Domain reclassified as premium. I need advice.

[ryan87]

Hi. I own a domain that was non-premium when I registered it. It was non-premium when I renewed it last year. When I went to renew it today, I noticed it's reclassified as premium. I have ~4 years of daily logs for the classification (from Namecheap's APIs). I'm not confused. I understand how it works and, assuming it's not a mistake at Namecheap, my domain was reclassified without the registration lapsing and without my consent.

That violates section 2.10c of ICANN's baseline registry agreement [1] and, based on common knowledge, it shouldn't happen [2]. Does anyone here know of any tools I can use to check domain classifications (or have access to an API that's not Namecheap)? I'd like to know if the domain was reclassified by the registry (Uniregistry). I'll reach out to Namecheap, but I'd like to have the classification verified by a 3rd party first.

I previously renewed the domain on Feb 5, 2023 when it was classified as non-premium, so I doubt I accidentally consented to a change in classification. On April 12, 2023 it was considered non-premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="false" PremiumRegistrationPrice="0" PremiumRenewalPrice="0" PremiumRestorePrice="0" PremiumTransferPrice="0" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT01</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--4:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.39</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

On April 13, 2023 it was reclassified as premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="true" PremiumRegistrationPrice="1180.0000" PremiumRenewalPrice="1180.0000" PremiumRestorePrice="35.4000" PremiumTransferPrice="1180.0000" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT03</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--4:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.619</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

As of today, it's still classified as premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="true" PremiumRegistrationPrice="325.0000" PremiumRenewalPrice="28.6000" PremiumRestorePrice="39.0000" PremiumTransferPrice="28.6000" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT01</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--5:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.616</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

1. itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/registry-agreements/base-registry-agreement-21-01-2024-en.html#article2.10
2. domainnamewire.com/2022/06/24/can-registries-reclassify-your-domain-as-premium-before-renewal/

 

[ryan87]

i also think theres a HUIGE gap between the communications registries send to registrars, and whats gets to customers..

everyone in the chain says it not us

This is the main issue for me. The registrar is Namecheap. I want to reiterate that Namecheap didn't do anything wrong with the exception of, in my opinion, giving poor quality support. I emailed them a few days ago and got this response.

Thank you for contacting our Namecheap Support team!

Let us clarify that domains can be marked as premium only on Registry level (this is not done by a Registrar company such as Namecheap).

Unfortunately, we cannot specify the exact reason of why the domain was marked as a premium and/or change this status.

If you have any other questions, we will be happy to help.

I would expect all registrars to have clear training for their support staff so that if their customers are getting ripped off by the registry operators, via discriminatory pricing, the issue would immediately get escalated. Their industry depends on trust and changing domains from a uniform, non-premium price to an arbitrary, premium price is a really fast way to lose consumer trust.

I was really disappointed in Namecheap's reply because I specifically transferred this domain to Namecheap thinking they'd be the most likely registrar to help me if I had problems with the registry. I would have considered a response that gave me contact info for the registry operator to be tolerable, so it's not like the bar was high.

My main regret so far is that I wasn't logging the domain info from multiple API endpoints. I only have historical data from Namecheap's API and having a secondary viewpoint would be useful. Domain classifications are too obfuscated from regsitrants and, because there are 3 parties involved in every transaction, the registrant is the most likely to lose out if a registrar makes a mistake and let's a premium domain get registered as non-premium. In this specific case, I originally registered the domain at Porkbun, so I know it was a non-premium domain from day one since two different registrars treated it as a non-premium domain over multiple years of registration.

I didn't realize Uniregistry isn't the registry for .help anymore, so I wasted a few days trying to contact them. I emailed Larus today and I'll post again if / when they reply. Depending on the response, I won't hesitate to follow through with ICANN.

I wanted to make sure this wasn't a simple mistake at Namecheap. Now that they've said it wasn't them, along with the fact that I originally registered it as a non-premium domain at Porkbun, I can post my mini rant...

Something that gets me really wound up and frustrated is the level of incompetence that must exist in the industry for this to happen.

