crazydomaindeals
Account Closed
- Impact
- 25
Hi all,
Just wanted to share an experience with Godaddy with you. Godaddy seems to be going through their customers accounts and seeing which domains are valuable to them and posting them on their Godaddy auction site (TDNAM) and selling them without waiting through the lifespan of a domain name. (see below)
Contrary to popular belief, domains do not expire when they say they do. If the owner of a domain does not renew by the expiration date of the domain, the domain goes into “expired” status. For 40 days, the domain is in a grace period where all services are shut off, but the domain owner may still renew the domain for a standard renewal fee. If a domain enters this period, it is a good first indicator that it may not be renewed, but since the owner can re-register without penalty, it can also just be a sign of laziness or procrastination.
After 40 days are up, the domain’s status changes to “redemption period”. During this phase, all WhoIs information begins disappearing, and more importantly, it now costs the owner an additional fee to re-activate and re-register the domain. The fee is currently around $100, depending on your registrar. When a domain enters its redemption period, it’s a good bet the owner has decided not to renew.
Finally, after the redemption period, the domain’s status will change to “locked” as it enters the deletion phase. The deletion phase is 5 days long, and on the last day between 11am and 2pm Pacific time, the name will officially drop from the ICANN database and will be available for registration by anybody.
The entire process ends exactly 75 days after the listed expiration date. For an even more detailed explanation, read the article Inside a Drop Catcher’s War Room.
We all need to be very careful with our accounts with Godaddy as it is very easy for them to take a domain out of ones' account without their knowledge especially when you have thousands or even tens of thousands of domains, who would miss a handful?
I have sent a formal complaint to Icann to look into this and hopefully get my domain back (which was awaiting a transfer out to another registry)
Just wanted to share an experience with Godaddy with you. Godaddy seems to be going through their customers accounts and seeing which domains are valuable to them and posting them on their Godaddy auction site (TDNAM) and selling them without waiting through the lifespan of a domain name. (see below)
Contrary to popular belief, domains do not expire when they say they do. If the owner of a domain does not renew by the expiration date of the domain, the domain goes into “expired” status. For 40 days, the domain is in a grace period where all services are shut off, but the domain owner may still renew the domain for a standard renewal fee. If a domain enters this period, it is a good first indicator that it may not be renewed, but since the owner can re-register without penalty, it can also just be a sign of laziness or procrastination.
After 40 days are up, the domain’s status changes to “redemption period”. During this phase, all WhoIs information begins disappearing, and more importantly, it now costs the owner an additional fee to re-activate and re-register the domain. The fee is currently around $100, depending on your registrar. When a domain enters its redemption period, it’s a good bet the owner has decided not to renew.
Finally, after the redemption period, the domain’s status will change to “locked” as it enters the deletion phase. The deletion phase is 5 days long, and on the last day between 11am and 2pm Pacific time, the name will officially drop from the ICANN database and will be available for registration by anybody.
The entire process ends exactly 75 days after the listed expiration date. For an even more detailed explanation, read the article Inside a Drop Catcher’s War Room.
We all need to be very careful with our accounts with Godaddy as it is very easy for them to take a domain out of ones' account without their knowledge especially when you have thousands or even tens of thousands of domains, who would miss a handful?
I have sent a formal complaint to Icann to look into this and hopefully get my domain back (which was awaiting a transfer out to another registry)