose the domain name? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

charlotte49ers · Dec 2, 2009

Nope, that's all you have to do.

Once you have a host for the site, you will need to go in and set your nameservers, but that's it.

charlotte49ers · Dec 2, 2009

Oh, I don't know how familiar you are with domains and stuff. The domain just gives you the right to the .com. You will still need to pay for hosting (I use Dreamhost and am really happy - it's about $9 a month if you sign up for two years).

benbradley · Dec 2, 2009

Even if all you do is get the domain, Godaddy and most others free forwarding - if you have a blog, for example, you can set it up so when someone goes to your domain it forwards to your blog.

When you register a domain with GoDaddy you can even set it up for free hosting - godaddy sticks an ad in the top, as in these domains:
http://www.musicalgearbox.com/
http://stophdtv.com/
Oh, and as for that last site, don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

Matera the Mad · Dec 3, 2009

You should never search for a domain on GoDaddy unless you are ready to buy it within five minutes. There is always a good chance that squatters are monitoring the search and will grab it before you do. That said, someone I know did manage to get what he wanted recently, and it's a real plum. But I lost one that way. Had to make do with a hyphenated version because some pig is sitting on the original.

DoomieBey · Dec 3, 2009

so it's okay to just buy the domain name and hold onto it? nothing more to do. no other hidden costs after the $10?

Matera the Mad said:
You should never search for a domain on GoDaddy unless you are ready to buy it within five minutes. There is always a good chance that squatters are monitoring the search and will grab it before you do. That said, someone I know did manage to get what he wanted recently, and it's a real plum. But I lost one that way. Had to make do with a hyphenated version because some pig is sitting on the original.

benbradley · Dec 3, 2009

Doomie said:
so it's okay to just buy the domain name and hold onto it? nothing more to do. no other hidden costs after the $10?

Yes, that's right.

DoomieBey · Dec 3, 2009

Okay, so I just rechecked my domain name and it's still available. But whenever I click on the shopping cart, it keeps trying to sell me more. Things like purchasing the other available domains [.net, .org, .info, etc].

Then it stated that it's best to get their email feature, protected plan, hosting plan, and *smart plan [all at cost]. Of course www.godaddy.com , like any other business is striving to make money; but is there any of those other features that I really need at this time? I'd really like to take Matera The Mad's advice and get it before someone else does.

dclary · Dec 3, 2009

You need two things:

A domain name.

A place to put your website.

The domain name's about $10.

You COULD buy variations of your name to make it easier for people to find, but you don't need to.

The place to put your website may be an ISP that offers domain hosting. These are as cheap as a few dollars a month these days, for a real simple package.

Or you could pay for more, to have more power, more control, more bells and whistles. How much you pay is going to depend entirely on what you want, and how much of what you want you want to maintain yourself.

DoomieBey · Dec 3, 2009

@dclary:

So I don't need the hosting plan or email plan that's offered at cost. Cool.

But could you elaborate just a bit [more] on the "ISP", and what you meant by paying for more to have more control?

@benbradley:

Could I just purchase the domain name now; then set up the free forwarding to my blog [not yet created] and hosting? Also, I didn't understand either of the sites you listed. Are they the product of Go Daddy?

Matera the Mad · Dec 3, 2009

Just grab the domain name before any predators hear the noise and take it. GoDaddy will park it free as long as you like. Some people own dozens of domain names that they have no hosting for (yet).

jennontheisland · Dec 3, 2009

If it's available buy it. If it's suddenly unavailable, but for sale elsewhere, don't buy it. When first I checked my pen name, I didn't buy it. I pondered, hemmed and hawed, and a few hours later it was gone. People will "reserve" domains that have been searched (they have some kind of fancy checking thingy) and then try to sell them. But they can only reserve the name for a week. The next week, almost to the hour, my domain was available. I bought it. Have renewed it twice and done nothing with it. But it's mine.

charlotte49ers · Dec 3, 2009

I never knew people would buy searched domain names. That is insane! And really crappy of them.

