At 6/9/09 05:35 PM, knugen wrote:
Cool site for finding domain names: domai.nr
With that I found a pretty sweet domain name, it seems to be very expensive everywhere though.. Anybody know where one can get "odd" domain names cheap? ;)
These "odd" domains are in fact ccTLDs, which stands for "country code top level domain", they function the same as .com, .net, .org etc, but they're not controlled by a central body - .com is controlled by verisign - they're controlled by the individual countries, so .in is controlled by india. Each country can set its own registration fees and limits, for example .in has no registration restrictions, so if you wanted to buy "knugen.in" you'd be able to, however if you wanted to register "knugen.ba" you wouldn't be allowed, because that is restricted to people who have a physical presence in the country, or a representative. Due to the fact they're controlled independently they can be priced however they so wish, quite a lot are priced in the $xxx/year, some are priced upwards of $2,000/year, but then some can be had for $5/year, it depends entirely on the country and their intention.
There is however a large problem with registering such domains, they're never truly yours. If you register a .com through a verified icann accredited registrar you're the "official owner" however in places that control their own domains they often write into the terms of service that you're never the real owner and they can withdraw the access at any time, this has happened quite a few times, I know of people who've lost $thousands because of domain withdrawal, that's why it can be risky to buy such domains.
The best place for well priced ccTLDs is moniker, they're a good registrar with great pricing, worth a look if you're interested, but be prepared to get pissed off with restrictions, they're very common.
