Domains ending in .art dramatically increased in price

Want a .art domain? It’ll cost you. Depending on the simplicity of the domain name, the price will adjust accordingly. The domain spud.art will cost €1,466.44 ($1883.94)

OUCH!

The high price kind of makes sense. Price the domain according to the value of the name:

• potato.art €3,168.00
• spud-gun.art: €240.00
• myspud.art: €16.18
• giantspud.art: €16.18

In some ways I miss the openness of the internet where things are available to anyone. Putting the price this high really limits anyone like me from purchasing the domain. However, it does prohibit domain hoarders from coming in and grabbing a ton of domains, and then selling them for a high price.

But, isn’t the same thing basically happening? Instead of domain hoarders selling the domain name for a high price, now it’s just some other organization selling the domains for high prices. There’s no way in the world I would pay $1,800 for spud.art. Now if it was $12, then I’d be game.

The real kicker is that a couple months ago, the prices were MUCH MUCH lower. When the .art domains first became available, they were exclusively only for art organizations. The initial charge was $299 with $19/year thereafter.

Earlier this year I balked at the high charge of $299. I know, because I chatted with an .art support person earlier this year about it. Read the full transcript of the .art support conversation.

When they first made the domains available exclusively, it was $299 initial charge (with $19/year thereafter). Now, instead of $299, spud.art is a whopping $1,800!

Like with anything of high-end art, the price goes up, up, up, into sky-rocketed land. These .art domains are following the trends of the high-end art world. Perhaps that’s what the managers of .art domains wanted all along. Exclusivity.