Dynadot renewal policy changes

[korganian]

We're writing to let you know about an important change we're making to our renewal and transfer policies. These changes will go into effect on September 18, 2023 00:00 UTC. Thus, domain names that expire on the effective date and those expiring thereafter will be under the new policies.

Renewal Changes:

• The renewal grace period will be changed from 40 days to 30 days.
• After day 30, the domain can only be restored at the TLDs restore price.
• The existing $10 late renewal fee will no longer be applicable.

Transfer Changes:

• After day 30 of the expiration date, domain names must be restored at the TLDs restore price before they can be transferred out.

If you have any questions regarding the new renewal and transfer policies, feel free to contact us through our support channels and we'll be happy to help. Please note this mailbox isn't monitored.

All the best,
Dynadot

 

[bmugford]

I wonder how this effects the expired auctions.

Will this stop renewals after the auction, or at least make it more expensive to renew?

Brad

 

[alcy]

We're writing to let you know about an important change we're making to our renewal and transfer policies. These changes will go into effect on September 18, 2023 00:00 UTC. Thus, domain names that expire on the effective date and those expiring thereafter will be under the new policies.

Renewal Changes:

• The renewal grace period will be changed from 40 days to 30 days.
• After day 30, the domain can only be restored at the TLDs restore price.
• The existing $10 late renewal fee will no longer be applicable.

Transfer Changes:

• After day 30 of the expiration date, domain names must be restored at the TLDs restore price before they can be transferred out.

If you have any questions regarding the new renewal and transfer policies, feel free to contact us through our support channels and we'll be happy to help. Please note this mailbox isn't monitored.

All the best,
Dynadot

yea same question for me ... how exactly to the dynadot does it affect expired
... other than this at least now u no longer look the dumbest greediest registrar for charging that 10usd fee.. that was exclusive to u and a money grab so obvious that it was pathetic desperation at its most fine

 

[bmugford]

I wonder how this effects the expired auctions.

Will this stop renewals after the auction, or at least make it more expensive to renew?

Brad

Looks like this is a game changer for Dynadot auctions -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1688664434842259465

 

[twiki]

One word.

Money.

 

[bmugford]

One word.

Money.

Well, it will almost certainly lead to more revenue for Dynadot but it also will lead to a better experience for bidders.

Almost everything good gets renewed after the auction on Dynadot. The majority of these domains seem to be owned by a handful of people.

30 days is enough time to renew a domain IMO.

Brad

 

[dr manos]

so in simple words, renewal period goes from 40 to 30 days there, at 1st-30th can renew with normal fee, 31-40 at about $150 except if there is auction bid and can not renew at all.

 

[bmugford]

so in simple words, renewal period goes from 40 to 30 days there, at 1st-30th can renew with normal fee, 31-40 at about $150 except if there is auction bid and can not renew at all.

Maybe @Dynadot can clarify, but that sounds about right.

I am not sure about the "restore" fee though.

Is there a list of "restore" fees anywhere?

Brad

 

[Samer]

Maybe @Dynadot can clarify, but that sounds about right.

I am not sure about the "restore" fee though.

Is there a list of "restore" fees anywhere?

Brad

@Dynadot hasn't been on NP since May 31, 2023.
Try my favorite Dynadot employee, @calebdynadot

 

[Daniel Owens]

Maybe @Dynadot can clarify, but that sounds about right.

I am not sure about the "restore" fee though.

Is there a list of "restore" fees anywhere?

Brad

My guess is that the restore fee will be around $75 but we'd have to verify that with dynadot so yeah don't take my word for it, but expected restore fee for .coms to be way more than the current $10.

 

[dr manos]

Maybe @Dynadot can clarify, but that sounds about right.

I am not sure about the "restore" fee though.

Is there a list of "restore" fees anywhere?

Brad

Varies from registrar to registrar, we can ask Caleb to publish a list
if i remember well the only name i restored (a .me) cos received offer while it was at redemption period (between 41th and 70th day) was $150.

 

[bmugford]

Varies from registrar to registrar, we can ask Caleb to publish a list
if i remember well the only name i restored (a .me) cos received offer while it was at redemption period (between 41th and 70th day) was $150.

