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Last updated: 2026-11-13
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# Read the renewal price before the first-year price

The first-year price wins the sale, but you pay the renewal every year you keep the name, so read the renewal first.

Course: Name your company
Chapter 4 of 12, 13 min read
Published 2026-11-09, reviewed 2026-11-11.

You have found the name. The registrar's checkout shows a first year at a few dollars, your card is out, and tomorrow you present the brand. One line under that price is still unread: what the name costs next year, and every year after. For most names, it is a few dollars more. For some, it is ten times the first year. For a few, it would pay a salary.

Three mechanisms cause this, and you can see each of them before you pay. By the end of this chapter, you can put a five-year cost on any name and read its renewal on the name itself. You can say what our renewal trap flag catches and what it misses. And you can lock your price before an announced rise reaches your renewal date.

## What you will be able to do

- You can put a five-year cost on any name before you pay.
- You can tell a teaser, a registry premium and an announced rise apart, and know where each one shows.
- You can read the renewal on the name itself, in the drawer, in the availability checker and at the registrar.
- You can lock your price by renewing ahead when a rise is announced.

## One first year, four renewals

You do not buy a domain name once. You pay for it by the year. You pay the first year to the registrar, the company that sells you the name, and then a renewal for every year you keep the name.

Part of what you pay goes to the registry, the company that runs the ending, as a wholesale price for each name and each year. Over five years, you pay the first year once and the renewal four times. That sum is the five-year cost Unique Domains shows on every name.

On .com, across the registrars we price, the catalog's median first year is $11.62 and its median renewal is $13.40. On .tech, the same two figures are $8.23 and $56.07. The first figure of each pair is the advertisement. The second is what you live with.

Renewals are where the money is, so a first year can be given away. In 2019, renewals brought in 58% of Radix's $2 million of revenue from premium names, as Elliot Silver reported on DomainInvesting on 4 March 2020.

ICANN is the body whose rules registrars follow. Its expired-names policy of 2013 requires a registrar to show the renewal fee at registration, and it encourages a prominent display when that fee is higher than the registration price.

## The teaser first year

The oldest mechanism is the teaser. The first year is sold at a dollar or two, and after that the name costs the ending's regular price. The first-year price is often a teaser that can rise ten times or more in year two, as Andrew Allemann wrote on Domain Name Wire on 1 June 2022.

In 2025, Kevin Murphy counted at least ten registrars that were selling the first year of a .shop name for under a dollar, one of them at $0.27, against renewals that started at about $25. Over five years, that 2025 .shop name comes to about $100, and the $0.27 that won the sale is a quarter of one percent of that sum.

The teaser is not hidden, only unread. Namecheap's help pages said in 2026 that a promotional code applies to a registration and never to an automatic renewal. At Namecheap, the first year of .com is $12.08, and the renewal is $19.98. On .xyz, the catalog's median first year is $2.05 and its median renewal is $15.72. On .store, the same two figures are $2.50 and $44.13.

On 9 November 2026, 8 of the 9 registrars we price carried a renewal trap on each of .store, .tech and .online. Seven carried one on .xyz, two carried one on .io, and none did on .ai.

## Registry premiums renew at the premium

The second mechanism costs more and is harder to see. On the endings launched since 2013, the registry sets the price of some names itself, far above the standard price. These names are registry premiums, and on most of those endings the premium applies to every renewal.

On Domain Incite, Kevin Murphy explained on 10 November 2013 why this is legal. ICANN's contract with the registry allows a renewal above the standard price when the buyer was told about it and agreed to it at the first registration. The precedent that the 2013 article cited was .tv, where names were renewing at $10,000 a year.

Some registries keep the renewal of a premium name at or under the standard renewal. That is the case on .club, and it was the case in a 2016 promotion by Rightside.

Two registrars disagree. GoDaddy's buying guide said in 2026 that the buyer of a premium name usually pays extra only the first time, and sometimes every year. Dynadot's help page said in 2024 that the premiums of two large registries renew at the registration price. The rule belongs to the registry, so read it on the name, and never guess it from the ending.

