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“That will be $8.42 sir.” the barista requested flatly.

“I thought it was 99 cents.” I responded, a bit puzzled. “Isn’t that what the sign says?”

“Yes sir, but you asked for a cup. That’s an extra dollar.” she said as she glanced over my shoulder at the growing lineup.

“So coffee is two dollars? You said it was $8.42?” I asked as I nudged the steaming cup back towards her.

“Sir, the coffee is 99 cents. The cup is another dollar, cream and sugar are optional extras. Plus, we had to pour it for you. And don’t forget the bathroom service and heating surcharges.” she explained.

“Bathroom? Heating surcharges? You’d like me to pay for heating the restaurant?” I grumbled.

“Don’t be silly sir, of course we heat the restaurant for free,” she said plainly. “But unless you’d like your coffee cold, we have to charge you for warming it.”

Leaving the coffee on the counter, I turned and headed for the door.

It is hard to imagine any business pricing their products and services like this coffee shop, but look no further than the domain name industry. Many domain registration providers seem to have deliberately gone out of their way to price their products and services in the most confusing manner possible. Customers may put a premium on simplicity and transparency in the post-Enron business world, but it seems that the domain name industry just hasn’t caught on.

For example, check out this offer from a leading registrar.

“Domain Names for just $1.99″

Sounds pretty awesome, right? So what’s the catch?

You need to buy  $20 worth of email service just to get the domain price.

And Whois privacy is another $9/year.

That $1.99 registration is going to cost you $31.15 for the first year!

The second year is even worse when the price of the domain name itself jumps to $10, coupled with all of the other surcharges brings the year two cost of the domain to $71.00!!  Not only is that an additional $39.85 over what the first year cost, its a full $69 more than what the offer promised in the first place!

$1.99 domain names indeed.

Registrars who price like this also love to play games with how much they charge for renewals. Almost everyday I get a call from a customer who wants to bring their business back to us. Typically, they’ve left us because of an amazing deal another registrar offered them on their domain renewals. Then, after the first year, the awesome price disappears and the customer ends up paying much more than what we were charging them in the first place. Some registrars call this a “loss leader”, but it sounds more like “bait and switch” to me.

I’ve certainly heard the justifications about how this isn’t a scam, its just savvy marketing. After all, these unbelievable low prices all carry asterisks pointing to fine print. My question to you is, do you want to do business with a company that forces you to read the fine print?

Hover is different from other registrars. We’ve been selling domain names since 1994 and take a long term view of our relationship with our customers. Our prices are transparent – what you see is what you get. There are no asterisks, fine print or weasel words. You will never pay more for your second year than you did for your first year as part of a scheme we cooked up to trick you into paying more. Pricing tricks like this might work once or twice, but it certainly isn’t a realistic basis for a long term relationship.

If you aren’t already doing business with Hover, be sure to check what your registrar is charging you for these services. Don’t get caught paying too much because of the fine print in a purchase contract you entered into five years ago. If you think you are paying too much, call your registrar and ask for a better price. If you don’t get it, think seriously about transferring your business to a provider that hasn’t made a business out of pulling the wool over your eyes.