The True Cost of
Traditional Domain Ownership

It's classic bait-and-switch marketing called "loss leader pricing." GoDaddy loses money on that $0.99 first year to hook you, knowing they'll make it back (and more) through:

• • Renewals: $19.99/year starting year 2 (1,917% increase)
• • Upsells: Privacy protection, premium DNS, email, SSL, website builder
• • Switching costs: Once you've built on a domain, moving is painful
• • Forgetful customers: Auto-renewals at full price for years

Bottom line: They make 80% of their revenue from renewals, not initial sales.

Traditional registrars have massive overhead and extractive business models. Web3 domains eliminate these costs:

• • No ICANN fees: Traditional domains pay yearly fees to ICANN (the internet's governing body)
• • No registrar middlemen: You own the NFT directly - no GoDaddy taking a cut every year
• • No renewal infrastructure: Blockchain handles ownership automatically
• • No payment processing: One-time transaction vs recurring billing systems

Web3 domains cost what they actually cost - no artificial recurring fees.

Use your prepaid time wisely! Here's what to do:

• • Secure your Web3 domain NOW while good names are available (prices will rise)
• • Run both in parallel until your GoDaddy term expires
• • 301 redirect the old domain to your new Web3 domain (maintains SEO)
• • Don't renew when the 5 years are up - you'll already have your Web3 domain established

Think of it as a transition period. You'll still save money in the long run.

Zero renewal fees - that's guaranteed. But there are optional costs if you want extra services:

• • Hosting: If you use Freename's built-in hosting, there may be storage fees (optional - you can host anywhere)
• • Gas fees: If you transfer your domain to another wallet, you pay a small blockchain transaction fee ($2-10 depending on network congestion)

What's NEVER charged:

• • Annual renewal fees (your domain never expires)
• • Privacy protection (built-in by default)
• • Restore fees (impossible to lose domain)
• • Transfer fees between wallets (only gas)