A premium shows in one line of the checkout at the first registration. Our renewal trap flag cannot see it, because a premium is a price on one name. In the drawer, a premium quote shows under Price and cost as the name's own price. On the Investor plan, Check every registrar in the availability checker asks each compatible registrar for its quote.

## Case: A $5,000 name renewing at $55,000

- Bought for: $5,000
- Yearly renewal: $55,000
- Five years: $225,000
- Renewal against price paid: 11 times

Elliot Silver, an investor who writes, reported on DomainInvesting on 3 January 2022 what happened to one buyer. The buyer paid $5,000 for a single-letter .xyz name, could not find the renewal fee, and guessed that it would be $1,000 a year at most. The fee turned out to be $55,000 a year. The buyer later managed to reverse the purchase.

Here is the arithmetic for a buyer who keeps the name. The first year costs $5,000, and each of the next four years costs $55,000, so five years come to $225,000. The renewal is eleven times the price paid, and the price paid is about 2% of the five-year cost.

A standard .xyz name renews at its ending's list price, and the median of that price across the registrars we price is $15.72. So the ending told the buyer nothing, and a trap flag on the ending stays quiet.

The lesson for a founder is the order of reading. The renewal comes first, read on the name itself, from the registrar's quote. The purchase price comes after it. A renewal you cannot find before paying is a renewal you have not read.

Source: Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Beware of high annual renewal fees", 2022-01-03, https://domaininvesting.com/beware-of-high-annual-renewal-fees/

## A rise after you bought

The third mechanism reaches names you already hold. The registry can raise its wholesale price for every name on the ending, and the registrar passes the rise on. Domain Name Wire reported three such rises.

The first report, on 23 April 2026, carried a notice from Verisign, the company that runs .com: the wholesale price goes from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026. Three more steps of 7% are allowed, one in each of the three contract years that follow.

The second report, on 21 July 2026, said that Identity Digital, which runs .io, told registrars of a rise from $50 to $56 on 19 January 2027. The third, on 2 February 2026, said that the .ai wholesale price goes to $80 a year from 5 March 2026, with a two-year minimum on every registration and renewal.

Nothing obliges your registrar to warn you. Andrew Allemann wrote in 2024 that most registrants, the people who hold a name, never hear of a price increase, and that a registrar who does tell them usually does so close to the renewal date.

The renewal shown at checkout rarely includes an announced increase, Allemann added on 4 June 2025. So until a rise takes effect, the renewal at checkout may still show the old price.

A variant of this mechanism catches names at the drop, the moment when an expired name is released for anyone to register. The name can come back tagged premium for its next registrant, as Allemann documented on .co and .xyz on 24 June 2022.

Against an announced rise, you have one move, and it is to lock the price. Where the registrar allows it, renewing several years ahead pays for those years at today's price.

A renewal of up to ten years, paid before an announced increase takes effect, locks the current price, as Allemann wrote in 2022, 2024 and 2026. The .com rise of 1 November 2026 kept the old price for every term paid before the change.

## What our flag catches and misses

Unique Domains reads the price of every ending at each registrar we track, both the first year and the renewal. It flags a renewal trap on a registrar's price when two things are true: the renewal is at least double the first year, and it is at least ten dollars above the first year.

A two-dollar first year that renews at seven dollars is three and a half times more, yet the gap is only five dollars, which is not worth a warning. A forty-dollar first year that renews at fifty is ten dollars more, and it is no teaser. A three-dollar first year that renews at sixteen carries the flag.

The flag shows in Registrars, in the price matrix and in the Renewal traps block. It also shows in the drawer's section The ending, beside each registrar's renewal, and in the availability checker, which prints the multiple as well, such as renews 8x.

