Namecheap
 

So i was looking for a domain name to buy @namecheap today after i tried several different ones i finally found the one i wanted, i clicked "add to cart" i got error "failed to add" or something similar, then i refresh the page and that domain is now a "premium" domain and they want $500 for it, before it was $2.
Hmm..

Ran in to similar problems not long ago. "Premium" domains are such a fucking scam.

Shades of 1999

Lots of the registrars have their own marketplace, and many are resellers. Recently I was searching a domain, and it appears as a premium available for 1999. When tracing it back to the original listing platform is was 1500, before negotiations began.

The above post is correct, but it could also be that new TLDs (gTLDs) reserve and/or price up all remotely decent keywords.

Sometimes only the initial registration is higher, but often the renewals are too. So for example you can register a crap .xyz for 99 cents, but Shopify recently paid the $10k registration fee for shop.xyz and will be paying $10k every year in renewals.

Does escrow.com let you make payments on premium domains? :pimp

Can you just register it some place else like usual or is it owned by them or somehow special?

try other registrars

dont add real name just do a similar. im not skooling u on it

I've heard of this happening before.. As previously mentioned, go try plugging it in at another registrar like DynaDot or NameSilo and see if it shows as a premium...