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Owning an Internet domain is like owning a virtual property lot.  You can build a website on a domain, place ads on it, or resell it for a profit.  In addition to the initial purchase price, each domain requires an annual renewal fee.  If you fail to pay the fee, the domain returns to the market, and someone else can buy it.

Fortunately domains are not very expensive.  There are many low-cost domain sellers like GoDaddy.  Domain prices vary by top-level domain (TLD, i.e. the suffix after the final dot, such as .com and .org).  GoDaddy prices range from $11.99 for general domains (gTLD) such as .com, to $29.99+ for country-code domains (ccTLD) such as .co for Colombia.

The good news is that many domain sellers offer deep discounts on domains for the first year.  But the important thing to remember is: 

The annual domain renewal price is often much higher than the initial purchase price.

GoDaddy currently offers new domains at the following sale prices and renewals at regular prices:

So for example, you might buy a good .us domain for $3.99, but a year later you’ll be shocked to discover the domain costs $19.99 to renew.  This price bump can add up quickly if you own multiple domains.

However you can often find domain renewal coupons.  Renewal discounts are typically not as deep as discounts off the initial purchase price, but they can save you some money.  If you are a GoDaddy customer, they will email you coupons occasionally.  You can also search Google for “GoDaddy renewal coupon.”  Or substitute the name of your preferred domain seller.

Domains are a good investment.  Just make sure you factor in the ongoing cost of ownership.

Article published on August 18, 2011

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