Cheap domain registration?

[cm1975]

With LCN’s latest £1 domain finished, are there any other registrars with any cheap deals?

 

[Azam.net]

Not suitable for anybody seeking to bulk buy domains, which I imagine is the case with your good self, but in case anybody is unaware 1and1.co.uk is completely free for the first year for .co.uk domain names and includes free privacy too. It's a good way to test a domain name if you need to.

You can turn off the auto-renew to make sure they don't start charging you in year 2 (when it is £9.99 a year).

I've found the likes of 123Reg and Godaddy to become increasingly expensive. But having searched for "cheap UK domain names" I've come across some providers that are significantly less pricey.

 

[cm1975]

Pretty sure those registrars say the first year is free or a penny, but then reg for the 2 years and charge for the second year up front. ie. You pay £0.01 + £9.99 at the point of registration for 2 years.

 

[cm1975]

Over the last couple of years there have regularly been registrars offering low cost domains, which must either be backed by Nominet, or are lose leaders.

 

[RobM]

Unfortunately the only ones that really can afford to sell at a loss are the providers you shouldn't touch with a barge pole. 123reg, godaddy etc.

 

[Edwin]

Probably you don't want to go with 1and1 even if they're cheap...
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/1and1.html

Plenty of horror stories on here and elsewhere too, including rebilling for stuff that had been cancelled or retagged to a different registrar. Plus they seem to be extremely heavy handed with debt collectors, so a lot of people get scared and pay up when they're trying to fight billing errors. For instance http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1118578

 

[Sam]

Pretty sure those registrars say the first year is free or a penny, but then reg for the 2 years and charge for the second year up front. ie. You pay £0.01 + £9.99 at the point of registration for 2 years.

Yes we stayed well away from 1&1 since 2000 they charge you even if you dont have the domain with them worst company ever wasted time chasing refunds etc best stay as i hear they are still bad today...

 

[Azam.net]

We've tried a test registration of a free domain name with 1&1 and they haven't charged us for any additional years.

There's a one click option to stop the auto-renewal, when you have start paying in Year 2.

Haven't checked, but I am sure you can transfer the domain name out. Otherwise it would violate Nominet's rules.

I agree that they are not the very best registrar based on our past experience with their customer service, but the others are not that much better and one can't complain too much when they are offering a free domain name + free domain name privacy.