

"Goodbye GoDaddy" promotion - thibaut_barrere
https://dnsimple.com/goodbye-godaddy

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aeden
First thanks to everyone who has provided or will provide feedback, comments,
etc, even if they're negative towards DNSimple. I'm one of the two guys behind
DNSimple and I just want to take a moment to explain what you get and why I
think that DNSimple is worth considering for domain registration and
management.

First of all, the price of the domain varies from TLD to TLD. For a full price
list of the supported TLDs you can take a look here:
<https://dnsimple.com/tld-pricing> \- the price list includes prices for
registrations, renewals and transfers.

Second, our core business is really hosted DNS. You can use DNSimple without
registering a domain through us. Some of you may say that either a.) I can use
my current registrar's DNS service and it doesn't cost me anything extra
(which is true) and b.) I can host my own DNS (which is also true). If price
is your primary motivating factor then by all means go for the lowest cost
provider for registration and DNS services. If, on the other hand, you want
good, no-hassle service with a REST API and developers who actually give a
damn about you working to solve DNS and domain problems you have, then I would
hope you would consider DNSimple.

Finally, I just want to say that while I would love to be able to give out
free domains, that simply isn't a realistic way to do business. For domains
transferred out of GoDaddy right now I'm offering the domains at cost with the
understanding that I'll be making some profit from the hosted DNS services. I
won't apologize for wanting to stay in business and help people with their
DNS, which is really what I want do.

Thanks again for the feedback, and please keep it coming. Feel free to tell me
I suck or just walk away, it's all good. In the end I am confident that
DNSimple customers will be thrilled with what they get and will know that they
are getting something that is well worth the small amount they'll pay each
year.

~~~
mgw
I guess you're not a direct accredited registrar? Who are you reselling for?
(I'm sorry if this is mentioned on your website. I didn't have the time to
look for it.)

~~~
aeden
DNSimple uses Enom as it's accredited registrar.

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akamaka
I'm pretty confused about this. Are you guys trying to compete against
GoDaddy's domain name registration service, or something more like EasyDNS's
managed hosting?

If you're doing the latter, then perhaps you should focus on explaining what
the benefits are.

What does "Easy Billing" mean? Other DNS or web hosting services are really
easy to pay for. Is this even easier some how? Why are you even emphasizing
this?

And again, why is domain registration emphasized on the home page, if this
isn't your core business?

Take a look at the homepages of Slicehost, linode, prgmr.com, Amazon S3,
DNS.com. They all have different designs, but one thing in common -- they have
way more information density than your site, and I only need to scroll up and
down that one page to get a great idea of what it is that they do.

Edit: I read the other comments, and have a better idea of what you're doing.
It looks cool, and the developer API is a great idea. If you're targeting
developers, then you could definitely do with de-dumbing-down your site a bit.

~~~
aeden
Thanks for the feedback, you make some good points. I'll reconsider some of
the selling points that I am currently making and see if I can improve it for
my target audience.

Also, I like the term "de-dumbing-down". :-)

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dclaysmith
You'll definitely be getting 3$/mo from me. I've assumed there was such a
service but hadn't found it yet. I probably have domains registered in 5
different places and definitely need a single way to manage them.

2 bits of advice:

Put the "Get Started" button on the homepage. Probably help converstion alot
to have a call-to-action there.

Let people register without a credit card, give them their 30 days, and then
tell them the account will be shut down in 2 weeks if they don't activate it.
Moving/setting up DNS is not something people want to do often so if they like
your product they'll gladly activate it. Is there a reason why/how people
could abuse the service that is driving the credit card requirement?

~~~
aeden
I take it that you mean put the "Get Started" button from the home page on the
promotional page? Agreed and done.

On the second one, it's a good point. Originally we required a credit card
even before trying the service, which obviously turned some people off from it
immediately. We then moved the credit card requirement to the point where DNS
services are activated. I'd like to be able to move a step down, however there
is potential for abuse if we start serving DNS records with no payment (it
would require a small amount of work on the part of the abuser, but it can
definitely be done).