Both the registries and registrars should never allow something like this to happen. The registries should check current classifications before re-classifying domains and the registrars should check to make sure the classification hasn't changed during renewal. Like someone else mentioned, people on auto-renew could get burned pretty badly by something like this. Note how my renewal price jumped to $1180 USD after reclassification instead of the ~$28 I was expecting. If the timing had been different, along with auto-renew, I might have ended up in a worse situation than complaining on the internet. As of now it's only $28.60, but still listed as a premium domain.

If the registries are capable of changing classifications on registered domains, is there going to be any record of the original classification that a registrant can rely on to fight the change? The registrars should play this role in my opinion, but don't appear to at the moment. Maybe I'm one of the first people to bring my own logs and this has happened to others who don't have any proof to take action and everyone involved assumes they're a "stupid user" that doesn't understand how first year sales and premium pricing work.

How could classification and pricing tiers be changed to ensure there's a proper record of a domain's status available to the registrant? Is that info logged anywhere besides the registry operator that sets it?

Suffice it to say, my impression of most of the new gTLD registry operators isn't good. It seems like they're run by sales and marketing people that don't understand the product they're selling. We don't need price discrimination and short term profit seeking. We need stability, technical competence, guarantees that we're not going to get deplatformed or disenfranchised or ripped off, and that all domains / gTLDs are something we can rely on long term.

If any registries, or ICANN for that matter, were more interested in the long term health of the domain industry they'd be lobbying to strengthen registrant rights to guarantee that buying a domain gets you something that you can build / invest on top of, and depend on forever (barring serious abuse). That's not happening though. Instead of working to grow the industry as a whole, we have massive (registry) consolidation and, I assume, a goal of squeezing current registrants for as much money as possible.

Case in point, the .org fiasco. Combine the participants of that with all the consolidation that's occurred in the industry and I have a very, very long list of gTLDs that I don't trust with anything significant. I'd like to see that change because I think domains are probably the best system we're ever going to get for having a technically enforced, globally unique brand / identity that you can build a business on top of.

It's a shame that one of ICANN's mandates wasn't to prevent consolidation. In my opinion, consolidation, at least to the degree that's occurred already, is bad for registrants and bad for the industry. It never should have been allowed to happen. Once there's a critical mass of registries that, in my opinion, suck, all the new gTLDs will get lumped in with that sentiment and it'll be bad for everyone, including the operators that are trying to work in the best interests of registrants.

ICANN should never have allowed premium pricing, as it is right now where renewal pricing can fluctuate, and they never should have allowed any gTLD registries to operate without price caps. I'm ok with first year premium pricing, but think all renewals should be uniform. Pricing games are eroding consumer trust and ruining the industry in my opinion.

I'm not a domainer. I only have one or two domains I'd ever consider selling so my perspective is mainly as a normal registrant and someone that wants to build things. I do register domains on some of the TLDs I don't trust, but only for brand protection. For example, I currently have my best .com registered with 14 other extensions to discourage anyone from using the name as a brand. However, the only 3-4 I'll ever use to build anything will be .com, .net, .org (maybe), and .ca (only if you're Canadian).

Stay tuned. I'll update this post if / when I get responses and / or if I file a complaint with ICANN.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

ICANN should never have allowed premium pricing and they never should have allowed any gTLD registries to operate without price caps. Pricing games are eroding consumer trust and ruining the industry in my opinion.

Thanks for the additional information. There was an important issue mentioned years ago in an online domain tutorial about the lack of ICANN regulation of, I believe. some of the newer TLDs. All these new-fangled extensions were showing up, but the lack of price controls on renewals seemed to be an important concern. I'm trying to track down the web pages that mentioned this variable.

Thanks for providing the scripts, but could you clarify what the extension is? Was it ".help?"

 

[ryan87]

Thanks for providing the scripts, but could you clarify what the extension is? Was it ".help?"

Yes, it's .help.

I also have daily logs for the same keyword in about 300+ gTLDs going back to 2020, but they're dumped into text files and it would take me a fair bit of effort to parse them. I thought the keyword had a high probability of being reclassified or, at the very least, having prices fluctuate within the premium tiers, so I started logging to see if I could pick up on any trends.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Yes, it's .help.

