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Complaints over 50% .uk price hike

Kevin Murphy, November 27, 2015, 09:45:24 (UTC), Domain Registries

.uk registrars are petitioning Nominet to complain about plans to increase the price of a .uk domain name by up to 50%.
The registry announced the price increase, which will come into effect March 1 next year, on Wednesday.
A one-year registration will go up to £3.75 ($5.65) wholesale, still cheaper than any gTLD I can think of.
Currently, Nominet charges £3.50 for a one-year reg and £2.50 per year for multi-year registrations.
The company heavily hinted, in an email, that some of this extra cash will wind up in registrars’ pockets, due to promotional spending:

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.

The price of a .uk domain has not increased since 1999, Nominet said.
Increasing the price from a posh coffee to a London beer is presumably not a big deal for most registrants, but domainer-registrars are unhappy.
Andrew Bennett of Netistrar has set up a web site at egm.uk to call for “outraged” registrants and Nominet members to voice their opposition to the changes.
The site points out that Nominet has said it will review its pricing annually.
It calls on Nominet to have a three-month public consultation then a member vote before introducing the changes.
At time of publication, 77 registrants and 47 Nominet members have signed the petition.
On its web site, Nominet lists 2,048 members.

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