Reposted, summing up the advantages and disadvantages brought up in comments, as the original was withdrawn and deleted. Even suggestions that are less feasible can benefit from discussion, and serve as an archive of the discussion for future reference.
Title
Single rename free of charge
Short, concise description of the idea
All user accounts receive a single rename token to use free of charge.
Full description of the idea
All user accounts receive a single rename token to use free of charge; all subsequent renames are charged the normal fee.
An ordered list of benefits
- Some users find renames expensive
- Some users rename often
- If the option to redirect upon renaming is not selected, the original name is again available to be renamed to itself
An ordered list of problems/issues involved
- Significant numbers of users have no desire to rename
- Loss of revenue
- Renaming uses considerable resources
- Confusion of other users when people catch the rename plague a lot more easily
- $15 is affordable for many budgets
- Original username would be made unavailable if redirect option is kept