Radix, one of the world’s largest portfolio registries, today reported a 71% renewal rate of its premium domains that have a recurring premium renewal fee. This renewal rate is based on revenue, implying that if premium domains worth $100,000 were registered, domains worth $71,000 have been renewed in 2017. Going by the number of domains, 912 of 1343 i.e. 68% of such domains have been renewed. The top 4 contributing TLDs are .online, .store, .space and .tech.

As the first quarter comes to a close, Radix has complete visibility into its renewals as all domains registered in 2017 are out of the auto-renewal phase. Out of the renewing set, the names which were already renewed at least once before, subsequently renewed at 79% (based on revenue). In 2017, Radix cumulatively generated over $1.1 million through premium renewals alone.

Radix follows the policy of selling a majority of its premium inventory at recurring annual payments through the registrar and reseller channel. This unique pricing model was designed specifically for startups and SMBs, and allows them to access category-killer names at lower upfront costs and risks.

Speaking about the healthy renewal rate, Sandeep Ramchandani, CEO, Radix, said, “Given that a majority of premium names in the industry are sold under the high-upfront, standard renewals model (CAPEX), taking the recurring fee model (OPEX) was perceived to be a risky path at the time. The renewal performance of 2017 has validated our decision. The model also provides the entire value chain, including registrars, resellers and brokers; the opportunity to delivery long-term value vs a one-time transactional sale.”

Some of the premium domains in use by startups and brands are www.wonder.store, www.connect.space, www.insight.tech (Intel) and www.advance.online.