Domain investment is all about buying low, and selling high.

So, it makes sense to negotiate the best prices when purchasing a domain for your portfolio. Every penny counts.

And that applies to the renewals as well. The renewal costs quickly start to pile up even for smaller domain portfolios. So, it is essential to choose a domain registrar that helps you keep your expenses low.

But you must be careful while comparing your options and do not opt for the cheapest one possible, just to save a few extra cents.

In this article I will explain why your selection criteria should not be the registration price alone, while choosing your domain registrar as you build your portfolio as a domain investor.

Registration Prices Vs Renewal Prices

It is a widespread practice for the registrars to market their domain registration services at heavy first-year discounts. Throughout the years I have taken benefit of several $0.99 promos for first year registration. Sometimes even cheaper.

But if they are selling domain registration below the wholesale prices, they are selling it at a loss.

The registrars which offer such deep discounts are often the ones which have high markups on renewal prices. So that they recoup the loss incurred in the first year in just one or two renewals.

So as a long-term strategy you need to analyze the renewal prices of your registrar along with the registration prices so that you save money not just the first year, but in the coming several years as well.

Customer Support & Ease of Transfer-Out

Even though domain registration is a fully automated process, sometimes things go wrong.

And a lot of the domain registrars’ support teams are simply not equipped enough to understand the needs of domain investors. Some registrars are even notorious for deliberately creating friction while renewing in the grace period, and in the transfer out process.

A good registrar would provide prompt support irrespective of whether you are transferring-in a domain or transferring-out. My favorite type of registrars is the one that provides a way to escalate, and instantly complete domain transfer yourself rather than waiting for 5 days or calling support.

Bulk Domain Features

Not all registrars are targeted towards domain investors as their customers. They may be good enough for bloggers and business owners with a couple of domains in their account along with other add on services like hosting, SSL and emails. One such example is Cloudflare.

But as a domain investor you have to often make bulk changes to the whole portfolio, like changing the landing pages, updating contact information, or verifying ownership with TXT records.

Many-a-times you need to have sub-portfolios inside your portfolio and want to make changes only to one of your sub-portfolios in your account.

Good registrars make it possible to have all your domains inside a single account and still manage them easily using folder/labels. They provide you domain focused dashboard which allows you to make mass changes like bulk register, bulk renew, bulk transfer, and bulk edit.

Afternic and Sedo Network & Fast Transfer

This is the most important feature I always look for in a registrar as a domain investor.

It should be a part of Afternic DLS Network, preferably with a fast transfer support, as most of my inbound sales come from Afternic network.

It would be even better if that registrar is also a part of SEDO MLS Network, preferably with a fast transfer support. Though SEDO does not make as many sales as Afternic, it is still significant enough.

Takeaways:

Whether you have a domain portfolio or are you planning to create a new one, choice of the domain registrar matters a lot.

My favorite registrars are Dynadot, followed by Sav, and NameSilo.

All these registrars are focused on domain investors. They have very competitive renewal prices, excellent customer support, expedited transfer-out, bulk editing features, and portfolio management.

These registrars also have support for both Afternic and SEDO network fast transfer.

I avoid some other popular registrars like Namecheap, GoDaddy, Network solutions etc. because of their high renewal prices.

I also avoid resellers and web hosting companies who double as a domain registrar.