Domain Hosting - What You Don't Know Will Cost You

I've spent some time discussing the sad state of affairs that exists because some people are simply ignorant about what it means to hire a professional and expect a professional website. Unfortunately, that ignorance of the basic day-to-day dealings of the internets can hit people in many different ways, one being Domain Name Hosting.

To clarify: I'm talking about where the name of your website lives, not where the website files themselves are hosted. Yes, those can both be in the same place, and yes you can get ripped off on web hosting, but we're focusing on Domain Name Hosting. Web hosting is a completely different beast.

In the last month, I've run into two separate clients who sent me a copy of their domain name hosting renewal statements. These hosting companies were Domain Registry of America and Affordable Multimedia. Both of these companies were charging between $25 and $30 per year to renew the domain name. If I had not intervened, both clients would have unknowingly paid 3x what they should have.

Affordable Multimedia's email was especially pernicious. It stated that if you let your domain name lapse, it would be suspended and require an additional activation fee.

[Mini-lesson: What happens when your domain name expires
Nothing. When your domain name expires, it immediately belongs to no one and can be purchased by anyone. Which means that if Affordable Multimedia's email is true, what they are actually doing is sniping, or purchasing your domain name as soon as it is expired for the express purpose of holding it ransom for extra money. They are also counting on the fact that you don't know what actually happens and do not understand that this is unethical. But now you do.]

To be clear:
You should never pay more than $10 per year to own your domain name (as long as they're .com, .org, .net).

Now, I'm not fancy enough to endorse for a profit, but I will call out three names that I've had experience with in the past that will not rip you off: godaddy.com, eNom.com, and namecheap.com. For an added (corporate) layer of credibility, GoDaddy and eNom are the referral sites Google Apps lets you choose from if you want to buy your own domain name through them.

I'm sure readers have their own good and bad experiences. Please share your + and - companies in the comments!