View Full Version : Domain name lapsed and now in a state of redemption
Hi all,
one of my domain names renewal lapsed. I contacted my host to renew the domain and this was their responce
"The domain name expired more than 30 days ago, so has been deleted from the .com registry and is now in a state of redemption.
We can recover the domain name from the .com registry for you, however we are charged a fee (that will be passed on) in order to recover the name. The cost is $220AUD (inclusive of GST) to recover/renew the domain for 1 year."
Has anyone ever heard of this or had this happen. I find it a little hard to swallow, when the actual price for a new domain name registration is only $19.95. I have no qualms about my host and don't really care if I lose the domain name as its just a very small side project, but just wanted clarification.
R. Treska
06-22-2009, 11:45 AM
Yes this is quite common from most (if not all) domain registrar's. This domain "redemption period", as they call it, is a state in which any domain name enters (usually 30 days) if it has not been renewed or if it has been deleted. During this period of time, the owner of the domain is allowed to retrieve the domain name and in most cases this costs an additional fee. This has happened to me before.
After the 30 day redemption period, the domain will eneter another 5 day phase called a pending delete period in which the domain becomes isolated and no one is allowed to renew it or register it.
After this is complete, the domain is then transfered back into the pool of domains available for registration. If you would like to avoid paying these fees, just track the domain daily, and as soon as it becomes available just re-register it.
williamc
06-22-2009, 11:47 AM
That cost is indeed normal for most registrars.
Yes this is quite common from most (if not all) domain registrar's. This domain "redemption period", as they call it, is a state in which any domain name enters (usually 30 days) if it has not been renewed or if it has been deleted. During this period of time, the owner of the domain is allowed to retrieve the domain name and in most cases this costs an additional fee. This has happened to me before.
After the 30 day redemption period, the domain will eneter another 5 day phase called a pending delete period in which the domain becomes isolated and no one is allowed to renew it or register it.
After this is complete, the domain is then transfered back into the pool of domains available for registration. If you would like to avoid paying these fees, just track the domain daily, and as soon as it becomes available just re-register it.
This has happened to me, as well, and I was not pleased at what I considered the exorbitant fee, but in checking, I learned that there are a lot of people out there that deliberately buy domain names the instant they become available, only so they can resell them to you, at nearly the same cost the registrar quoted. Waiting is a gamble, and if the domain name is company-specific, you could be left out in the cold. If you can change the site name slightly, you can avoid the charges by registering a new name.
R. Treska
06-22-2009, 12:26 PM
This has happened to me, as well, and I was not pleased at what I considered the exorbitant fee, but in checking, I learned that there are a lot of people out there that deliberately buy domain names the instant they become available, only so they can resell them to you, at nearly the same cost the registrar quoted. Waiting is a gamble, and if the domain name is company-specific, you could be left out in the cold. If you can change the site name slightly, you can avoid the charges by registering a new name.
Good point Doc, and Milo you should be aware of this. However, if your domain name isn't overly popular and you're quite sure that no one will purchase it as soon as it becomes available then you can wait it out as it's a fairly safe route. However, if this is a company domain name and you'd like to avoid that hassle in the future, I'd reccomend forking up the 21 bucks and claiming ownership once again. Judging from your first post though, it doesn't seem as if you care much about this domain, so just wait it out and save yourself some $$ :D
avera
06-22-2009, 03:51 PM
We had this problem about 4 years ago!
Overlooked the renewal date and someone registered it. We had to buy it back on pool dotcom - $340 (ish). Aparently, we could have disputed the guy's rights to register the domain - but that could have taken months or even years and an expensive court battle that would more than likely cost much more than $340.
Thanks for the clarification everyone. Guess the point is, renew on time. I just wanted to make sure it was normal and legit. As it was just a one page site I used mainly for testing, they can keep the name, but good to know for my other commercial sites.
OutSourceToday
06-23-2009, 12:30 PM
You can backorder anysite for $18.99 with godaddy and get your domain as well.
We did it for one of our sites that we forgot to renew and the host was asking for $150. we ended up getting it for $20 back.
williamc
06-23-2009, 12:31 PM
People still use GoDaddy?!?
ron angel
06-23-2009, 01:17 PM
People still use GoDaddy?!?
Yes I do.... since 2005 sometimes I have problems with their traffic facts program but otherwise seem to be ok.so far...
williamc
06-23-2009, 01:20 PM
Yes I do.... since 2005 sometimes I have problems with their traffic facts program but otherwise seem to be ok.so far...
