Q. Are there advantages to having my own domain v.s. Member pages are a nice thing for displaying your family's photos, your hobby club's schedule, etc., but are poor bets for doing any serious e-commerce. Domains also provide you with the opportunity to run scripts like shopping carts, visitor databases, and the like. Equate a domain to the difference between being a little corner store tucked away in a huge 300-store mall, and having your own location on main street. We can search the database and inform you of avalability.
Many companies charge extra for registration.
That will at least prevent another business for registering your name until you're ready to go online. There are literally tens of thousands of hosting services available. It is our experience that the use of a reputable local provider has many benefits that reach far beyond the nominal monthly fee. We work with several local providers, have a list of preferred vendors, and are happy to refer your domain to them for hosting. We don't charge for this service.