The flag reads published prices for an ending, so it sees a teaser and nothing else. It cannot see a registry premium. It cannot see a rise announced for next year, which is in no price list yet. And it cannot see a name that comes back tagged premium at the drop. Those three you read on the name itself.

## Case: Five-year math on a discounted premium

- Premium renewing at the premium, five years: $6,495
- Same name, half off the first year: $5,846
- With the promotion, five years: $1,310
- Per year: about $260 against $1,299

Andrew Allemann worked the numbers for a promotion by Rightside, a registry of that time, on Domain Name Wire on 4 April 2016. For premium names registered during the promotion, the wholesale renewal dropped to $10 for good.

The article's example was Ballet.studio at $1,250. With perhaps $15 a year to renew, five years come to $1,310, or about $260 a year, instead of $1,299 a year without the promotion. The article set that beside an earlier registrar offer, which Allemann recalled as 50% off the first year and called just a 10% discount over five years.

Now run that earlier offer on the same name at $1,299 a year. It saves $649.50 once, so five years come to about $5,846, against $6,495 without it.

The discount that wins the sale is worth a tenth of the five-year cost. The promotion's renewal rule is worth almost four renewals at the premium price. Allemann added that the reduced renewal stays with the name unless the name expires, so a buyer you sell it to pays the lower renewal too.

Source: Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Rightside to run domain investor-friendly promo on Premium domains", 2016-04-04, https://domainnamewire.com/2016/04/04/rightside-deal/

## Read the renewal on the name

Four places give you the renewal of one name, from the quickest to the surest.

1. In Browse, open the name. Price and cost shows the price today and the five-year cost. The section The ending lists each registrar's first year beside its renewal, with the trap tag and the cheapest renewal marked.
2. In the availability checker, type the name. On the website, one live check a day gives a free name's first year and five-year cost. On the Investor plan, each quote comes with its five-year cost, the registrar where holding the name costs least is tagged, and the renewal multiple is printed. On a premium name, Check every registrar shows that the cheapest first year is not always the cheapest renewal.
3. At the registrar, read the renewal line of the checkout before you pay. ICANN's policy of 2013 requires the registrar to publish it. If the checkout hides it, send the message below first.
4. For a name you already hold, start a transfer to a second registrar, read the price that registrar quotes, and then stop before you pay. Andrew Allemann called this perhaps the surest method (Domain Name Wire, 30 March 2017).

## The rule

Read the renewal before the first-year price, on the name itself, and compare names on the first year plus four renewals. The first year is paid once, and it is set to win the sale. The renewal is paid every year, it is built on a wholesale price set by the company that runs the ending, and it can rise.

## Before you pay

- Write down the first year and the renewal from the checkout, not from the advertisement.
- Add the first year to four renewals. That sum is the name's price.
- Check whether the name is a registry premium, and whether the premium applies to every renewal.
- In Registrars, read the ending's row. The trap tag there covers a teaser and nothing more.
- Look in the trade press for an announced wholesale rise, because the checkout rarely shows it.
- Ask support, in writing, for the next three renewals, and ask whether an announced increase applies.
- Read what automatic renewal will charge before you turn it on.
- When a rise is announced on a name you will keep, renew ahead at today's price.

## Ask for the renewal in writing

Write to the registrar's support before you pay for a name whose renewal you cannot find at checkout, or when a rise on its ending is announced.

> Hello,
>
> Before I register [name] with you, could you confirm in writing:
>
> 1. The exact renewal price of [name] for each of the next three years, in [currency], taxes included.
>
> 2. Whether this name is a registry premium, and whether the premium applies to every renewal.
>
> 3. Whether an announced increase for [ending] applies to this name, and from which date.
>
> 4. Whether I can renew several years ahead at today's price, and for how many years.
>
> Thank you,
>
> [your name]

Keep the answer with your invoice. It is the price you were told.

