You pay them, they pay a fee to the registrar of the top-level, who makes that all the “.COM” names are unique. Then they build an account on their DNS server, to which they have pointed the top-level, for your domain. Then they give you access to that account, so you can manipulate the DNS records.
All the while, they try to sell you other services, like web hosting and email, which they will integrate into your domain’s Internet presence, for a small additional fee.
The top-level registrar might not deal directly with you, but you’re free to find a cheaper source. I like NameCheap.
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