Tech: Where to buy a domain name?

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: dwditty
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 07:13 AM

Check out www.hostbaby.com I can't say enough about Derek Sivers and his efforts to run a service geared strictly for musicians (he is a musician, too). Host Baby has wizards available to build a site in an hour or two, The domain name is yours and costs $5 per year. The hosting service is $20/month - chearper if you pay in advance. I put my site up in about 90 minutes. www.dwditty.com if you care to check out just one of the hundreds of styles.

dw

PS: CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com) is, again, geared for independent musicians to sell their cds.

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Nick
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 05:27 AM

I use 123-reg which we also use at work and have registered literally 00's of them with no problems. No cost of transfer, access to control panel to set up forwarding etc etc

Probably only any good if you are UK based

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: redsnapper
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 04:27 AM

Generally speaking, GoDaddy are the cheapest and offer a good service including hosting if you need it. I have used four or five different registrars for my domain names and have found them the best for price and service.

RS

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Scrump
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 04:26 AM

When you say "no one has the name we want to use", do you mean the names you want to use have already been taken by someone else? If so then you will obviously have to come up with a different name.

Otherwise, if the name you have in mind isn't already in use, there's nothing to stop you using it and registering it with any reputable domain name registration service.

Heed the advice given by others above regarding transfers out - I have one that I haven't been able to transfer out without incurring a high cost so I decided reluctantly to renew with them (although I'd rather take my custom somewhere else).

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Paul Burke
Date: 23 Aug 06 - 04:20 AM

Make sure that whoever registers your domain doesn't have fancy terms in the small print. I got caught a few years ago by one who had a £50 transfer out fee in the terms, so that when I wanted it hosted elsewhere (they had raised the registration fee to 3x the going rate), I had to pay up to free it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: open mike
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 09:21 PM

one place that does this is www.godaddy.com
i think you have to re-new every year..
'and they may actually hold the registration..
they do hosting too and have web page buildong templates,
all for a price.

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 06:09 PM

You need to look out, though--there are unscrupulous vendors who will try to hold your domain name hostage if you don't renew with them--because they acutally set it up in their own name and not yours. So be careful.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 03:11 PM

I got mine for ShoreGrass through http://www.register.com and signed up for a special 2-year deal. Just renewed for another 2 years at a slightly higher rate. They also do web hosting, although I have mine elsewhere. Good luck!

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: treewind
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 03:03 PM

You should be able to buy it from anyone who sells them - they are registration agents who act as a middle man between you and the registrar.

Once you have the domain name, you have to renew it, usually every two years, and the renewal may cost more than the original purchase. There's no way round that. You can also transfer it - you shouldn't be stuck with the registration agent you started with if you don't want to be.

You also need hosting - that's an ISP to handle your mail and host your web site using that domain. That ISP may or not also be the registration agent (they often try to get you to bundle both services with them but it's not essential).

Anahata

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 01:12 PM

Also check out the Wikipedia entery under "Domain name system." here.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 01:07 PM

Ever accidentally typed in a web address and get the message "that site is available" on the resulting wrong page? There are lots of places that sell them, but not all let you keep them, and there are wildly different prices. Your best bet is to find it through a site so that if you decide to change providers that you don't lose your domain name. Take a look here first.

SRS

Subject: Tech: Where to buy a domain name?
From: GUEST,Jeannie
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 12:50 PM

I need to buy a domain name for my new band. We have researched and found no one has the name we want to use. How do we do this? Who is reputable? How long do they last? Any help will be appreciated.
J