## Try it in Registrars

1. Open Registrars on the website and look up your ending. You get one ending lookup a day, and you need no account. Write down the first year and the renewal at your registrar.
2. On the result, note the cheapest renewal, any trap mark on your registrar's row, and any promo tag on its first year.
3. Add the first year to four renewals, and write the five-year cost beside the name. Do the same for a second ending. Compare the two sums, not the two first years.
4. Open your name in Browse and read Price and cost. If its five-year cost differs from your sum, see which registrar quotes it, and whether the quote is the name's own price rather than the ending's list price. Write down the figure quoted on the name.

Do this in Unique Domains: Open Registrars. The public page: https://unique.domains/registrars

## Sources

- ICANN, "Expired Registration Recovery Policy", 2013-02-28, https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/errp-2013-02-28-en
- Kevin Murphy, Domain Incite, "New gTLDs bring back tiered renewal pricing", 2013-11-10, https://domainincite.com/14990-new-gtlds-bring-back-tiered-renewal-pricing
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Rightside to run domain investor-friendly promo on Premium domains", 2016-04-04, https://domainnamewire.com/2016/04/04/rightside-deal/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Radix shares 2019 revenue report", 2020-03-04, https://domaininvesting.com/radix-shares-2019-revenue-report/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Beware of high annual renewal fees", 2022-01-03, https://domaininvesting.com/beware-of-high-annual-renewal-fees/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "15 things to know before you register a domain", 2022-06-01, https://domainnamewire.com/2022/06/01/15-things-to-know-before-you-register-a-domain/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Breaking: VeriSign raising wholesale .com prices", 2026-04-23, https://domainnamewire.com/2026/04/23/breaking-verisign-raising-wholesale-com-prices/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Wholesale .IO registration cost increasing to $56", 2026-07-21, https://domainnamewire.com/2026/07/21/io-price-increase/
- Unique Domains, "How the renewal trap flag and the five-year cost work", 2026-10-31
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, ".Cloud changes premium pricing model, increases regular fees 33%", 2025-06-04, https://domainnamewire.com/2025/06/04/cloud-changes-premium-pricing-model-increases-regular-fees-33/
- Kevin Murphy, Domain Incite, "These are the TLD growers and shrinkers of 2024 (part two)", 2025-01-20, https://domainincite.com/30680-these-are-the-tld-growers-and-shrinkers-of-2024-part-two
- Namecheap, "Can I set up automatic billing for my Namecheap services?", 2026-06-24, https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10564/2207/can-i-set-up-automatic-billing-for-my-namecheap-services/
- Karn Jajoo, GoDaddy Resources, "Should I buy a premium domain name?", 2026-05-01, https://www.godaddy.com/resources/au/smallbusiness/should-i-buy-a-premium-domain-name
- Dynadot, "Dynadot Help: premium domains", 2024-11-08, https://www.dynadot.com/community/help/domains/premium-domains
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, ".AI domain name prices going up $20", 2026-02-02, https://domainnamewire.com/2026/02/02/ai-domain-name-prices-going-up-20/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "ICANN publishes economic analysis about price controls in .org and .info", 2024-03-28, https://domainnamewire.com/2024/03/28/icann-publishes-economic-analysis-about-price-controls-in-org-and-info/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Can registries reclassify your domain as premium before renewal?", 2022-06-24, https://domainnamewire.com/2022/06/24/can-registries-reclassify-your-domain-as-premium-before-renewal/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Premium renewals create headaches for domain buyers", 2017-03-30, https://domainnamewire.com/2017/03/30/premium-renewals-create-headaches-domain-buyers/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "8,000 Premium .Club domains available through registrars tomorrow", 2015-06-30, https://domainnamewire.com/2015/06/30/8000-premium-club-domains/

This course explains how the trade works. It is not legal or financial advice.

## Related pages

- Compare year 1 and renewal prices at nine registrars: https://unique.domains/registrars
- Check a name’s endings and what each costs to hold: https://unique.domains/availability
- Read what a renewal trap is, and every other word: https://unique.domains/glossary#renewal-trap