DoomieBey · Dec 3, 2009

THANKS TO YOU ALL! I'M RIGHT ON IT...

jennontheisland · Dec 3, 2009

charlotte49ers said:
I never knew people would buy searched domain names. That is insane! And really crappy of them.

Yeah, some bastard had mine for sale at $99! Gotta wonder how many people don't know and just pay the cash. I'm so glad I had friends who told me about this scam. I was close to changing my pen name because of it.

DoomieBey · Dec 3, 2009

It's all taken care of now. I went ahead and purchased the .com and the .net. I feel so much better now. Thanks again.

*At some point I hope someone will explain a bit further about the selling of domain names, scams, and having to change your pen name because of it.

benbradley · Dec 3, 2009

Doomie said:
@dclary:

So I don't need the hosting plan or email plan that's offered at cost. Cool.

But could you elaborate just a bit [more] on the "ISP", and what you meant by paying for more to have more control?

@benbradley:

Could I just purchase the domain name now; then set up the free forwarding to my blog [not yet created] and hosting?

Yes, you can set it up later after you create a blog.

Doomie said:
Also, I didn't understand either of the sites you listed. Are they the product of Go Daddy?

No, they are CUSTOMERS of GoDaddy - these customers only pay for the domain name and GoDaddy gives them free website hosting (in exchange for Godaddy's ad that appears along the top), so everything costs the $10 a year that Godaddy charges for a .com domain.

jennontheisland said:
Yeah, some bastard had mine for sale at $99! Gotta wonder how many people don't know and just pay the cash. I'm so glad I had friends who told me about this scam. I was close to changing my pen name because of it.

This happens if you abandon a domain too (don't pay the domain name fee every year). There are lots of websites domains that were abandoned (the fee for the next year wasn't paid) by the owners and the sites now look like some generic site. If you want to keep your domain past the first year you have to be sure to pay that $10 every year. This can be set up as auto-renew, and will work as long as your credit card is good and accepts the charge every year.

Doomie said:
It's all taken care of now. I went ahead and purchased the .com and the .net. I feel so much better now. Thanks again.

*At some point I hope someone will explain a bit further about the selling of domain names, scams, and having to change your pen name because of it.

You're good to go, Doomie.

mnboater · Dec 8, 2009

One extra cost with a domain may be privacy. Domains are by default, public. That means, anyone doing a search on your domain can get your name and other personal information, whatever you had to enter to get the domain. Privacy assures that this info is not displayed. It would show Go Daddy's info instead.

Another cost may be a dedicated IP address. Some providers include this. If not, it would be an extra monthly charge, usually minimal.

Chris

benbradley · Dec 8, 2009

mnboater said:
One extra cost with a domain may be privacy. Domains are by default, public. That means, anyone doing a search on your domain can get your name and other personal information, whatever you had to enter to get the domain. Privacy assures that this info is not displayed. It would show Go Daddy's info instead.

Another cost may be a dedicated IP address. Some providers include this. If not, it would be an extra monthly charge, usually minimal.

Chris

Oh, yeah, that's another thing. Without the privacy option you WILL get unsolicited "offers" in the mail. I got something from this "Website Listing Service" about a business domain (the contact info is already on the website anyway) I got six months ago - it's $65 for one year of "service" and it looks vaguely like a domain renewal letter. It looks close enough to a renewal letter that it has this writing on it: THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THE OFFER.

And of course what they're charging $65 for is something you can do yourself for free, submitting your websites to search engines...

Hidden Domain Costs?

DoomieBey

charlotte49ers

let it snow

charlotte49ers

let it snow

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

DoomieBey

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world

DoomieBey

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

DoomieBey

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

charlotte49ers

let it snow

DoomieBey

jennontheisland

the world is at my command

DoomieBey

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world

mnboater

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world