@calebdynadot

Do you have a list of restore fees, by extension?

Brad

 

[karmaco]

They are required to list all the restoration fees easily reached somewhere on their website per ERRP policy.

I would also like them to clarify for all registrants what day of grace renewal the auction starts or does it start after grace renewal ends. If it starts on Day 28 and someone places a bid they are not supposed to take away your right to renew for 30 days post expiration. So this proclamation above is a bit confusing.

I know most are thrilled who participate in auctions but they used to have the most generous renewal period. Now just like everybody else. Obvious cash motivated and disgruntled auction bidders influenced this decision.

 

[Caleb Tweed]

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for my late response on this, I've been out of office since last Thursday.

I see everyone rightly has a ton of questions about this, so I thought I'd chime in to see if I can answer some for you!

The single largest complaint we get about our platform is the integrity of our expired auctions. Since registrants can renew or transfer out anytime during the grace renewal period, a handful of our expired auctions were never able to complete which ended up wasting everyone's time. This new policy is to help make sure all our auctions go through, as well as to bring our Registration period to be more in line with other Registrars to make for a more unified experience across the board.

Now of course you're wondering, what does this mean for you?

So the domain still has the full 30 days after it expires in which you can renew and transfer the domain, but at day 30 when the domain goes into the Expired Auction, you can no longer renew or transfer it. While you can still restore it, if an auction gets a bid it will be unavailable for restoration. I know it might take some time to get used to this, but this should make our EA process infinitely better for bidders.

I'm not sure if we have a concrete list of TLD Restoration Costs at the moment, but I have already notified our team to craft something like that and will post it on NP, so you are always aware of how much you're working with. At the moment, you can currently find out any Restoration cost of any TLD by selecting the TLD from this page here: https://www.dynadot.com/domain/tlds-prices (For Example, .COM is currently $89.99).

I hope I answered all the basic questions, but please let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on anything else!

Cheers,
Caleb

 

[karmaco]

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for my late response on this, I've been out of office since last Thursday.

I see everyone rightly has a ton of questions about this, so I thought I'd chime in to see if I can answer some for you!

The single largest complaint we get about our platform is the integrity of our expired auctions. Since registrants can renew or transfer out anytime during the grace renewal period, a handful of our expired auctions were never able to complete which ended up wasting everyone's time. This new policy is to help make sure all our auctions go through, as well as to bring our Registration period to be more in line with other Registrars to make for a more unified experience across the board.

Now of course you're wondering, what does this mean for you?

So the domain still has the full 30 days after it expires in which you can renew and transfer the domain, but at day 30 when the domain goes into the Expired Auction, you can no longer renew or transfer it. While you can still restore it, if an auction gets a bid it will be unavailable for restoration. I know it might take some time to get used to this, but this should make our EA process infinitely better for bidders.

I'm not sure if we have a concrete list of TLD Restoration Costs at the moment, but I have already notified our team to craft something like that and will post it on NP, so you are always aware of how much you're working with. At the moment, you can currently find out any Restoration cost of any TLD by selecting the TLD from this page here: https://www.dynadot.com/domain/tlds-prices (For Example, .COM is currently $89.99).

I hope I answered all the basic questions, but please let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on anything else!

Cheers,
Caleb

Saying the domain still has the full 30 days to be renewed and saying you can no longer renew or transfer on Day 30 after it enters the expired auction is a contradiction.

Sounds like we do not have 30 full days to count on and that we need to know the millisecond our name was registered and goes into expired auction.

A “full 30 days” means it should enter the auction Day 31.

 

[Caleb Tweed]

Saying the domain still has the full 30 days to be renewed and saying you can no longer renew or transfer on Day 30 after it enters the expired auction is a contradiction.

Sounds like we do not have 30 full days to count on and that we need to know the millisecond our name was registered and goes into expired auction.

A “full 30 days” means it should enter the auction Day 31.

Apologies, I see how my wording could be confusing there.

To clarify, you have 30 days from the expiration date to renew. For example, if a domain expired on 2023-07-06 at 18:30, you would be able to renew it until 2023-08-05 at 18:30.

