wholesale price: definition

A domain name is priced twice. The registry that runs the extension charges the registrar a wholesale price, and the registrar then sets the price its customers pay. This explainer shows how the first price works, what limits it and why the final price varies.

What the wholesale price is

The wholesale price is what a registry charges an accredited registrar for each domain year A unit of sales: one domain registered or renewed for one year. Full definition of domain year: one name registered, renewed or transferred for one year. A five-year renewal costs five times the yearly fee. Some operations are priced separately: as of October 2026, restoring a deleted .com name costs the registrar US$40.00.

In gTLD generic top-level domain A top-level domain not tied to a country, run under ICANN contracts. Full definition of gTLD, the registry must use one uniform contract with all registrars, the RRA Registry-Registrar Agreement The contract between a registry and a registrar that sells its domains. Full definition of RRA. The .com and .net contracts also require the same price for every registrar, and allow volume discounts and incentive programs only if every registrar can qualify.

ccTLD country code top-level domain A top-level domain for a country or territory, usually two letters long. Full definition of ccTLD follow national rules, not ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The nonprofit that coordinates the global DNS and gTLD policy. Full definition of ICANN contracts. For .es, as of October 2026, Red.es The Spanish public body that manages the .es domain through its unit Dominios.es. Full definition of Red.es charges EUR 4.09 a year, plus value added tax (VAT), for each name requested through an accredited registrar, and may apply temporary discounts. Registering directly with Dominios.es costs more than this fee.

From registry to registrar to customer: how the price is built

The customer’s price is built in layers: the registry’s wholesale fee, ICANN’s fees for gTLD names, the registrar’s costs and margin, a reseller A business that sells domains using another registrar's accreditation. Full definition of reseller’s margin if there is one, and taxes.

ICANN’s fees depend on the contract. As of October 2026, the .com registry pays ICANN US$0.25 per domain year, outside the .com price, while the .net price includes ICANN’s US$0.75 as a separate part. Registries under the Registry Agreement The contract between ICANN and a gTLD registry operator. Full definition of Registry Agreement pay US$0.2575 per transaction once a TLD top-level domain The last part of a domain name, after the final dot. Full definition of TLD passes 50,000 transactions (amount as of 1 January 2025). Registrars also paid ICANN US$0.20 per domain year in ICANN’s fiscal year 2026, and its budget for fiscal year 2027 keeps US$0.20, subject to registrar approval (as of October 2026).

Caps and notice periods

Only a few older contracts cap the wholesale price. As of October 2026:

.com: the cap starts at US$10.26. Verisign The company that operates the .com and .net registries. Full definition of Verisign may raise it by up to 7 % a year, only in the last four years of each six-year period counted from 26 October 2018, with six months’ notice. The price has been US$10.26 since 1 September 2024; a rise to US$10.97 is scheduled for 1 November 2026.
.net: the registry’s service fee may rise by up to 10 % a year, with six months’ notice. The schedule effective 1 February 2024 set US$10.91 plus ICANN’s US$0.75 (US$11.66); the schedule effective 1 March 2027 sets US$12.00 plus US$0.75 (US$12.75).
.org: its cap was removed when the contract was renewed in 2019.

The base Registry Agreement (also in its 2026 version) sets no cap, only notice: at least 30 days before a higher price for new registrations Domains newly created in a period, also called adds or creates. Full definition of new registrations and, with some exceptions, 180 days before a higher renewal price The yearly price to keep a domain, often higher than the first-year price. Full definition of renewal price. Before a renewal increase, registrars may renew names for one to ten years at the current price. The .org contract has the same rules.

A worked example

A registrar renewing example.com for one year from 1 November 2026 pays Verisign US$10.97 and ICANN US$0.20, about US$11.17 before its own costs if that fee stays. Five years count as five domain years: about US$55.85.

Registrar margins and at-cost pricing

ICANN tells registrant The person or organization that holds a domain name registration. Full definition of registrant that each registrar sets its own prices. The registrar’s margin is the retail price minus what it pays the registry and ICANN.

at-cost pricing Selling domains at the registrar's own cost, with no markup. Full definition of at-cost pricing means a retail price equal to the registry fee plus ICANN’s fee, with no markup. Such a registrar earns its income elsewhere, and its customers see every registry increase in full: for .com, the change scheduled for 1 November 2026 adds US$0.71 per domain year.

Many registrars offer new customers a cheaper first year, so a renewal can cost more than the initial registration. That is a retail decision, separate from the wholesale price.

Premium tiers and promotions

Registries may place names in price tiers, each with its own fee. Registrars can query a name’s tier and fee through EPP Extensible Provisioning Protocol The protocol registrars use to manage domain names at registries. Full definition of EPP before selling it, using an extension defined in RFC Request for Comments A numbered document in the series recording the internet's technical standards and practices. Full definition of RFC 8748; names at the default fee are “standard”.

Under the base Registry Agreement, all renewals must have one uniform price. A higher renewal price is allowed only if the registrant expressly agreed to it at registration, after clear disclosure. This is how premium names can renew above the standard price, so the registrar must disclose that renewal price clearly at registration.

registry incentive program A registry rebate or discount given to registrars for sales or promotion. Full definition of registry incentive program lower what registrars pay, through rebates, discounts or marketing support. A renewal discount that does not apply to all renewals must be a Qualified Marketing Program: at most 180 days, open to all registrars on the same terms. Ending a discount counts as a price increase and needs notice, unless a discount on new registrations was clearly disclosed as temporary.

Why the same domain costs differently at each registrar

Within a gTLD or .es, every registrar pays the registry from the same price list. Differences come from each registrar’s margin, first-year promotions, services sold with the name, reseller margins and taxes. ICANN does not set retail prices.

wholesale price