TLD-list.com: Search by TLD (.com or 200 others) for the registrar with the best price.

Each registrar can charge what they want for each TLD which is why TLD-List.com compares the price of each TLD by registrar. A few like .SCIENCE and .REVIEW can be as low as $1 per name, while the cool domains like .TECH and .SPACE are $5. .DESIGN and .GREEN are $20 - $50. There's a few expensive ones like .GOLD and .BANK going for $200+.

TLD-List.com also shows which TLDs are only sold at some registrars.

Registrars:

Namecheap and Alpnames have low promotional prices of $1 or $2 USD for 1 year registration of certain New-TLDs. Renewal is usually $8, but can be much more at any registrar. All prices are in US dollars unless specified otherwise.

There are about 100 TLDs going for $1, usually at Alpnames/Namecheap.

To compare all TLD prices on a registrar site, use the Bulk Search tool and search your name availability with all TLDs. This lets you compare those that are available, and in your price range.

With cheap promotional prices and high renewal fees, it can be cost-effective to buy a new domain name every year and let the old one expire.

A new type of CMS software can allow you to move your website and its contents to a new domain name every year easily.

SEO: A generic, descriptive name shows in search engines more often, for example the domain green.design uses common vocabulary making it easier for Google to find.

Country Code TLDs:

Any and all 2 character TLDs are CC TLDs. CC TLDs are the TLD for a designated country, they are the registrar for that name and they own it. They can let other registrars sell them, though, and thus we end up with names like Blog.to, which people know as Blog T.O. (Toronto). .TO is the CC TLD for the island kingdom of Tonga.

If your name is taken: You have a few choices:

Look for another one that is available, like a similar name or different TLD.

Check Whois for the contact info for who owns the domain you want, and buy it from them.

Wait until it expires and buy it before anyone else does.

Buying:

You will have to make an account on the registrar's site and sometimes ID such as a passport is required before buying. Registrar's all have different rules before purchasing. 1and1.com was extremely formal in all interactions and once tried to verify an old phone number and ended up threatening not to complete an order for domains. After several emails explaining that, they gave access to the domains, though never did accept payment and the names were left on for several months. Even in the stickiest situation if you keep calling and talking to a higher up you'll get through- just like any other business. For most of them like Porkbun if you call and talk to them you'll find out they are a bunch of guys sitting around in a basement surfing Facebook. This isn't something you have to particularly educated for.

Reselling:

When selling anything it's important to remember it's worth as much as someone will pay for it.

The value isn't completely arbitrary; it is influenced by demand. There's always demand for short domain names of the major TLDs .COM .NET .ORG because they have the shortest supply of available 3 character or less names.

The shortest possible domain is worth more based on the demand for the TLD. If you are looking to sell a 3 letter domain from the well-known .ORG, it will be worth more than a 3 letter domain from lesser-known .TRADE.

The shortest domain names are bought first, for example a.org - z.org. Then the two character names are bought: aa - zz.

In 2016, a 3 character .ORG name could be sold for $1,000 USD based on the sole fact that it was a .ORG domain with 3 characters.

The popularity of the words used in the name also determine its worth. Popular words are ones that are commonly searched for in Google, or used on the net often. Because Google supports the most popular searches first, a search for "lawyer" defaults to .COM .NET and .ORG names first making lawyer.com the first hit.

The amount of ad revenue, clicks or views per month also contributes to the amount a buyer will pay for a domain name. For example, Lawyer.com makes a ton of money off the ads from people who search Google for "lawyer" and visit lawyer.com. If lawyer.com makes $10,000 a month in ad revenue, the owner would want to sell for at least $10,000, or a year's worth of ad revenue, $120,000.

If more than one person is interested in buying a name from the owner then they may bid on it.