Let me know if that makes better sense or not!

 

[capybara]

While you can still restore it, if an auction gets a bid it will be unavailable for restoration.

Is this not against the ICANN rules?

3. Redemption Grace Period

3.1. With the exception of sponsored gTLD registries, all gTLD registries must offer a Redemption Grace Period ("RGP") of 30 days immediately following the deletion of a registration, during which time the deleted registration may be restored at the request of the RAE by the registrar that deleted it. Registrations deleted during a registry's add-grace period, if applicable, should not be subject to the RGP.

3.2. During the Redemption Grace Period, the registry must disable DNS resolution and prohibit attempted transfers of the registration. ICANN-approved bulk transfers and permitted partial bulk transfers are not subject to the prohibition of attempted transfers. The registry must also clearly indicate in its Whois result for the registration that it is in its Redemption Grace Period.

3.3. Registrars must permit the RAE to redeem a deleted registration during RGP (if RGP is offered by the respective registry).

(RAE = domain name registrant)

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/errp-2013-02-28-en

 

[tonyk2000]

After day 30 of the expiration date, domain names must be restored at the TLDs restore price before they can be transferred out.

It would be great if Dynadot could confirm the restoration price ($40 verisign fee), making it reasonable (not "at cost", but reasonable) AND confirm that the restoration fee would be applied if and only if the domain is in redemption period already. In other words, it would not look good if such a fee applied to domains in grace period.
Generally speaking, if the change was done to make expired auctions more predictable - then it is OK. A serious domainer would not (or, at least, should not) perform last day renewals or use auctions as appraisal venue, so the change should not affect routine timely renewals. Imo...
@calebdynadot

 

[Caleb Tweed]

Is this not against the ICANN rules?



(RAE = domain name registrant)

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/errp-2013-02-28-en

We do offer the restoration for 30 days when the domain is deleted after the grace renewal period, however this does not apply if the domain is sold in auction. This part of the rules is actually unchanged from how we had it previously.

 

[Caleb Tweed]

It would be great if Dynadot could confirm the restoration price ($40 verisign fee), making it reasonable (not "at cost", but reasonable) AND confirm that the restoration fee would be applied if and only if the domain is in redemption period already. In other words, it would not look good if such a fee applied to domains in grace period.
Generally speaking, if the change was done to make expired auctions more predictable - then it is OK. A serious domainer would not (or, at least, should not) perform last day renewals or use auctions as appraisal venue, so the change should not affect routine timely renewals. Imo...
@calebdynadot

At the moment I do not think we're looking to reduce the restoration costs from what they are currently, but we may change that in the future! Thanks for the input!

 

[Caleb Tweed]

@calebdynadot

Do you have a list of restore fees, by extension?

Brad

Hey Everyone,

We recently added the Restore price onto our TLD list here: https://www.dynadot.com/domain/tlds-prices
Simply type the TLD you're looking for, and it along with the restore price will show up in the column as shown here. Hope this helps!

 

[dr manos]

Actually i am surpised everyone here just cares for the expiring auctions and does not look the angle that maybe some months business is not going good for investors and need some more time to make the renewals.
Personally had not problem for over a decade, but last months was a decrease in sales, all registries increase constantly renewals and can not always renew in time.
Asking for restoration fee after 30th day is way too much imo as registrar will pay the usual fee at registry, $10 was ok and also big portfolios at dynadot should have a better treatment.

Of course it is my opinion only.

 

[bmugford]

Actually i am surpised everyone here just cares for the expiring auctions and does not look the angle that maybe some months business is not going good for investors and need some more time to make the renewals.
Personally had not problem for over a decade, but last months was a decrease in sales, all registries increase constantly renewals and can not always renew in time.
Asking for restoration fee after 30th day is way too much imo as registrar will pay the usual fee at registry, $10 was ok and also big portfolios at dynadot should have a better treatment.

Of course it is my opinion only.

I agree with this, to a point.

But when it comes to Dynadot auctions it is generally the same small group of people letting domains expire, then renewing them after the auction time and time again.

I would need to see this policy compared to other major registrars to see how it stacks up.

Is it outside the norm?

Brad