Domain Purchase Pricing - name.com Core API

Use this guide to answer: which endpoint(s) do I call to get the price I must send on Create Domain, Renew, or Transfer?

Recommended: Scope discovery to purchaseType: registration unless you explicitly need aftermarket, expiring, or backorder inventory. Registration is the simplest path — predictable pricing, immediate fulfillment, and standard Get Pricing flows. Other types are supported but add complexity (flat acquisition fees, term quirks, third-party delays). Pass purchaseType: registration on Search and Check Availability to filter them out; if checkout returns a different type, treat it as unsupported in your UI until you are ready to handle acquisition pricing.

Endpoint roles

Endpoint	Role	Pricing data	`purchaseType`?
Zone Check	Fast DNS signal for bulk browse UI	No — `available` only	No
Check Availability	Discovery at checkout	Yes — `purchasePrice`, `premium`, `purchaseType`	Yes
Search	Discovery for keyword/suggestion flows	Yes — `purchasePrice`, `premium`, `purchaseType`	Yes
Get Pricing	Registry reg/renew/transfer calculator	`purchasePrice`, `renewalPrice`, `transferPrice`	No
TLD Pricing	TLD-level list prices (non-premium)	TLD tables only	No

Check Availability and Search return the same result field set but serve different use cases. Search offers keyword-based suggestions while Check Availability is used for specific domain checks. Zone Check cannot price a purchase or determine purchaseType. It only indicates whether a name appears free in DNS. Use Check Availability or Search to gather information needed to complete a purchase.

Two pricing sources for Create Domain

Registry pricing (purchaseType: registration) — standard + registry premium
- Get Pricing returns authoritative totals for a given years
- Standard non-premium: omit purchasePrice on create
- Registry premium: required purchasePrice from Get Pricing with matching years
Acquisition pricing (aftermarket_s, aftermarket_b, aftermarket_i, expiring, backorder) — advanced; only if you support non-registration inventory
- Search or Check Availability returns the flat acquisition purchasePrice
- Always required on create; does not multiply by years

Create Domain: `purchasePrice` and `years`

Scenario	`purchaseType`	`premium`	`purchasePrice`	`years`
Standard registration	`registration`	`false`	Omit (optional quote from Get Pricing)	Set term
Registry premium	`registration`	`true`	Yes — from Get Pricing	Set term — same value on Get Pricing
Aftermarket	`aftermarket_s`, `aftermarket_b`, `aftermarket_i`	often `true`	Yes — from Search or Check Availability	Omit or TLD default — does not affect price or registration length
Expiring	`expiring`	varies	Yes — from Search or Check Availability	Omit or TLD default — does not affect price or registration length
Backorder	`backorder`	varies	Yes — from Search or Check Availability	Omit or TLD default — does not affect price or registration length

For purchaseType: registration, premium determines whether purchasePrice is required; years sets the registration term. When using Get Pricing to preview or validate, pass the same years. For any other purchaseType, purchasePrice is always required — regardless of premium. purchasePrice is the domain fee only; Whois Privacy is charged separately when privacyEnabled is true. If you send purchasePrice, it must match exactly to the cent or the request will fail.

Getting the price for Create Domain

Call Search or Check Availability (not Zone Check, not Get Pricing alone). Copy purchaseType, premium, and note purchasePrice.
Branch on purchaseType: registration + premium: false
- Optional: call Get Pricing with the same years to quote the total.
- On create: omit purchasePrice, set years (no prior Get Pricing call required).
registration + premium: true (registry premium)
- Call Get Pricing with same years → pass purchasePrice exactly to the cent on create.
aftermarket_s | aftermarket_b | aftermarket_i | expiring | backorder
- Use Search or Check Availability purchasePrice (flat acquisition fee).
- Re-check discovery immediately before create — price can change.
- Do not use Get Pricing for create price.
- years does not multiply price or guarantee multi-year registration.
Renew and Transfer use Get Pricing separately — see sections below.

Integrator workflow patterns

Pick the path that matches your UX. Every path should re-run Check Availability right before Create Domain as pricing and availability can change.

Pattern A: Registration only (recommended default)

Standard reseller checkout: fresh registrations and registry premiums only. Pass purchaseType: registration on discovery calls.

