How difficult is it to become a full fledged registrar?

[bandboy]

Lately, a friend of mine has exploring means to become a full fledged registrar. Finances isn't a problem for him and he is riding on this fact.

Is it that easy to become a full fledged registrar if you have finances in abundance?

 

[vishi]

reply

Hello,

Everywhere money is not the case. You need to follow certain rules for details http://www.icann.org/tlds/org/applications/neustar/04.html

 

[webfreak08]

Or, you can buy an existing registrar.

 

[Marks]

Or, you can buy an existing registrar.

I'm sure the CEO of RegisterFly would be happy if "finances isn't a problem"

Being an ICANN Acredited Registrar is alot of work and you have to pay roughly around $3000.00 upfront and if you don't meet the requirements you will be throwing that money into the ICANN Bank for good. LogicBoxes.com might be able give your friend a hand.

 

[Harry]

Well wouldn't you want to start your own registrar? You could always build your own up and then when everything is running fine, look into becoming acredited.

I've noticed though, not many people care these days if you are acredited or not. As long as the service and price are both great.

 

[Marks]

Well wouldn't you want to start your own registrar? You could always build your own up and then when everything is running fine, look into becoming acredited.

I've noticed though, not many people care these days if you are acredited or not. As long as the service and price are both great.

Well if you mean becoming a reseller that’s fine, but if you have 500 Domain Names as a reseller and then want to become accredited and be your own registrar you will be paying some heavy transferring fees.

 

[.amaZe]

It calls for a lot of investment, I was reading through sites like enom and it calls for a good amount of money for the down payment

 

[Harry]

Well if you mean becoming a reseller that’s fine, but if you have 500 Domain Names as a reseller and then want to become accredited and be your own registrar you will be paying some heavy transferring fees.

Yeah, no offence to accreditors, but I don't think you need an accredited domain registrar to buy domains from that certain place. I've bought domains from other non-accredited places and the service has been fine.

Basically, don't worry about being accredited.. I mean if things get big and you think you should, sure go for it. For me personally, I'd save the extened fees and just run the business. If you have a good rep/service/prices, then the members will come to you.

 

[Marks]

Yeah, no offence to accreditors, but I don't think you need an accredited domain registrar to buy domains from that certain place. I've bought domains from other non-accredited places and the service has been fine.

If the place you bought them is not a reseller and is non-accredited surely that is against registry regulations. Which ever registry you want to become a registrar too the first requirement is be ICANN Accredited.

 

[Harry]

If the place you bought them is not a reseller and is non-accredited surely that is against registry regulations. Which ever registry you want to become a registrar too the first requirement is be ICANN Accredited.

Obviously your going to be getting a "reseller" account from somewhere... My point was you don't need to be accredited to sell domains. Just get yourself a reseller account and try the market and test to see if it's something you like. Everyone will have different ways in promoting etc.. As far as I know, there are TONS of registrars, people who open reseller accounts and buy/sell. These days reseller accounts can be gotten at a cheap price. I believe the reseller on top of me has a $6.25 fee, per a domain.

 

[Marks]

Obviously your going to be getting a "reseller" account from somewhere... My point was you don't need to be accredited to sell domains. Just get yourself a reseller account and try the market and test to see if it's something you like. Everyone will have different ways in promoting etc.. As far as I know, there are TONS of registrars, people who open reseller accounts and buy/sell. These days reseller accounts can be gotten at a cheap price. I believe the reseller on top of me has a $6.25 fee, per a domain.

Right your post is more clear I'm aware of Reselling Accounts we used Directi for a while or which ever name they have come up this week.

However some people don't like to resell for obvious reasons.

I believe the reseller on top of me has a $6.25 fee, per a domain.

That should increase when .com's are increased later this year.

 

[KiranHost]

The process of becoming an ICANN-accredited registrar includes several steps. The following summary of these steps is intended to guide you through this process and enable you to make informed business decisions along the way. For a short list of the documents you must submit and/or review as part of this process, please visit Documents You Must Submit or Review.

1. Apply for Registrar Accreditation.You must complete an ICANN Registrar Accreditation Application and send it to ICANN along with a non-refundable US $2,500 application fee. Please review theInstructions for Completing the Application, the current Registrar Accreditation Agreement, and applicable Consensus Policies before you apply.

To assist us in processing your application as quickly as possible, please submit very specific, thorough answers and all necessary supporting documents. The main reasons for delay in application processing include missing supporting documents and incomplete or vague answers to application questions.

Questions you may have concerning your application should be addressed to accredit@icann.org or to you can call the ICANN Registrar Application Helpline at +1-310-823-9358, extension 5814.

2. Receive Notification That You Qualify for Registrar Accreditation. After completing its review of your application and conducting any necessary follow-up inquiries and research, ICANN will inform you by e-mail of its decision to accredit your business or not.

3. Sign an Accreditation Agreement with ICANN and Pay Accreditation Fee. The last step in the ICANN Registrar Accreditation process is for you to execute a Registrar Accreditation Agreement with ICANN. The current version of the agreement was posted 17 May 2001. This is a standard document that all registrars sign with ICANN.

ICANN will generate and send your Agreement, along with an invoice for the annual fixed portion of the accreditation fee. (See Financial Considerations for details on registrar fees.)

Once you return the signed agreement and pay your accreditation fee, ICANN will notify the applicable registries of your accreditation and add you to the list of registrars at <http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html>. The registry operators will then contact you to sign agreements and work out financial and technical details.

4. Complete Preparation of Your Agreement with Customers (including all Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Policy requirements). The ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement provides some guidance on these requirements. ICANN adopted a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy which all accredited registrars are required to follow. You may also wish to implement a Privacy Policy to comply with the requirements of your accreditation agreement.

5. Inaugurate Your Service. After the above steps have been completed, you should be in a position to begin offering services to the public as soon as you pass testing and become operational with the respective registries for which you have been accredited.

Here you go.

 

[Brooke-TP]

Accreditation is just one step in the process. Note item 5:

5. Inaugurate Your Service. After the above steps have been completed, you should be in a position to begin offering services to the public as soon as you pass testing and become operational with the respective registries for which you have been accredited.

Each and every registry requires that you sign a contract for each and every TLD you plan to offer to the public. These contracts are literally hundreds of pages long each and inevitably you'll find yourself sending pages of the contracts back and forth between yourself and the registry several times before the process is completed.

Additionally the most important step in becoming a registrar is developing the back-end you will use to manage your domains. Your back-end will allow you to "pass testing" with ICANN and the various registries. This is the part of the process that takes the longest, but several registrars offer their platform plus an API to help you get to that stage more quickly. It's still a lot of work, but it will take the process down from a year or two to six to nine months.

In any case, I'd follow the advice that others have posted here and start with a reseller account first. It will allow your friend to get his feet wet in this business without a huge investment.

 

[Dev4vip]

Lately, a friend of mine has exploring means to become a full fledged registrar. Finances isn't a problem for him and he is riding on this fact.

Is it that easy to become a full fledged registrar if you have finances in abundance?

Money isn't everything, you should know abt the field inside out, in other words you should be very knowledgeable abt the domain industry, trends, competition etc etc

 

[CrystalVPS]

but even if you do manage to get through all the process of becoming a registrar then don't you have N+1 APIs to integrate as well as having to set up a whois server and maintaining all this information, regulating the use of the domains, handling abuse? I'd of thought it's more effort than getting an enom account