Why Domain Compare and the DNC report different median prices for NZ domains

How much does the median retailer charge for .nz domains? One answer is "about $40, give or take". Another answer is that it depends what you mean by "retailer", and a few other things.

The Domain Name Commission's monthly market data includes a median retail price, and we've reported that same figure above our price comparison table. Today, that price is $38.50. But if you take all the prices in the comparison table and do the maths, you'll come up with a different, higher median of $41.96.

This is down to the different approaches that we take to collecting domain prices.

The DNC: Registrars only, taxes and specials included #

Under its charts the DNC has small print that says, "prices reflect the median price buy in NZD (incl tax) including any promotions. Sample based on NZ accredited registrars."

Most domain retailers are resellers, not registrars. By only collecting data from registrars, the DNC overlooks the majority of companies or websites where .nz domains are sold.

Another difference is tax. The DNC includes tax (GST) in its price data, while we don't. Excluding GST, their median price drops from $38.50 to $33.48.

If you think that $33.48 seems low, you're right. Since the DNC accepts promotional prices, that's always going to skew the data downward.

We think it's fairer to report ongoing prices, a.k.a. renewal prices, rather than one-off specials. The vast majority of domains are held for many years, long after introductory prices or first-year discounts have expired.

And since a lot of domains are bought by businesses, who don't pay GST, we leave that out of our data as well.

Then there are resellers. When we decide who to include on our comparison table, the main goal is to list retailers that you're likely to consider when you're shopping for domains. We look broadly across the domain market, including resellers and overseas providers. It's understandable why the DNC only includes registrars - it's a small and well-defined group, so it's possible to collect every price - but we'd rather reflect the messier reality of the world that you shop in.

Image by Deng Xiang on Unsplash