Expired Auction Question

[WillW]

I've been exploring the expired auctions the last few weeks and during that time, I've won a few of them. I just recently won another one via GoDaddy but I'm curious about this particular name. The other domains that I previously won through expired auctions, all were around a month past expiration on the WHOIS website when I looked them up but this one that I just won, hasn't even expired yet and won't be expired until later this year. It was classified as an expired auction, not a public auction. Can someone please explain this?

 

[JanO]

I've no idea but I do know nanotechnology is easier to understand than GD auctions.

 

[WillW]

For real....I think even the Dos Equis guy would have trouble figuring out GD auctions

 

[anantj]

I've been exploring the expired auctions the last few weeks and during that time, I've won a few of them. I just recently won another one via GoDaddy but I'm curious about this particular name. The other domains that I previously won through expired auctions, all were around a month past expiration on the WHOIS website when I looked them up but this one that I just won, hasn't even expired yet and won't be expired until later this year. It was classified as an expired auction, not a public auction. Can someone please explain this?

Registrars typically "pseudo-renew" domains when they put them up for auction and "undo" that if the domain does not sell.

 

[Nahdism]

You know what the funny thing is? Yesterday, I was going through GD auctions and liked a name. It was a buy now on expired ones. The age wasn't written so I went to whois to verify it's age. Bam - the name had expired 3-4 years back and was available to hand reg on all domain registry sites. I had already put the name in my cart, then I immediately cancelled it and after that, I again went to the auctions page today to see if it was still available, bam -NO, but it is still available for hand regging. Don't know if it was a technical mistake or they are trying to sell worthless stuff in between the gems :P

 

[WillW]

Doesn't seem like a technical mistake to me....

 

[WillW]

How do registrars "undo" renewals on domains that do not sell??

 

[anantj]

How do registrars "undo" renewals on domains that do not sell??

I think they "grace delete" the renewal or some form of it

Tagging @robepik who owns a registrar and might have more information about how this is made possible

 

[Kate]

Registrars send a preemptive renewal command to the registry so they can offer a grace period to the customer. They have up to 45 days to cancel the auto-renew. In the meantime they could auction the domain.
Registrars have no obligation to provide a grace period, so the name could go to redemption from day one past expiry. But it is expensive to recover a name in redemption.
So the default behavior is to renew every domain that has not been renewed in time by the holder. Thus the registrar can provide a courtesy grace period and avoid possible aggravation (many people are absent-minded or wait until the last minute).

This is for gTLDs, for ccTLDs the lifecycle can vary. Some ccTLDs eg .es have to be renewed early. Other ccTLDs have long quarantine periods up to 3 months (eg .uk) but where late renewal incurs no penalty.
Other ccTLDs like .de or .at are automatically renewed and invoiced by the registry, even if you haven't paid the registrar. Then the registry will try to collect payment straight from you. You have to expressly renounce those domains if you don't want to keep them. This can be a good thing if you die unexpectedly and have valuable names: yours heirs can fix the situation and take over.
Cctld peculiarities. Always get acquainted with the rules and read the fine print.

 

[anantj]

Registrars send a preemptive renewal command to the registry so they can offer a grace period to the customer. They have up to 45 days to cancel the auto-renew. In the meantime they could auction the domain.
Registrars have no obligation to provide a grace period, so the name could go to redemption from day one past expiry. But it is expensive to recover a name in redemption.
So the default behavior is to renew every domain that has not been renewed in time by the holder. Thus the registrar can provide a courtesy grace period and avoid possible aggravation (many people are absent-minded or wait until the last minute).

This is for gTLDs, for ccTLDs the lifecycle can vary. Some ccTLDs eg .es have to be renewed early. Other ccTLDs have long quarantine periods up to 3 months (eg .uk) but where late renewal incurs no penalty.
Other ccTLDs like .de or .at are automatically renewed and invoiced by the registry, even if you haven't paid the registrar. Then the registry will try to collect payment straight from you. You have to expressly renounce those domains if you don't want to keep them. This can be a good thing if you die unexpectedly and have valuable names: yours heirs can fix the situation and take over.
Cctld peculiarities. Always get acquainted with the rules and read the fine print.

Wonderful post. As usual, you're full of information (and wisdom).