VIP Programs Court Domainers

Discounts and priority service are added perks for domain name investors.

The prior week, domain name registrar DirectNic unveiled its fresh VIP program, and domainers could be forgiven for having flashbacks to last decade at registrar Fabulous.

That’s since Mike Robertson, who made a name for himself in the domain name business by playing point man for many sizable domainers with portfolios at Fabulous, is now at DirectNic and is spearheading its VIP program.

The program includes discounted pricing, priority support and brokerage services.

Of course, DirectNic isn’t the only firm with a program catering to domain portfolio holders. GoDaddy’s Premier Services is the best known. Depending on how much you spend with GoDaddy, you get a different level of support and even additional security options for your account.

While DirectNic, GoDaddy and others have formalized domainer programs, other registrars are offering similar levels of service on a customized basis.

Consider Frank Schilling’s Uniregistry, which is working with domainers on a one-on-one basis.

Similarly, DirectNic isn’t publishing VIP pricing, instead opting to work with clients individually to set pricing.

The bottom line: if you have a decent number of domain names, the domainer-focused registrars are going to cut a deal with you to make sure they don’t lose you over price. That means you shouldn’t have to pay much more than the $7.85 wholesale price for .com domain names (plus ICANN fees).

That stated, price isn’t the only thing you ought to look for in a registrar. With low prices as a given, security and service are two other key factors to consider.