Wait until some idiot sends them a DMCA or C&D, valid or NOT valid. I have seen them hijack domains without questions or even attempting to get answers.
ron angel
06-23-2009, 01:56 PM
Wait until some idiot sends them a DMCA or C&D, valid or NOT valid. I have seen them hijack domains without questions or even attempting to get answers.
That sort of thing is usually the site owners fault. Its like court orders and bailiffs in none net matters
when the aggrieved party contacts you for whatever reason you sort the matter out before the court case & certainly before the Bailiffs are sent in. should never get to a stage where the service provider or ISP is involved as they are only covering their ass against legal problems.
williamc
06-23-2009, 01:58 PM
should never get to a stage where the service provider or ISP is involved as they are only covering their ass against legal problems.
Agreed. But it does. This is business. If you are competing in the SERPS and a competitor knows how godaddy treats any legal sounding device, your sites gone, quickly. He loses a competitor and moves up in the SERPS. Most ISPs send these sorts of things to the hoster and allows them to sort it out first.
ron angel
06-23-2009, 02:10 PM
Agreed. But it does. This is business. If you are competing in the SERPS and a competitor knows how godaddy treats any legal sounding device, your sites gone, quickly. He loses a competitor and moves up in the SERPS. Most ISPs send these sorts of things to the hoster and allows them to sort it out first.
That's a dangerous game for the competitor, if you can prove that it was in any way malicious or frivolous or untrue they could get hit with a big lawsuit even if they believed the information they were acting on was true as they did not contact you first to sort it out or reply.
williamc
06-23-2009, 02:19 PM
Possible, but look at it this way:
Say you sell blue widgets, and bluewidgets.com emails your registrar and tells them that you are diluting their product line. Registrar kills account. (yes, it will happen). Do you have a legal leg to stand on? No, the competitor did not actually lie at all. You are still minus one domain tho.
gauravgr8
06-23-2009, 02:46 PM
Possible, but look at it this way:
Say you sell blue widgets, and bluewidgets.com emails your registrar and tells them that you are diluting their product line. Registrar kills account. (yes, it will happen). Do you have a legal leg to stand on? No, the competitor did not actually lie at all. You are still minus one domain tho.
So could u suggest which registrar is best one with no such scope of getting Bugged up at the crucial time ..
Sorry if something i asked uneven but am a newbie ...
williamc
06-23-2009, 03:02 PM
I use Register Domain Names with moniker.com (http://www.moniker.com) mainly myself. They have always treated us right and alerted us to any such crap as this.
OutSourceToday
06-23-2009, 03:08 PM
Godaddy does take any legal notification too seriously. However they do also have " special accounts" where users have a few thousand domains with godaddy and they handle these differently then normal accounts.
Moniker is a great registrar and competitive prices as well.
tweaker
06-23-2009, 05:29 PM
That cost is indeed normal for most registrars.
In an effort to stamp out forum SPAM only members with 10 posts or more can post website links or email addresses. (good policy)
anyway, yes you will pay big bucks to secure a name after it has slipped through the cracks. Had 23 names at 10/yr for a many years until I was robbed by my registrar. Now with only 2 or 3.... I figure I saved about 800 bucks since then ! Course I will never see my great names again.
.. I learned that there are a lot of people out there that deliberately buy domain names the instant they become available, only so they can resell them to you, at nearly the same cost the registrar quoted...
Yes - one of these "people" scooped up an ex-client's lapsed domain (construction/renovations) and now it resolves to a "busty dating site" - no kidding!
Well, I suppose that "construction/renovations" could be likened to "busty dating" in some circles. :lol:
I figured they grabbed it for a year and were holding it for ransom in case the client contacted them. I was going to follow it through the anniversary date and see if they renewed the domain or let it expire, but I've let the client go and no longer followign up on it.
ron angel
08-28-2009, 10:31 PM
I figured they grabbed it for a year and were holding it for ransom in case the client contacted them. I was going to follow it through the anniversary date and see if they renewed the domain or let it expire, but I've let the client go and no longer followign up on it.
Must have been amateurs if they did. what they should have done(academic point of view of course) is put a 301 redirect on page to company's biggest competitor would have got attention very quickly and probably an offer,from competitor if they had a lot of hits from page or original owner when they saw what happened. but the important thing would have been NOT under any circumstances to approach either company as could be seen as sort of extortion or ransom of some sort. but could have got a 3rd party to phone company's to ask them innocently what was happening.......