Bulk Domain Transfers
May 9, 2010 7:54 PM Subscribe
I'm considering jumping ship from GoDaddy to a registrar that sucks less. The catch: I have over 40 domains. Can you recommend a registrar that's especially good at handling bulk transfers? It would be especially cool if they also offer bulk pricing.
I've had a spectacular experience with Joker.com for nearly a decade.
posted by special-k at 8:13 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by special-k at 8:13 PM on May 9, 2010
Namecheap.com works great, I'm currently transferring all of my domains there from Godaddy. Bulk transfers work well, their support is awesome, and prices are OK - use the code SWITCH2NC to get a dollar off each domain.
posted by mmoncur at 9:00 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by mmoncur at 9:00 PM on May 9, 2010
What is so bad with Godaddy?
INWX is supposed to be decent. http://www.inwx.de/?lng=en
posted by yoyo_nyc at 9:07 PM on May 9, 2010
INWX is supposed to be decent. http://www.inwx.de/?lng=en
posted by yoyo_nyc at 9:07 PM on May 9, 2010
I hear good things about Gandi.Net.
They're not dirt-cheap*, but are apparently very good. You may be on the cusp of qualifying for their bulk rates.
*If each of your domains represents a legitimate client or business, the cost is negligible in the grand scheme of things. However, if you're a squatter, it may be cost-prohibitive**.
**Also, shame on you!
posted by schmod at 9:21 PM on May 9, 2010
They're not dirt-cheap*, but are apparently very good. You may be on the cusp of qualifying for their bulk rates.
*If each of your domains represents a legitimate client or business, the cost is negligible in the grand scheme of things. However, if you're a squatter, it may be cost-prohibitive**.
**Also, shame on you!
posted by schmod at 9:21 PM on May 9, 2010
Seconding Namecheap, I've had 0 problems with them, and they've got great prices.
posted by deansfurniture5 at 9:49 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by deansfurniture5 at 9:49 PM on May 9, 2010
Name.com is my fave, and their transfer prices are quite affordable ($6.99 for .com/.net, $7.99 for .org, etc.). The biggest negative (to me) is they recently started charging for private WHOIS, but the code "FREEWHOIS" will override that for a year.
posted by cvp at 10:05 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by cvp at 10:05 PM on May 9, 2010
For what it's worth, I'm thirding NameCheap. I've used them for years and I have about 30 domains registered with them. I've had zero problems.
posted by diamondsky at 10:08 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by diamondsky at 10:08 PM on May 9, 2010
I've used Gandi for 10 years. They've generally been great. I picked them initially because they were one of the first registrars to make it clear you owned the domain name and they were an agent. I've kept with them largely because of the generally low BS aura about the site. The time separation and some rough English skills have led to an occasionally bumpy support experience, but then again, even with those obstacles, they're better at it than GoDaddy. They are somewhat more expensive than the budget registrars... ~$15usd/yr rather than $7ish. Not a big deal for domain names I care about.
What is so bad with Godaddy?
Their entire interface screams that they have no problem sacrificing customer convenience or utility (among other things) for the sake of an upsell. That's enough for me, even without some of my tepid to negative customer service experiences, or reading other negative experiences/reasons.
posted by weston at 10:09 PM on May 9, 2010
What is so bad with Godaddy?
Their entire interface screams that they have no problem sacrificing customer convenience or utility (among other things) for the sake of an upsell. That's enough for me, even without some of my tepid to negative customer service experiences, or reading other negative experiences/reasons.
posted by weston at 10:09 PM on May 9, 2010
I use and like Gandi, though not with large numbers of domains; my interactions with DomainDiscover show them being pretty well set up for bulk transfers, with a decent interface (very not GoDaddy), responsive support, and they definitely offers bulk pricing -- though sometimes need a nudge to do so.
posted by holgate at 10:15 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by holgate at 10:15 PM on May 9, 2010
My experience with Gandi has been almost the same as weston's. I have about ten domains and have for a long time. I do different things with many of them [email on some, hosting on others, redirecting on others] and it goes fine. I like their politics and their privacy policy though support can be a little choppy if you need to do something complicated and weird [which I pretty much never do]
posted by jessamyn at 11:52 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by jessamyn at 11:52 PM on May 9, 2010
Gandi has also treated me well. They have good, clear interfaces and no extra marketing bullshit.
posted by beerbajay at 12:44 AM on May 10, 2010
posted by beerbajay at 12:44 AM on May 10, 2010
What is so bad with Godaddy?
