[registrars] Regarding transition to market forces

[Tom C]

My question is, at what point do we stop allowing market forces to 
continue driving prices down? Let's be honest, consumers are not 
demanding  lower prices.  It is Registrars, and web hosts, who have made 
the decision to compete on price, rather than on service. With current 
prices at $1.99, $2.99, $5.99 and $6.49, I believe we are doing far more 
damage to our industry with lower pricing than with higher.

Market forces do not always lead to lower prices.  The auto industry, 
home prices, gas prices, real estate and coffee are just a few 
examples.  My grande double shot, extra hot, vanilla latte at Starbucks 
cost more this morning than a domain name at some Registrars, and it 
wasn't good for a year.

-Tom

John Berryhill wrote:

>>I am not aware of market forces leading to an increase.  I certainly
>>haven't seen that amongst registrars where market forces do apply.
>>    
>>
>
>...which, Bruce, is precisely what is stated in the Q&A 1.4: "Prices have
>dropped from US$50 per year for a .COM domain name to as low as under US$10
>since ICANN introduced registry and registrar competition in 1999"
>
>Uhmmm, gee, so in the competitive registrar market, prices dropped by a
>factor of five, but "market forces" dictate a 7% per year increase
>henceforth at the registry?  And this is despite the fact that .com is a
>"thin" registry.  So here our anonymous ICANNite is basically saying that
>the registrars maintain more data and provide more customer service than the
>registry on margins of less than four dollars.
>
>This is not a "Q&A", this is a case study in dissociative identity disorder.
>One shudders to imagine the childhood trauma responsible for this
>manifestation, but the author is in need of professional help before the
>apparent inner tension leads to physical problems.
>
>These are words intended to obfuscate, not illuminate.
>
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