We also can't really allow people to register and transfer domains without
some sort of payment on file since there is a cost associated with those
actions that are essentially irreversible.

Thanks for the suggestions, we'll keep thinking about how to improve the sign
up and payment flow to encourage people to try and eventually register for
DNSimple.

~~~
dclaysmith
I don't see a "Get Started" button on <https://dnsimple.com/>. There is one on
<https://dnsimple.com/plans>. If the homepage read "Manage All Your DNS, From
Any Registrar, In One Place -- Get Started" you'd get alot of converstions off
of your homepage. Maybe I'm missing something.

I understand you can't transfer domains free of charge--but what is your per-
user incremental cost to set up DNS for a few domains? I guess your major
expense is bandwidth? You can probably do a little math and figure out if it
would be worth it.

I'd scratch the domain registration altogether unless it is a major source of
revenue. To me it's a distraction from the core service.

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jhancock
I just got a call this morning from a client asking about a charge from
"AETRION LLC." for $3 on their company credit card. I was about to tell them I
had no idea until I saw this post and remembered I started this DNSimple last
month as a test for them. Note to DNSimple: Don't make me guess about credit
card statements!

~~~
aeden
Sorry about that. I'll see if I can get the information on the charges changed
to include DNSIMPLE.COM. I hope it didn't cause you too much trouble.

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zdw
The point of this isn't the price - it's that GoDaddy frankly has a lot of
distasteful and often quite raunchy advertising, which turns people off to
them.

I haven't used dnsimple - any current users care to comment on their admin
interface and service quality?

Personally, I use joker.com. The fact that it's not located in the US adds an
additional legal impediment to others in case there's an issue with the any
domains I own.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
I'm not a user yet, although I will definitely use it for my next domain
transfer. I am interested for these reasons:

\- it has an API (<https://dnsimple.com/documentation/api>) while my current
registrar doesn't provide an API and I'm tired of manually configuring this (I
want to write reusable recipes) \- it apparently has templates for Google Apps
configuration (from the /plans page)

Icing on the cake: there's an iphone app to manage the DNS, too.

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superk
That's so funny. I just transferred 2 domains over to Godaddy from Tucows. The
transfer cost + 1 year hosting was $7.67 per domain. On your site you offer
the same deal for $10.50. Thanks - I'll pass!

~~~
aeden
No worries, if you're aiming for lowest price then DNSimple is not for you.

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singer
Domain registrations for $16 a year? Perhaps they should change their
promotion title to "Hello GoDaddy".

~~~
kilburn
No no, you're wrong. It's $10 with the promo, but with an additional $3/month
for the DNS service that's free in GoDaddy. A grand total of $46/year, hands
up!

~~~
Koldark
At least it is for 10 domains, but that doesn't make it worth moving to them.
Give me 10 domains for free and you may have a deal.

I am thinking about switching to Hover. TWiT has been pimping them lately. I
don't see that hidden expense that this place has.

~~~
aeden
While you will see any and all expenses before you are able to transfer (since
you have to select a hosted DNS plan _before_ you can transfer) I agree that I
should make it a bit more obvious. I've added a note to the promotional page
indicating that you will need to subscribe as well, with plans starting at $3
per month.

Regarding free domains, if I ever get to the point where I can sell domains as
a loss-leader then I'd consider it, but almost every domain has a base cost,
including ICANN fees and then markup from accredited registrars who offer
reselling, and giving away something for nothing just doesn't make much sense
to me unless there is a massive upside.

------
foobarbazetc
2 DNS servers does not a DNS service make.

~~~
aeden
We'll be adding more before this year is done. I think it's reasonable to
expect additional redundancy for hosted DNS. I've run many, many services just
fine on two name servers but I can appreciate the comfort of having more.

