- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Posts
- 99
- Reaction score
- 2
As a registrar I just received this disheartening news...
I'm no expert but as a bystander for years I've seen Nominet gift its surplus profit to charity/it's own Foundation.
As a non-for-profit that makes huge surplus profit - is Nominet justified in raising prices by 50%? I don't think it's own justifications are actually justified - but I may be wrong?
Full Text:
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Change to wholesale pricing for .UK domains
As you may have seen from recent Board reports, we have reviewed wholesale pricing for .UK domains over recent months. In doing so, we’ve taken the following into account: rising costs to run a world-class namespace; continued investments in services that benefit both registrants and registrars; and an increasingly competitive domain environment.
Having concluded that process, we have decided that the wholesale price for .UK domains (e.g. .uk, .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk) will change to £3.75 per year from 1 March 2016.
That means wholesale prices for all registrations will be harmonised, replacing the current two-tier pricing of £3.50 for a one year registration, and £2.50 per year for multiple-year registrations.
Our new pricing strategy aims to accomplish three things. Firstly, as with any business the price we charge is linked to our ability to deliver a fantastic service. Secondly, we want to invest in the .UK namespace to ensure we can differentiate over the long-term. Thirdly, we want to be able to invest in marketing and promotions in order to secure prominence at point of sale - which our current pricing levels cannot support. At the new price of £3.75 per year, .UK is well positioned against all of the competing TLDs.
Since the last time we changed the wholesale price of .UK domains in 1999, we’ve made substantial investments in our (i) technical infrastructure to guarantee the resilience of the namespace, (ii) award-winning customer service, (iii) dispute resolution services and (iv) tools to improve consumer protection against cyber-crime. Despite vigilant financial management, our costs have increased over the last 16 years, while operating profits have decreased as the growth rate in the domain market slows.
In the face of increasing choice and competition in the domain market, Nominet needs to continue to invest in our core asset – the .UK domain portfolio – so that we can differentiate based on value for money, trust and resonance.
We also need to continue to work in partnership with you, as our channel, to promote the value of domains to registrants, by driving awareness and encouraging adoption. We plan to collaborate closely with you on marketing, promotional and data-driven initiatives to achieve those objectives.
As part of our commercial strategy, wholesale pricing will be reviewed, albeit not necessarily increased, annually.
We want to give you some time to plan, so we have delayed the introduction of this price increase until 1 March 2016. I am sure that some of you will be, or will have, customers who may wish to lock-in the current pricing by registering or renewing for up to 10 years before then.
Nominet is a public benefit company. Accordingly, we’ll ultimately measure success in terms of a thriving .UK namespace that delivers a world-class service and supports a wider, stronger contribution to the digital economy that benefits us all. Looking ahead, we will be doing more than ever before to ensure .UK continues to earn its reputation as a trusted namespace.
Finally, we are taking the opportunity to update our T&Cs for .UK domain name registrants. The proposed document is now available for comment and can be found here. We hope that alongside being much shorter, the proposed T&Cs are clearer for registrants. Your feedback on how we can improve these further is welcome.
Any questions about these changes, please drop me a line, contact the channel team or call customer services.
I look forward to our continued partnership.
Russell Haworth - CEO
Nominet
------------------------------------------------
Link to email in browser:
http://info.nominet.org.uk/HM?b=fY-...WkhrLBgvsx3onM5R4UDT&c=AdZwJ3CBaZUxTqVvlfJjDA
I'm no expert but as a bystander for years I've seen Nominet gift its surplus profit to charity/it's own Foundation.
As a non-for-profit that makes huge surplus profit - is Nominet justified in raising prices by 50%? I don't think it's own justifications are actually justified - but I may be wrong?
Full Text:
------------------------------------------------
Change to wholesale pricing for .UK domains
As you may have seen from recent Board reports, we have reviewed wholesale pricing for .UK domains over recent months. In doing so, we’ve taken the following into account: rising costs to run a world-class namespace; continued investments in services that benefit both registrants and registrars; and an increasingly competitive domain environment.
Having concluded that process, we have decided that the wholesale price for .UK domains (e.g. .uk, .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk) will change to £3.75 per year from 1 March 2016.
That means wholesale prices for all registrations will be harmonised, replacing the current two-tier pricing of £3.50 for a one year registration, and £2.50 per year for multiple-year registrations.
Our new pricing strategy aims to accomplish three things. Firstly, as with any business the price we charge is linked to our ability to deliver a fantastic service. Secondly, we want to invest in the .UK namespace to ensure we can differentiate over the long-term. Thirdly, we want to be able to invest in marketing and promotions in order to secure prominence at point of sale - which our current pricing levels cannot support. At the new price of £3.75 per year, .UK is well positioned against all of the competing TLDs.
Since the last time we changed the wholesale price of .UK domains in 1999, we’ve made substantial investments in our (i) technical infrastructure to guarantee the resilience of the namespace, (ii) award-winning customer service, (iii) dispute resolution services and (iv) tools to improve consumer protection against cyber-crime. Despite vigilant financial management, our costs have increased over the last 16 years, while operating profits have decreased as the growth rate in the domain market slows.
In the face of increasing choice and competition in the domain market, Nominet needs to continue to invest in our core asset – the .UK domain portfolio – so that we can differentiate based on value for money, trust and resonance.
We also need to continue to work in partnership with you, as our channel, to promote the value of domains to registrants, by driving awareness and encouraging adoption. We plan to collaborate closely with you on marketing, promotional and data-driven initiatives to achieve those objectives.
As part of our commercial strategy, wholesale pricing will be reviewed, albeit not necessarily increased, annually.
We want to give you some time to plan, so we have delayed the introduction of this price increase until 1 March 2016. I am sure that some of you will be, or will have, customers who may wish to lock-in the current pricing by registering or renewing for up to 10 years before then.
Nominet is a public benefit company. Accordingly, we’ll ultimately measure success in terms of a thriving .UK namespace that delivers a world-class service and supports a wider, stronger contribution to the digital economy that benefits us all. Looking ahead, we will be doing more than ever before to ensure .UK continues to earn its reputation as a trusted namespace.
Finally, we are taking the opportunity to update our T&Cs for .UK domain name registrants. The proposed document is now available for comment and can be found here. We hope that alongside being much shorter, the proposed T&Cs are clearer for registrants. Your feedback on how we can improve these further is welcome.
Any questions about these changes, please drop me a line, contact the channel team or call customer services.
I look forward to our continued partnership.
Russell Haworth - CEO
Nominet
------------------------------------------------
Link to email in browser:
http://info.nominet.org.uk/HM?b=fY-...WkhrLBgvsx3onM5R4UDT&c=AdZwJ3CBaZUxTqVvlfJjDA
