I need to register a domain name or two ( .com and .ca ) ..... where is cheapest/best?

pantlessbbq.com ??

Just domain names, or hosting too?

Domain names through me:
.CA $16.46 CAD
.COM $13.16 CAD

* Plus ICANN fee of C$0.19 per domain name year. Certain TLD's only.

Aren't there people offering the same for $3.00 ?

Probably. There are also places offering free domain names.

And there are catches to those offering free or extra cheap domain names.

Speaking of which...why are yours so cheap MrMyles?

Are you selling domain names? or leasing them?

And do you offer hosting?

Free domains always have a catch.
Catch is usually, the company you get them from, OWNS them. Fine if you don't care about the domain name, but if it is something you want, pay for it and own it yourself.

My business is web design and after years of setting up clients with other hosting companies, I decided to offer hosting as well, so my web design clients can always come to me for everything. Hosting/domains is something I only recently started offering to everyone, not just my design clients.

I sell domain names and hosting. You buy it, you own it. Keep renewing them and they are yours forever.

They are relatively cheap, because I don't do it to make a big profit. Same with hosting. I am not the cheapest, but I sell it for only slightly more than I get it for. End of the year, I will probably make $60 profit.

How much would you charge to host a small web site (let's say 5 pages/10MB)?

cherenkov wrote:How much would you charge to host a small web site (let's say 5 pages/10MB)?

he'd probably want more detail...

Like...need a domain name?
what kind of site?
do you do the design/upgrades? or does he?

I have 4 sites I manage/design myself...there's a difference between "hosting" and "maintaining" that many people don't understand...and a significant cost difference.

cherenkov wrote:How much would you charge to host a small web site (let's say 5 pages/10MB)?

If just for hosting:
Basic Linux Hosting - $5.60/month CAD (5.08/month if paid yearly)

Domain names are same as above.

However, if you buy hosting, and register a NEW domain name at the same time, then domain names are $4.38 for the first year.

Do you live in Winnipeg?

Mantha wrote:Do you live in Winnipeg?

Sure do.
Born and raised in the North End.
Currently living on it's border.

MrMyles wrote:

Mantha wrote:Do you live in Winnipeg?

Sure do.
Born and raised in the North End.
Currently living on it's border.

Sounds good. I sent someone looking to register a domain your way, and will switch to you for my own domains when they are up for renewal in spring!

Great!
Thanks

Myles

@MrMyles: Where are the servers physically located? How many levels of redundancy do you offer? Any throughput / download limitations?

What kind of toolset do you have for stats reporting / email management / site maintenance? Do you support SSH? FTP?

I might transfer over a couple of sites. What are the costs involved in transferring a domain?

FlyingRat wrote:@MrMyles: Where are the servers physically located? How many levels of redundancy do you offer? Any throughput / download limitations?

What kind of toolset do you have for stats reporting / email management / site maintenance? Do you support SSH? FTP?

I might transfer over a couple of sites. What are the costs involved in transferring a domain?

Good Questions. Let's if I can answer them.

Where are the servers physically located?
Phoenix

How many levels of redundancy do you offer?
Fully redundant N+1 power/AC with UPS and diesel generator backup. Can be self supported for 7 days without power.

Any throughput / download limitations?
Multiple hosting options on shared, semi-dedicated or dedicated servers. Lots of options for each. Depends on what you need.

What kind of toolset do you have for stats reporting?
All hosting accounts come with basic site stats through hosting control panel. Gives general details. You can purchase an upgrade for more in depth stats, but personally I always use Google Analytics. Free an in depth.

email management?
Web Mail (3 different flavours)
PDA WebMail
SMPT, POP3, IMAP
Catchall (not that you want one)
Spam and AntiVirus protection

site maintenance?
Online File Manager to edit files online. FTP access to upload/download files to your account. There are also numerous CMS applications you can install with a few clicks. Depends on what maintenance you need to do.

Do you support SSH? FTP?
Yup, Yup.

What are the costs involved in transferring a domain?
If you do everything yourself, it costs the price of the domain and hosting account you choose.

If you want me to set up/transfer everything, it will depend. For a basic site, I usually do not charge anything for the transfer. If you have large or complex sites, I would need to see them and determine what is needed to do the transfer.

Hope that helps.

Thanks

Myles

Catchall can be handy sometimes. Normally not really required but I've seen situations where it can be useful.
The menu on the left side of your site looks the same as GoDaddy's. Are you a wild west reseller?

Reseller = Yes. Though I am cheaper.

Catch alls "can" be useful. I usually only use them if the company has a high turnover rate and they add/remove accounts often.

True about catchalls. You can also use them to give the perception of size and legitimacy to website or company. Everything going to a single email address doesn't look as good as having info@, sales@, support@, etc. All the catchall really does in that case is make it so you only need to check one address if there is only one or two people actually managing a lot of different addresses. Not technically required but okay if you're lazy. I thought a catchall also directly an mis-spellings to your catchall address as long as the domain was correct.

I looked into becoming a reseller but got too busy with other things to go ahead with it. Looked like there were some pretty good packages.

Catch all's do just that. Catch ALL.
Meaning any possible combination@yourdomain, goes to you.
They are notorious for getting spammed, as you have no control over what gets accepted.

Personally, I found setting up, 4 or 5 email addresses and sending the rest to a black hole was better than a catch all.

Little more work setting up multiple accounts on your computer, but worth it in my opinion.

Yeah, easier to keep organized if you have them through separate addresses as well.

Do you deal in .cn names? I was looking up a bunch through godaddy and they were listed a ton of ones as available that were actually taken. It actually let me to through and place the order, receive confirmation, then get an email later that said my money was refunded.
Have you had any similar issues?

You can, but I have never had anyone do it.
I do not promote the site much, and every client I have, I know personally.

However, I know a guy in New Zealand who just mentioned it today, he bought a .cn name from GD and had the same issue.

Bug maybe.

Yeah, must have been something wrong with their search. I started checking sites with Register.com to confirm that they were available. I thought it was too good to be true.

Could it be the communist government of China did not approve of your intended use of a .cn domain?