I also have daily logs for the same keyword in about 300+ gTLDs going back to 2020, but they're dumped into text files and it would take me a fair bit of effort to parse them. I thought the keyword had a high probability of being reclassified or, at the very least, having prices fluctuate within the premium tiers, so I started logging to see if I could pick up on any trends.

Sounds like you're passionate about that keyword. And maybe there are stats that would suggest it's more valuable now.

ICANN ddoes have their agreements online for the ".help" Registry. The last one was signed by a company called "Innovation Service Limited." Perhaps it's a new Registry owner with new standards?

 

[collinlove]

Hi, it's me, "Domain Name Wire reader Collin Love." Stumbled across this by chance. Yikes! Sorry you're having to deal with this.

If the registries are capable of changing classifications on registered domains, is there going to be any record of the original classification that a registrant can rely on to fight the change?

The registries should records of that, yes; and if worst comes to worst, a subpoena should be able to reliably retrieve such records.

Reallocation of domains as premium or vice versa as regular can take place and I believe there is a notification requirement.

For the record, Uniregistry is no longer active and any TLDs it managed have been reallocated to various other registries. Depending on the TLD of the domain in question you should be able to address it with the appropriate registry.

I know that they can raise prices and that there is a notification requirement for that, but actual reclassification as premium? That is news to me. Could you please provide a source for this?

If you'd like, Ryan, I can reach out to Andrew if he's not aware already and alert him to this thread. I think this is the first time we've seen premium reclassification in the wild, and hopefully also the last.

- Collin

 

[ryan87]

The registries should records of that, yes; and if worst comes to worst, a subpoena should be able to reliably retrieve such records.

It definitely wouldn't get to that point. The domain isn't worth that much to me.

If you'd like, Ryan, I can reach out to Andrew if he's not aware already and alert him to this thread. I think this is the first time we've seen premium reclassification in the wild, and hopefully also the last.

There's not much of a conclusion yet. I'm going to give Larus another day to reply and then I'll start looking into the process for filing a complaint with ICANN.

Does anyone know if there's a specific process for contacting a registry? I couldn't find any contact info for Larus, so I emailed the info@ address ICANN has on their site [1]. I also wonder if WHOIS privacy could cause any issues for me. According to Porkbun [1], there's a distinction between using privacy services and redacted private info. I'm not actually sure if the registry even has my contact info on the domain (which is a topic of it's own).

1. I can't post links

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I know that they can raise prices and that there is a notification requirement for that, but actual reclassification as premium? That is news to me. Could you please provide a source for this?

Checking the ICANN ".help" registry agreement and amendments, there seems to be no mention of the word "premium. " Still, though, it's unclear if it permissible by some of the other terms.
.help ICANN Agreement ".help" ICANN Transfer Doc

Does anyone know if there's a specific process for contacting a registry?

The last ICANN link appears to have the latest contact information.

 

[tamar]

Hey, thanks for flagging this. Noted that while we can't control the situation, the response and advocacy could go a long way. I will be sure to pass on the feedback to our domain customer support managers.

 

[ryan87]

This is a normal case, I got a .sbs domain from normal price to premium price.
If you contact ICANN, the waiting time can be more than 1 week.

Did you end up having to file a complaint with ICANN to resolve that?

Happened to me too for a stupid .science domain.

How did you get it fixed?

The last ICANN link appears to have the latest contact information.

Thank you. I used that contact info to attempt to contact the registry a second time, but didn't get a reply.

Hey, thanks for flagging this. Noted that while we can't control the situation, the response and advocacy could go a long way. I will be sure to pass on the feedback to our domain customer support managers.

It may not have been reasonable for me to expect the first point of contact with support to pick up on the subtlety of a domain being reclassified during the registration period vs being premium from the start. After I re-opened the ticket and asked them to escalate it, the support team was able to do as much as I could hope for.

They started an investigation with the registry and, as I understand it, asked to have the domain classification reconsidered. The final word I got on that was:

Regretfully, we can't influence the domain status from our side.

We can recommend you to contact the Registry directly.

