When Purchasing
a New Domain

3 Things to Watch Out for When Purchasing a New Domain
When it comes to running a successful business in the year 2020, there are quite a few vital aspects you need to make sure you have in operation before you can expect to be doing well. From conventional things that have been around for decades, including a phone number, a physical address, products, and employees to provide quality customer service, to more modern business aspects such as a website, search engine optimization (SEO), and an overall well-branded online reputation. The thing to understand, according to the digital branding experts at Domain Marketa, the vast majority of small businesses in this day and age, have no trouble handling the common, conventional aspects of business. However, for many, the modern, digital branding aspects are what they need the most assistance with, as they simply aren’t as well versed in these modern elements. The thing is that not all companies who sell domains are the same, and while some will simply get along using good business practices and whatnot, others may try to use certain back-handed tactics and hidden fees and/or fine print to “trick” patients into utilizing their services when they wouldn’t want to in the first place. Therefore, as digital branding experts, and web development guru’s, the team at Domain Marketa, would like to offer these important tips to prospective customers looking to purchase a domain.

Hidden Fees & Costs
Just the same as when you are making any types of purchases, online or offline, it is vital that you do your best to read any and all fine print and informative text. Many companies will try to trick you into jumping at their immediately low price for an object, when in fact that low price isn’t the actual price, as there are often hidden fees, unknown charges, and certain strange, taxes that would rarely, if ever, be charged at aby other retail location. Generally, be aware that registrars offering rock-bottom domain prices may have other, less-than-ethical ways to make money and are looking to trick you into long term, often subpar service plans. Some of the most common methods of these unwanted costs include:

  • Hidden Fee & Fine Print
  • Charging for WHOIS or RDAP listing fees – Generally should be a public listing.
  • Unwanted or Unneeded Add-Ons – Some companies will try to UPSELL you with certain things you might not want or even need, such as SSL security and more, while also charging your far more than any other reputable company would (when and if, you decide you need certain add-ons).

Protect Your Data & Privacy
The fact is that domain information and details are generally supposed to be kept as public records for anyone to see within the WHOIS & RDAP directories – in addition, many companies choose to keep their personal information private. Unprotected data is susceptible to being mined by spammers and scammers. Look for domain registrars who offer privacy protection for free. Beware of registrars who charge a premium for “privacy services,” especially any who offer to put their details on these registries instead of yours, which secretly gives them ownership of the domain. On addition, there are some registrars who will even begin selling your data to third parties such as certain marketing organizations. Others will even mine the WHOIS database and send out false renewal invoices, attempting to get money out of unsuspecting clients. Be sure to read all the terms and conditions for your use of the registrar.

Find Transparency
Be sure to find registrars who are transparent in their business models – and make sure they aren’t lying to you when it comes to their pricing, processes and privacy information – for any and all types of services such as transferring or cancelling your domain registration. Some registrars offer cheap registration for your initial purchase, but then charge you sky-high prices to renew your domain the following year. They also might make it very difficult to cancel your order. Look for a registrar with up-front pricing information and terms of service to avoid surprises later on.

Customer Reviews

  • My husband and I are so happy to have found Domain Marketa. We finally decided to create a website for our restaurant, after years of putting it off. We’re not very tech savvy, but luckily for us all it took was one Google search and were able to get the best price on the perfect domain…without any confusion. Simple, super straightforward service!
    Ashely G.
  • I built my business from the ground up, and as things expanded some investors required that I start offering an ecommerce option. I know my industry, but I am really terrible with online stuff, plus my last web guy cheated me out of a website and domain, leaving me stuck needing to get things going fast. Domain Marketa helped me out so much they made things so incredibly easy. They walked me through finding my domain, getting security measures, and registration all over the phone. No lie, they taught me a thing or two about customer service! 😊
    Alex W.
  • Without Domain Marketa I would have never had the domain I wanted for my SaaS company. It turned out that someone had owned it already – literally just sitting on it for about 4 years. After a quick search and reaching out to Domain Marketa’s customer service, I found out the person wanted a king’s ransom for it, and I would have paid. (was literally the exact name of my company…). Lucky me, the guy from Domain Marketa was able to negotiate the price down several hundred dollars, no exaggeration! Got my domain and site running in under a week.
    Donald C.
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  • Over the last year or so, with Covid hitting us hard, my retail business saw drastic changes, and to be honest my heart really hadn’t been in it for a while. And with business dwindling we ended up shutting things down, selling off our inventory to competitors, and pulling the website. Ironically, 3 months later, I got an email from someone at a company called Domain Marketa, saying that a customer wanted my domains. I never even thought selling just the domains was even possible, since I picked them up for a few bucks years ago. Domain marketa brokered the deal completely, I never had to even speak to the buyers. It turned out to be the biggest sale we made all year HAHA! Much more than I originally purchased them for.
    Laney P.
  • After stumbling onto Domain Marketa, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they made things for me. With other sites and companies, its always a bunch of hoops to jump through, and random pop ups I don’t understand. With DM it was nothing like that, I got everything I needed in a few clicks!
    Rita D.
  • My colleague and I just started our own private practice, (we are both dermatologists) and between all the paperwork, dealing with construction on the new facility and all the other busy work involved, we completely forgot to think about the website. I thought I could just renovate my previous practice site but there were issues with the naming and I didn’t want any jealousy with my new partner since we only knew each other for 6 months. One afternoon my son got me on Domain Marketa and we purchased and registered a new domain name within 5 minutes. I must say, it felt so refreshing, unlike those other sites Domain Marketa didn’t try to sell me a million different services or any of those pre-selected add-ons. The best part of the experience was when I needed to contact customer service for something and the individual did make one suggestion, reminding me that since we were running a medical practice, we would need a security certificate for HIPPA compliance! Such a knowledgeable staff!
    Wesley F.
  • I have been doing business online for years now, and started over a dozen different websites over the past year or so, so I usually have people I work with for domains from, the usual culprits lol. But with a recommendation I decided to give Domain Marketa a try – the simplest and cleanest experience I’ve had online. Definitely using their service in the future. No nonsense, no ads popping up, just straightforward find domains you want and checkout – and much better pricing.
    Samantha A.
  • For anyone in need of a place to buy domains, you absolutely need to check out Domain Marketa. No one makes it as easy as them. My company focuses on marketing and branding small businesses, and with the help of Domain Marketa, my assistant who didn’t know what a domain was 6 months ago is setting up SSL certificates and getting DNS info. Check them out!
    James R.
  • If you’re looking for a simple place to purchase a domain for your personal or business website than Domain Marketa is where you need to be. I run a small business so I’m tired of being sold to everyday. With them its none of that, you buy what you need, no pressure, no fuss.
    Ben D.
  • I knew I liked them when I didn’t see their site flooded with banner ads and data-stealing traps! Domain Marketa – A+ service.
    Anthony V.
  • After they straight up tried to rob me of hundreds of dollars in unknown charges, and literally sold off my domain from underneath me, I swore off working with a big domain company, I won’t say the name, but you know who I mean lol Domain Marketa’s customer service won me over, it feels like you’re calling a friend and not some huge company, gotta love the personal touch.
    Ashlyn S.
  • 2020 killed my sewing supply store. Our loyal following was mostly stricken with covid and we were forced to close for weeks at a time. We tried selling on Amazon but they killed our margins, just not the right place for us. We finally decided to setup a store of our own. Domain Marketa made registering a domain very simple and the agent on the phone made some great recommendations for setting up our online store, setting up ads, and connecting our social media. Thankfully we’ve always stayed in touch with our customers on Facebook. Things are picking back up again and I am exh5d for what the new year will bring!!
    Eleanor D.