Last week I received some direct mail from a company advertising domain name registration/renewal. While I applaud their efforts, I have to admit I'm a little confused by their methods, and their prices.
First of all, direct mail for internet-related business? Please. I'd be more likely to respond favourably if they weren't spending money & wasting paper, but were instead sending (free!) email. At least electronic spam, when interesting or relevant, gets a read. Paper spam? The recycling bin.
Secondly, their prices are right out of the 1990s. The dozen or so domain names I've registered/renewed in the last year -- including .ca, .com, .org, and .net -- have all been for under $12, including taxes. $42 for a .com? That's more than Network Solutions charged in their US$35/yr heyday, over a decade ago.
Thirdly, considering they're charging more than 3 times the normal cost, they didn't even include a postage-paid envelope.
Still, it was an amusing trip down memory lane. I'd hoped that sending them an email would provoke a response, but apparently they weren't impressed with my note. Maybe I should have put a stamp on their reply envelope and sent it the old-fashioned way...
Update, 2009/04/25: I just received another one of these letters from Domain Registry of Canada in the mail. Their prices have dropped - they're now charging "only" $40/yr or $70/2yrs. What a savings! What's a little off-putting, however, is that they're a Canadian company but they're only offering to renew my .com, .org, and .net domains - the .ca ones seem to have slipped from their radar. Still, it's nice to see they've become marginally more realistic w/ their prices, even if I have no intention of leaving my current $7/yr registrar.
