I was asked at lunch today to guess at how much money I spend on domain names a month. I wasn’t sure. I spent some time just now doing some rough calculations, and here’s what I found:
Domain list
| domain | used? | tld | renewal cost | renewal date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| abillionthings.com | y | com | 8.59 | 4/28/2010 |
| babylonconqueror.com | com | 8.59 | 4/21/2010 | |
| birddog.me | me | 9.99 | 9/7/2010 | |
| coveryoursha.me | y | me | 9.99 | 10/2/2009 |
| derail.me | me | 9.99 | 1/11/2010 | |
| dolphinheatingandac.com | y | com | 8.59 | 5/22/2009 |
| farbeitfrom.me | me | 9.99 | 7/26/2010 | |
| funwithomegle.com | com | 8.59 | 4/2/2010 | |
| homelesscoloringbook.com | com | 8.59 | 7/18/2009 | |
| hospiceanswers.info | y | info | 0.99 | 9/18/2009 |
| isjrintown.com | y | com | 8.59 | 5/24/2009 |
| ito.me | me | 9.99 | 7/17/2010 | |
| itsjustyouand.me | y | me | 9.99 | 7/26/2010 |
| jamiefinnegansucks.com | y | com | 9.99 | 4/24/2010 |
| jamiekinzeysucks.com | y | com | 9.99 | 8/19/2009 |
| jennerwin.com | y | com | 9.99 | 2/25/2010 |
| jrsfiles.com | y | com | 8.59 | 7/11/2009 |
| jrsmith.at | y | at | 59.99 | 5/8/2010 |
| jrsmith.be | y | be | 17.49 | 2/20/2010 |
| jrsmith.info | y | info | 8.59 | 4/15/2010 |
| jrsmith.me | y | me | 9.99 | 9/2/2010 |
| jrsmith.mp | y | mp | 0 | |
| jrsmith.net | y | net | 8.59 | 3/11/2011 |
| jrsmith.st | y | st | 47 | 5/12/2010 |
| lolpredators.com | y | com | 9.99 | 11/16/2009 |
| mattburchfield.com | y | com | 8.59 | 3/29/2010 |
| misconstrue.me | me | 9.99 | 1/11/2020 | |
| mnml.st | st | 47 | 3/9/2010 | |
| optimisticgangbang.com | y | com | 8.59 | 1/26/2010 |
| overheardinhamptonroads.com | y | com | 8.59 | 4/16/2010 |
| refocus.me | y | me | 9.99 | 7/25/2010 |
| reorient.me | me | 9.99 | 7/25/2010 | |
| sendthingsto.us | y | us | 8.99 | 4/8/2010 |
| smithis.me | me | 9.99 | 7/17/2010 | |
| smith-is.me | me | 9.99 | 7/17/2010 | |
| sopi.mp | y | mp | 0 | |
| summate.me | me | 9.99 | 4/2/2010 | |
| truncate.me | me | 9.99 | 1/11/2010 | |
| unlink.me | me | 9.99 | 7/25/2010 | |
| unmuzzle.me | me | 9.99 | 7/25/2010 | |
| whenwillcjgetdivorced.com | com | 8.59 | 5/6/2010 | |
| year-plan.info | info | 0.99 | 3/17/2011 | |
| total used | 24 | cost | 493.92 |
This shows that if all of my domains were to come up for renewal right now, I’d be on the hook for almost $500. It also shows that I only use slightly more than half of them, which surprised me.
Digging further, I divided up the costs per month:
Renewal costs by month
| month | count | cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 38.56 |
| 2 | 2 | 27.48 |
| 3 | 4 | 65.17 |
| 4 | 8 | 71.92 |
| 5 | 5 | 132.76 |
| 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | 107.09 |
| 8 | 1 | 9.99 |
| 9 | 3 | 20.97 |
| 10 | 1 | 9.99 |
| 11 | 4 | 9.99 |
| 12 | 0 | 0 |
This shows some interesting things.
- I buy way more domains in the beginning of the year and the summer months.
- May and July are going to kill my bank account.
- I don’t buy any domains during the middle and end months of the year.
- I have too many of these things, since I only use roughly half of them.
Of course, that last point will hopefully change in the near future, since I’m trying to spend more time on personal projects.
And the answer to the original question is: roughly $30, accounting for sales and things of that nature. This list produces an average of $41.16, but that’s inflated because of my recent purchases of so-called “premium” TLDs. If you take into account the fact that most domains are around $10 normally, and they’re often on sale at Godaddy, you have to conclude that the average amount spent is less than what is being reported here. I spend more than $30 on dinner most of the time, so maybe it’s not as bad as I make it out to be.