Discover: Search with purchaseType: registration — show suggestions, purchasePrice, renewalPrice; mark premiums.
Checkout: Check Availability with purchaseType: registration — confirm purchasable, premium, and purchasePrice.
Price: premium: false → omit purchasePrice, set years. premium: true → Get Pricing with same years → pass purchasePrice on create.
Purchase: Create Domain with purchaseType: registration.

Non-matching domains: Check Availability returns them with purchasable: false; Search omits them. If checkout still surfaces a non-registration purchaseType, treat it as unsupported in your UI.

Pattern B: Zone Check + Check Availability combination

For bulk browse UIs powered by Zone Check. No Search required — still registration-only.

Browse: Zone Check → available hint for UI only (no pricing or purchaseType).
Checkout → purchase: Follow steps 2–4 of Registration only above (purchaseType: registration on Check Availability).

Pattern C: All purchase types (advanced)

Only if you explicitly support aftermarket, expiring, or backorder. Omit the purchaseType: registration filter.

Discover: Search or Check Availability without a filter — acquisition types may appear alongside registration.
Checkout: Re-run Check Availability without a filter — confirm purchaseType, premium, and purchasePrice (see Getting the price for Create Domain; acquisition types use flat discovery fees, not Get Pricing).
Purchase: Create Domain with matching purchaseType and purchasePrice when required.

Renew Domain

Scenario	Price source	`purchasePrice` on renew
Standard renewal	Get Pricing (optional quote)	Omit
Premium renewal	Get Pricing `renewalPrice` with matching `years`	Yes — pass `renewalPrice` as `purchasePrice`

Do not use Search or Check Availability renewalPrice for premium renewals.

Transfers

Scenario	Price source	`purchasePrice` on transfer
Standard transfer	Get Pricing (optional quote)	Omit
Premium transfer	Get Pricing `transferPrice`	Yes — pass `transferPrice` as `purchasePrice`

Get Pricing transferPrice is not affected by the years query parameter. purchasePrice is the domain transfer fee only; Whois Privacy is charged separately when privacyEnabled is true. If you send purchasePrice, it must match Get Pricing transferPrice exactly to the cent or Create Transfer returns 400 and "Invalid Price". Premium transfers without purchasePrice return "PurchasePrice is required if the domain to transfer is a premium domain".

Registry premium vs acquisition

Skip this section if you scope discovery to purchaseType: registration only. Both can show premium: true in discovery results, but pricing works differently.

Registry premium

purchaseType: registration with premium: true. Call Get Pricing with matching years; pass purchasePrice on create.

{
  "domain": { "domainName": "premiumexample.com" },
  "purchaseType": "registration",
  "years": 2,
  "purchasePrice": 699.90
}

Aftermarket, expiring, and backorder

Flat acquisition fee from Search or Check Availability — years: 5 with purchasePrice: 5000 still charges $5,000. Omit years or pass the TLD default.

{
  "domain": { "domainName": "rarename.com" },
  "purchaseType": "aftermarket_s",
  "purchasePrice": 5000.00
}

Check domain.expireDate after create; renew to extend registration.

Standard registration (non-premium)

{
  "domain": { "domainName": "example.com" },
  "years": 2
}

Omit purchasePrice on create. Optionally call Get Pricing with matching years to quote the total.

What not to do

Do not use Zone Check for purchaseType, purchasePrice, or checkout pricing
Do not use Get Pricing alone to discover how a domain is acquired
Do not use Get Pricing purchasePrice for aftermarket, expiring, or backorder create
Do not multiply discovery purchasePrice × years for acquisition types
Do not use discovery renewalPrice for create or premium renew totals
Do not include VAT in purchasePrice or derive it from totalPaid

​Endpoint roles

​Two pricing sources for Create Domain

​Create Domain: purchasePrice and years

​Getting the price for Create Domain

​Integrator workflow patterns

​Pattern A: Registration only (recommended default)

​Pattern B: Zone Check + Check Availability combination

​Pattern C: All purchase types (advanced)

​Renew Domain

​Transfers

​Registry premium vs acquisition

​Registry premium

​Aftermarket, expiring, and backorder

​Standard registration (non-premium)

​What not to do

​Related endpoints