After that, I asked them to confirm the domain was non-premium when I transferred it to Namecheap and got an excellent reply:

Indeed, as per the domain transfer to Namecheap on 10/17/2020, it was a non-premium one. The related order ID is XXXXXXX. Let us emphasise that the TLDSDISCONT coupon code was used in this order which could not be applied for a premium domain name.

The tidbit about the coupon code is fantastic. Namecheap support deserves a big thumbs up for picking that out and providing the info to me.

This doesn't affect the fact that I want to have the premium status removed, but I found it amusing since I'll be advocating to pay more.

We are still waiting for the final decision from the Registry of .HELP domains regarding the removal of premium status for the domain name ****.help.

Meanwhile, let us share additional details with you. The current renewal price for this premium domain name is $28.78 ($28.60 is the renewal price+$0.18 ICANN fee). The attached price for your domain is lower than the usual renewal price for .HELP domains $30.16 ($29.98+$0.18 ICANN fee) due to the premium status. Could you please confirm if you still wish to investigate the possibility of premium status removal taking into account this information?

Lol.

Good catch, document everything and file here: [link removed]

I've reached out to Porkbun and asked them to give me a confirmation (similar to Namecheap's) for the domain classification on the original registration. After I get that, I'll put everything together and file a complaint with ICANN early next week. Then I'll get to experience first-hand how section 2.10c gets enforced.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

It may not have been reasonable for me to expect the first point of contact with support to pick up on the subtlety of a domain being reclassified during the registration period vs being premium from the start. After I re-opened the ticket and asked them to escalate it, the support team was able to do as much as I could hope for....

Kudos to Namecheap and ICANN for helping you look into the "non-premium turned into premium" domain situation.

What seems to be ironic is that the ".help" registry has provided no help! For heaven sakes. maybe they could at least try to emulate their namesake?!

 

[bismisoft]

What a coincidence, today I learned similar thing is happening on one of my .bond domain at name.com registrar.

It was transferred at $69.99 and now the renewal ((Expires in Apr 2024) shows as $736.25 classified as premium, no communication or anything from name.com registrar.

I'll open a new thread with all the details, just want to give a heads up here before that.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

What a coincidence, today I learned similar thing is happening on one of my .bond domain at name.com registrar.

It was transferred at $69.99 and now the renewal ((Expires in Apr 2024) shows as $736.25 classified as premium, no communication or anything from name.com registrar.

I'll open a new thread with all the details, just want to give a heads up here before that.

Thanks for the alert.

This may be the start of a much larger trend. It still remains unclear whether some registries have allowances to do this, as a loophole to the standard ICANN renewal regulations.

Let's see if other members are spotting similar trends with other TLDs and/or registrars.

 

[Jv1999]

What a coincidence, today I learned similar thing is happening on one of my .bond domain at name.com registrar.

It was transferred at $69.99 and now the renewal ((Expires in Apr 2024) shows as $736.25 classified as premium, no communication or anything from name.com registrar.

I'll open a new thread with all the details, just want to give a heads up here before that.

That's absolutely bs.

They effectively cause you to not be able to invest in that domain anymore.

Then they can just randomly take anyone's domain and make it premium to $3k renewal and no one can do anything

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

They effectively cause you to not be able to invest in that domain anymore.

Then they can just randomly take anyone's domain and make it premium to $3k renewal and no one can do anything

That's the underlying question here. Under ICANN, can these higher prices now be charged to the current registrant, when a registry declares a new premium status for that individual's domain?

 

[forge]

I think this is the first time we've seen premium reclassification in the wild, and hopefully also the last.

Not the last...

Let's see if other members are spotting similar trends with other TLDs and/or registrars.

This is not as rare or unusual as you might think.

The .biz registry now operates in a similar fashion with what they determine to be "premium" names.

Last year I dropped a LLL.biz (renewal ~$15 yearly). Now registration is $960 for the first year although subsequent years revert to about $15. Seems rather arbitrary.

 

[Jv1999]

Not the last...



This is not as rare or unusual as you might think.

The .biz registry now operates in a similar fashion with what they determine to be "premium" names.

Last year I dropped a LLL.biz (renewal ~$15 yearly). Now registration is $960 for the first year although subsequent years revert to about $15. Seems rather arbitrary.

