Domain renewal and expiry: what happens

It does not vanish the moment it expires. There are stages, and they get progressively worse.

1. Expiry date. The website and email usually stop. The domain is still yours 2. Grace period — typically up to 30 days, varying by registry. Renew at the normal price 3. Redemption period — typically another 30 days. You can still recover it, but there is a redemption fee on top of the renewal, and it is substantial 4. Pending delete — around five days, during which nothing can be done 5. Released. Back on the open market, and anyone can register it

Exact periods differ by extension. Some country registries are shorter than the international norm, which catches people out.

The fee is the smaller part.

While the domain is down, the website is gone and so is the email. Not bouncing with a useful error — gone. Customers get nothing, and any mail sent to you during that window is lost, not queued.

If it reaches the released stage, somebody else can register it. Domains with traffic are monitored and registered within seconds of release by people who will then sell it back to you at their price, or not at all.

• Register for several years. The cheapest insurance there is: one less date to remember
• Keep the registrant email current. Notices go there, and an old address means no warning
• Use a billing address that outlives staff. [email protected], not a person’s inbox
• Put the date in the company calendar, not only in your inbox
• Keep a card on file if your registrar supports auto-renewal

All of your domains are listed with their expiry dates in the client area, and we send notices well before the date.

Within the grace period

Renew it immediately from the client area at the normal price. The site and email come back within minutes to hours.

In redemption

Open a ticket. We will tell you the redemption fee and handle the registry side. It is not cheap, but it is recoverable.

Already released

Check whether it is still free, and register it at once if it is. If somebody else has it, the honest answer is usually to choose a new name — buying it back rarely goes well.