Prices are marketed at <<$10 prices for first year registration. Renewals are then much expensive. The price that I am going to pay each year is really unpredictable and subject to business / commercial interests.
Your post makes buying domains sound like a gamble, is that a regional thing or was I just lucky in the past?
Internet industry freaks out over proposed unlimited price hikes on .org domain names https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/26/dot_org_price_incre...