Oh shit I have club.biz... what's going to happen

 

[forge]

I have club.biz... what's going to happen

yeah, I have a few premulum names too, it seems that as long as you keep renewing, aok. (fingers crossed)

not mine, but do a whois/search on hjv.biz at Namesilo ($960) and then Porkbun ($819). It's madness.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

yeah, I have a few premulum names too, it seems that as long as you keep renewing, aok. (fingers crossed)

not mine, but do a whois/search on hjv.biz at Namesilo ($960) and then Porkbun ($819). It's madness.

So presumably this a registry-level "premium" designation and ownership? And then the registrars add their markup upfront, but are indicating non-premium future renewals in some cases?

One wonders if ICANN needs to define and estabish specific rules and regulations for these"premium" domains.

 

[ryan87]

Last year I dropped a LLL.biz (renewal ~$15 yearly). Now registration is $960 for the first year although subsequent years revert to about $15. Seems rather arbitrary.

As far as I know, and in my opinion, that's fine. If the domain is available and the registrant agrees to premium pricing, that's their choice. I wouldn't do it because the pricing tiers are not well defined and no one can tell you what the rules are (if there are any).

For example, the premium renewal price of my domain (queried from the Namecheap API) has fluctuated from @28.60 USD to $1180 USD. Keep in mind, that's Namecheap's price, so it includes some markup beyond what the registry charges, but it's safe to assume the registry gets the majority of it.

Earlier in the thread someone posted a link to a Domain Name Wire article trying to answer the question:

Some readers asked a follow-up question: can a registry move your domain from one premium tier to another?

My question is "how would you even know?" The tiers aren't defined or published by the registries and they're not mentioned in any ICANN agreements that I've been able to find. So is my domain fluctuating between tiers or does the price fluctuate ~1k USD within the tier? I doubt anyone knows the answer to that because there aren't any rules so it becomes whatever the registries think they can get away with.

yeah, I have a few premulum names too, it seems that as long as you keep renewing, aok. (fingers crossed)

That's the way it's supposed to work. In my case, I didn't drop the domain.

So presumably this a registry-level "premium" designation and ownership? And then the registrars add their markup upfront, but are indicating non-premium future renewals in some cases?

From what I understand, if it's premium when you register it, it'll always be flagged as premium and you've agreed to discriminatory pricing. Since there aren't any rules, the risk is only limited by your imagination, or, more accurately, the registries' imaginations.

One wonders if ICANN needs to define and estabish specific rules and regulations for these"premium" domains.

They absolutely do, but I wouldn't count on it. ICANN doesn't want, or have, price controls in the uniform pricing tier for new gTLDs. I'd be shocked if they want to get involved in setting rules for the discriminatory (aka premium) pricing tier(s).

This may be the start of a much larger trend. It still remains unclear whether some registries have allowances to do this, as a loophole to the standard ICANN renewal regulations.

My theory, which is not supported by any hard data, is that some registries are reclassifying domains and hoping registrants don't notice. They'll reverse the classification if you complain. I'm not sure why they didn't simply do that for mine, but I'm fine with it because the reclassification is undeniable in my case. I originally had API logs, but I was also able to get both Namecheap and Porkbun to give me clear confirmations that prove my domain has always been in the non-premium pricing tier.

I filed my complaint with ICANN yesterday.

 

[bismisoft]

I filed my complaint with ICANN yesterday.

Well done, update as it goes.

I'm still waiting to hear from name.com, first heard the usual registry blah blah from support, so added more details to the ticket with screenshot, waiting for an update.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Well done, update as it goes.

I'm still waiting to hear from name.com, first heard the usual registry blah blah from support, so added more details to the ticket with screenshot, waiting for an update.

Thanks for letting us know the status.

As far as I know, and in my opinion, that's fine. If the domain is available and the registrant agrees to premium pricing, that's their choice. I wouldn't do it because the pricing tiers are not well defined and no one can tell you what the rules are (if there are any)

Excellent point. If you agree up front to buy a premium domain, there may be an inherent risk of future unexpected renewal price increases. Unless the stated terms and conditions at the time of sale are explicit and the renewal prices guaranteed for "#" of years, one might be unwttingly subjected to much higher renewal prices.