Failure to adjust date format to the expectations of individual users is never very good but when your entire product centres around dates ...
I live in that part of the world which generally expresses dates in dd/mm/yy but as far as GoDaddy is concerned everyone lives in mm/dd/yy land !
Can't tell you how many times I've been scanning one of their screens looking at, say, 5/1/10 and found myself thinking 'jeez I thought that domain was good until May ?'
posted by southof40 at 1:34 AM on May 10, 2010
Failure to adjust date format to the expectations of individual users is never very good but when your entire product centres around dates ...
I live in that part of the world which generally expresses dates in dd/mm/yy but as far as GoDaddy is concerned everyone lives in mm/dd/yy land !
Can't tell you how many times I've been scanning one of their screens looking at, say, 5/1/10 and found myself thinking 'jeez I thought that domain was good until May ?'
posted by southof40 at 1:34 AM on May 10, 2010
What is so bad with Godaddy?
The founder supported torture, then recanted.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:04 AM on May 10, 2010
Response by poster: What is so bad with Godaddy?
Also their website is an abomination. Truly awful to get anything accomplished.
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!
posted by signalnine at 9:20 AM on May 10, 2010
Also their website is an abomination. Truly awful to get anything accomplished.
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!
posted by signalnine at 9:20 AM on May 10, 2010
Best answer: I love NameCheap as well. I don't consider 40 "bulk", I consider hundreds or thousands "bulk" because I used to work for a registrar. If you are convinced you want a bulk-oriented registrar, I would recommend enom.com for an interface designed for larger scale customers, and a good "bulk" system.
GoDaddy is evil for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is their extortion of money from registrants under the guise of being "anti-spam".
Rip Off Report
Slashdot
ABestWeb
Here's all you have to do to shut down a competitor or someone you don't like. If they are a GoDaddy customer, report 'em for spam. Bang! Their account is redirected to "suspendedforspamming.com" (or something similar), and they must pay hundreds of dollars to un-suspend it, without the ability to transfer their domain away until they do so. No judge, no jury, just an extortionist who wants to be paid a few hundred because you are an evil spammer. It's all good, right? Spam is evil, right?
Thanks, no. As someone who's run mailing lists, I can say without a doubt that a certain number of brain-dead people will report you for spamming even if you do every-single-thing-correctly. They think the "report spam" button is an unsubscribe button. I cannot take the risk of having my domains held up for extortion, and shut down for a minimum of two weeks because a slack-jawed internet newbie hit the wrong button.
Joker.com, on the other hand is well known as a registrar which does not shut you down without a court order, and even then they are quite slow about it. NameCheap has less of a rep along these lines, but I love 'em and so far I've been treated well with my dozens and dozens of domains.
posted by Invoke at 9:28 AM on May 10, 2010
GoDaddy is evil for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is their extortion of money from registrants under the guise of being "anti-spam".
Rip Off Report
Slashdot
ABestWeb
Here's all you have to do to shut down a competitor or someone you don't like. If they are a GoDaddy customer, report 'em for spam. Bang! Their account is redirected to "suspendedforspamming.com" (or something similar), and they must pay hundreds of dollars to un-suspend it, without the ability to transfer their domain away until they do so. No judge, no jury, just an extortionist who wants to be paid a few hundred because you are an evil spammer. It's all good, right? Spam is evil, right?
Thanks, no. As someone who's run mailing lists, I can say without a doubt that a certain number of brain-dead people will report you for spamming even if you do every-single-thing-correctly. They think the "report spam" button is an unsubscribe button. I cannot take the risk of having my domains held up for extortion, and shut down for a minimum of two weeks because a slack-jawed internet newbie hit the wrong button.
Joker.com, on the other hand is well known as a registrar which does not shut you down without a court order, and even then they are quite slow about it. NameCheap has less of a rep along these lines, but I love 'em and so far I've been treated well with my dozens and dozens of domains.
posted by Invoke at 9:28 AM on May 10, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by signalnine at 8:11 PM on May 9, 2010