Domain name expiration stages?

[domainer700]

1) Domain expires
2) domain enters prerelease (45 days)
3) domain enters redemption period (30 days)
4) domain enters pending delete stage (5 days)
5) domain drops and becomes available again


Is that right?

 

[Kate]

More or less

Not all registrar do prerelease domains.

Also, the grace period varies from one registrar to another. In theory the registrar can have no grace period, which means the domain can enter redemption from day one. Normally, the grace period is 45 days max, because the domain has already been provisionally renewed and the registrar can get a refund within the 45-day period.

 

[Erdy]

1) Domain expires
2) domain enters prerelease (45 days)
3) domain enters redemption period (30 days)
4) domain enters pending delete stage (5 days)
5) domain drops and becomes available again

Is that right?

Yes, it is right with two minor details to correct:
1. Instead pre-release it is called grace period.
2. The grace period is between 1 and 45 days. It depends on the registrar. It is not a fixed time.

Snapnames has a graphical explanation here:
https://www.snapnames.com/domains101.jsp

The term pre-release is a made up term by namejet. The reason is because grace period is an official icann term that describes the time the domain can be reactivated by its previous owner. However the industry needed a term that doesn't has this kind of meaning but instead means the registrar can auction it. Nobody actually told the registrars that they can keep the customer domains for themselves and sell it. But that's what they do.

 

[mis_chiff]

1) Domain expires
2) domain enters prerelease (45 days)
3) domain enters redemption period (30 days)
4) domain enters pending delete stage (5 days)
5) domain drops and becomes available again


Is that right?

Your description looks just like this one, but with pictures :D
http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/gtld-lifecycle.htm

and then there is this great explanation of every stage in the Domain Newbies forum
http://www.namepros.com/domain-newbies/98874-rrp-domain-status-codes.html
EDIT: OOPS, just saw Erdinc posted basically the same thing,
but with better pictures

 

[Erdy]

Terms like redemption period don't mean anything to the domainer. I don't have a graphic (yet) but I can write the expration stages from the domainers perspective:

1. Domain expires
2. Original owner has some time to recover his domain
(Godaddy gives 18 days, namecheap gives 30 days, on average it is 3 weeks)
3. The domain is put up for auction by the registrar. This is pre-release auction. It is usually between day 18 and day 42 after expiry. This auction definitely finishes before day 45. The registrars shouldn't put the domain on auction while it is still recoverable by the original owner. This is annoying for bidders. But this is what the registrars do. They like annoying domainers.
4. Domain reaches pending delete. Technically a domain can reach pending delete anytime between day 31 and 76. This is because of the flexible grace period. Most of the time it happens between day 65 and 76. You can not calculate in advance when a domain will reach pending delete. However you can know after it happens by checking pending delete lists. Namejet and snapnames pending delete lists are almost identical.

 

[domainer700]

The registrars shouldn't put the domain on auction while it is still recoverable by the original owner. This is annoying for bidders. But this is what the registrars do. They like annoying domainers.

So you're saying that the registrar can and does auction off the name during the 45 day grace period (between day 18 and 42), that's if the registrar even has a grace period. If the registrar auctions off the name that's called pre-release but whether or not you bid on it it could still be renewed by the owner.. that does suck. Do you know if it's common for owners to renew while others have bid?

 

[Erdy]

It is very common both on snapnames and namejet that pre-release domains suddenly disappear.

I think sometimes the smaller registrars send their domains to auction at snapnames and namejet and when they see that the domain gets many bids they pull off the domain from auction and keep it for themselves. So it is not always the previous owner who renews but sometimes it is the registrars.

You might say, then why do the registrars send those domains to auction in first place? Why not keep it to themselves from the beginning on?

The answer is easy. They don't know what domains to keep. They use the domainers to sort out the quality domains. There are thousands of domains. Just look at the numbers on this page: namecatch.com/user/stats
There are over one million domains on pre-release auction right now.

I don't know what percentage snapnames gives the registrars but if the registrar keeps the domain to themselves then they get to keep 100% of the value instead sharing it with snapnames.

 

[domainer700]

It is very common both on snapnames and namejet that pre-release domains suddenly disappear.

I think sometimes the smaller registrars send their domains to auction at snapnames and namejet and when they see that the domain gets many bids they pull off the domain from auction and keep it for themselves. So it is not always the previous owner who renews but sometimes it is the registrars.

You might say, then why do the registrars send those domains to auction in first place? Why not keep it to themselves from the beginning on?

The answer is easy. They don't know what domains to keep. They use the domainers to sort out the quality domains. There are thousands of domains. Just look at the numbers on this page: namecatch.com/user/stats
There are over one million domains on pre-release auction right now.

I don't know what percentage snapnames gives the registrars but if the registrar keeps the domain to themselves then they get to keep 100% of the value instead sharing it with snapnames.

That's shady of the registrars in my opinion.. makes you angry even.