Namecheap

Namecheap, a domain name registrar known for its fun promotions, is currently offering a special Earth Day domain transfer promo. People interested in transferring domain names to Namecheap can use one of two special coupon codes to transfer .com, .net, .org (and others) domain names for $5.99, and in addition to saving money on the transfer, they will help raise funds for an environmental group of their choosing.

Customers can choose to help the Rainforest Alliance by using the coupon code “SAVETHEFOREST” or they can help the WWF by using the coupon code “DONATE2WWF.” For every domain name transferred to Namecheap, the company will donate $1.00 to one of the environmental groups of your choosing, depending on the coupon code you used.

There is a bit of fine print (like only 10 transfers per person), so check out the promo page for all the details. I am not sure when the special promotion ends.

It’s neat to see a domain registrar run a promotion like this. It allows customers to save money and choose an organization to help at the same time. So far, the promo has raised just over $600 for the organizations.

Thank you all for making a generous donation of over $44,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation possible! ow.ly/h4sZ8 #myddnc

— Namecheap.com (@Namecheap) January 23, 2013

A week and a half ago, Namecheap announced it would make its “Move Your Domain Day” an annual protest. It was piggybacking on the success it had in 2011 in response to Go Daddy’s stance on SOPA.

This year’s Move Your Domains Day, held on January 22nd, raised funds for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The company announced that there would be a sliding donation scale for every domain name transferred to Namecheap based on the following:

• For every domain transferred up until 10,000, Namecheap will donate $0.50 to EFF.
• The donation amount will be increased to $1.00 per domain if 10,001-19,999 domains are transferred.
• When the number of domains transferred in to Namecheap exceeds 20,000, we will increase the donation to EFF to $1.50 per domain.

By the close of business, Namecheap announced that 29,541 domain names had been transferred in to the company, and they made a donation in the amount of $44,311.50 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

It was a solid marketing effort that raised funds for a worthy cause.

A little over a year ago, Go Daddy’s position on SOPA brought quite a bit of negative publicity (deservedly)  onto the company, although it later changed its position and opposed SOPA. Go Daddy competitor NameCheap  spearheaded a domain transfer initiative known as “Move Your Domain Day,” and many people joined in and transferred domain names from Go Daddy.

I received a press release from NameCheap announcing that the company is turning its “Move Your Domain Day” into “an annual protest and a commemoration of sorts that will continue to shine a light on the issue of a free and open internet, an issue we at Namecheap strongly believe in.”

It’s a smart marketing move for the company to make since people tend to have short memories about this type of thing. Giving a financial incentive to transfer domain names is good marketing, and it will likely draw considerable attention in the coming days.

Go Daddy is by far the largest domain registrar, and some of its recent missteps (elephant hunting and SOPA to name two off the top of my head) have opened the door for smaller registrars to take some business.

Press Release:
Namecheap, a leading domain name registrar, announces its second annual Move Your Domain Day for January 22nd. In 2012, Namecheap launched the Move Your Domain Day initiative to remind its users about the dangers of a closed Internet as brought upon by the possible passing of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. While the threat of the SOPA act has passed, similar acts have been proposed that may continue to threaten the very liberties we have earned the right to enjoy.

“We want “MoveYourDomainDay” to become an annual protest and a commemoration of sorts that will continue to shine a light on the issue of a free and open internet, an issue we at Namecheap strongly believe in,” Richard Kirkendall, CEO of Namecheap, said. “Last year showed us what could happen when the entire internet mobilizes for a cause and we want to continue that spirit that inspired so many to make a stand. We donated over $60,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to continue fighting bills like SOPA. We invite and urge every registrar, hosting company, or online entity that shares these same beliefs to participate in their own way and every customer to vote with their choice in company they do business with. As long as it brings more attention and focus to this extremely important issue, everybody wins.”

In 2013, Namecheap continues to fight the fight against such legislation. On January 22nd, Namecheap will be running a transfer special for all com/net/org/info/biz domains to Namecheap. Domain transfers on this date will be $3.99. In addition, Namecheap will donate $0.50 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for every domain transferred to Namecheap. If more than 10,000 domains are transferred within this 24 hour period, $1 per domain will be donated to EFF. If more than 20,000 domains are transferred on that day, $1.50 per domain will be donated to EFF.

“EFF is pleased to join Namecheap in celebrating digital rights within the greater the Internet community. The funds donated from the moveyourdomainday effort will ensure EFF can continue to fight for free expression for Internet users worldwide,” said Shari Steele, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

About Namecheap

Namecheap is a Los Angeles-based ICANN accredited domain registrar founded in 2000 by CEO Richard Kirkendall. With over 800,000 clients and millions of domain names under management, Namecheap is one of the top domain registrars in the world and also offers web hosting services. Find out more by visiting us at http://www.namecheap.com.

It looks like the old saying, “you snooze, you lose” is true when it comes to the NameCheap Black Friday special domain transfer offer. As I mentioned earlier today, NameCheap was offering .com, .net, and .org domain transfers for less than $1.00 (plus ICANN’s fee).

According to the graphic on the special offer page, the limited time offer has sold out already.  The company gave warnings about how much time was remaining and how many deals were available, and it looks like customers were quick to transfer their domain names.  This was somewhat reminiscent of the plethora of  SOPA protest transfers a little under a year ago and the elephant protests of a little over a year ago.

Dot com transfers for under $1.00 is a pretty good deal, and NameCheap was recently voted the most popular domain registrar by LifeHacker readers.

It appears that NameCheap is planning to run other domain related deals later on today as well as on Cyber Monday, so if you missed out on this morning’s special offer, you might want to set a reminder. The company has scheduled a $.98 domain registration offer for 6pm Eastern this evening, and that is limited to 2,000 total usages (not sure if it’s 10 domains per usage or what the terms are). I don’t know what other offers they are planning, so you’ll have to check their website out for more details.

As you can see, this isn’t an affiliate link and NameCheap isn’t an advertiser. I happen to think it’s a good deal and have heard good things about the company.