Domain names and cost of domain ownership is something that should be taught at schools.
Academic education should embrace and incorporate the importance of domains as brand resolvers, among other types of use.
An important part of domain ownership is the fact that the domains are renewed annually, with the option to prepay for several years in advance, typically up to 10.
Apparently, not everyone knows that a domain isn’t just an outright purchase and that the fee varies depending on the TLD. According to a recent review of Dan.com on Trustpilot, the buyer of a domain questioned these “maintenance fees” as scam.
Domain renewals
We Are Very Disappointed-Felt like a Scam – We purchased the domain with the understanding that we owned it and were able to use it at will. During the transfer process, it became clear that there was some type of ongoing maintenance fees associated with ongoing ownership. We were not aware of this, nor was this disclosed early in the process. Requested a refund nd was denied 🙁
Dan.com replied with the obvious facts, that the domain renewal fees are independent of any sale price and that they are an annual obligation towards the registrar, in order to maintain ownership of a domain name.
Last time we faced such an argument from a buyer (that actually canceled the transaction) was in the early 2000s.
Like in any other business many things have to be disclosed, if the domain being sold has a renewal above US$ 50 it must be disclosed.
To hide that the name has a renewal of 125, 450 or 1000+ is not good for the domain business.
Bellow prices must be a note advising that is the buyer’s responsibility to check the renewal cost before the purchase