So, like you, I prefer to avoid such uncertainty with purchasing premium domains. And quite frankly, I prefer sticking with TLDs with registries with a demonstrated excellent track record with reasonable renewal fees. So ".com" and "Verisign" seems to have remained reliable in this respect...but perhaps others on NP are having premium issues with them as well? Hopefully not.

 

[bismisoft]

After back and forth via ticket with @name.com didn't get any resolution besides the usual support language, so opened a new discussion here.

 

[ryan87]

I haven't heard anything from ICANN beyond an auto-response, but it's only been a week and that's not a long enough wait to concern me. I'm ok being patient, but my domain was going to expire in 3 days, so I renewed it today even though it still has the premium tag. I didn't want to take the risk of the price changing to something I wasn't willing to pay.

While reading Namecheap's ToS and FAQs, I noticed something interesting. On their page about premium domains, it says:

Registry premiums are often new domains selected as "premium" by the Registry due to their potential for high value and popularity. In many cases, Registry premiums have special pricing not only for acquisition but also for renewal and transfer. Registry premium domain names can be registered/renewed for 1 year only in one order.

Does anyone know why that's the case? Is it a Namecheap policy or is it an industry wide requirement?

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I haven't heard anything from ICANN beyond an auto-response, but it's only been a week and that's not a long enough wait to concern me.

Yes, ICANN takes a while, so it's good to be patient.

I'm ok being patient, but my domain was going to expire in 3 days, so I renewed it today even though it still has the premium tag. I didn't want to take the risk of the price changing to something I wasn't willing to pay.

While reading Namecheap's ToS and FAQs, I noticed something interesting. On their page about premium domains, it says:

Does anyone know why that's the case? Is it a Namecheap policy or is it an industry wide requirement?

That is odd. Let's see if the "NP Tribe" can share some wisdom.

I was comparing registrars a short while ago, and came across this interesting tidbit from Cloudflare about premium domains:

Your domain cannot be a premium domain as Cloudflare currently does not support them. Some registries designate a domain name as premium and charge higher wholesale rates for these domains. In most cases Cloudflare is able to identify premium (non-standard priced) domains during the transfer eligibility step. However, this check might fail. When this happens, Cloudflare will not be able to determine the domain’s premium status until the transfer is initiated.

So it seems like there may be even more issues with these premium domains.

Good luck with ICANN.

 

[.tv]

This whole "premium" domain thing some folks in the ngTLD world are jazzed about is what scares us. Picture this: they've forked out a hefty amount to get these new fancy extensions from ICANN. But hey, that doesn't mean we gotta empty our pockets for certain flashy keywords, right? It’s kinda like being charged an extra buck just because the packaging looks snazzy. Sometimes, these keywords that get slapped with the "premium" label don’t even gel well with their ngTLD, but oh boy, do the renewal fees make your wallet weep. Smart move? Just dodge 'em.

And here’s something that really gets my goat: flipping a regular ol’ domain name to "premium" status and jacking up the price – even on the ones that were already pricier because they were "premium" to start with. It's like, come on, we had a deal! Locking down a domain, whether it's top-tier or not, means you and I agreed on a price. Changing the game halfway through? Yeah, that’s a no-go. Registries and registrars really shouldn't get to hike up the cost or change the labels once you've shelled out your cash under a handshake deal.

Remember the buzz around .tv domains? They were pioneers of the premium pricing playbook for those in-demand keywords. Back in the day, it kind of clicked – the whole concept and names were in perfect harmony with .tv. But hopping over to ngTLDs, sometimes it feels less like a value proposition and more like they’re diving hand-first into our pockets.

It’s a bit of a downer, honestly. This whole premium tag thing has got some folks giving ngTLDs the side-eye. Rather than flinging open the gates to all the cool, quirky corners of the internet, it kinda feels like some ngTLD players are just chasing the quick buck. So, here’s a nugget of advice: take a moment to really dig into what you’re getting into before you jump on a "premium" domain. They might sparkle and shine at first look, but those costs can sneak up on you. Make sure it’s a decision you’ll be high-fiving yourself for later on.