tips Why you should renew domains in advance

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hello everyone,

Today I wanted to share my point of view on why you should renew your domains in advance and the benefits of it.

So let’s check at how renewing your domains for a longer period than a year might prevent a big headache in the course of time.

1) If you've developed a website and worked hard for marketing your brand and receiving a great number of audience on your domain name, simply don’t let that site suddenly go dark because you forget to renew the domain on due time. So when your registration expires, any services associated with the domain (your website, email service, and so on) stops working. Sometimes the domain renewal alerts can easily get overlooked due to aggressive spam filters on your email account, an overflowing inbox, or any of life’s other distractions.

2) As it may happen with anyone and there are some situations happening around us which are not in our control like the current global situation regarding the virus and its impact to overall humanity. This may lead to weak financial condition, savings are needed to be used for some emergency and more important needs and last but not the least, the lack of domain sales can kill the cash flow in such tough times.

3) There are also some cases where investors tend to renew domains each and every month as the renewal comes for their large portfolio of domains but with any sudden death in family or the domain owner itself, hospitalization, any case of emergency, etc may put your domains at risk of expiring and ultimately to drop. So it's better to renew a lot in advance.

4) Another positive side of renewing the domain is like when any endusers or domain brokers find the domain is near to expiration, they may try to wait for the domain to drop and either hand register it or backorder to secure the domain. But when your domain is renewed in advance let's suppose for an addition of 3 or 5 years, chances are high that the interested party would try to contact and buy directly from you rather than waiting for years for the domain to expire.

So never give a slight hope to anyone that your good domains are going to drop anywhere in the near future. Give yourself peace of mind by renewing your domains far in advance so you don’t accidentally lose them.

As for my portfolio, when it was around 1,000 domains, it was quite easy for me to renew domains for at least a couple of years ahead of expiry. But with the portfolio growing and now little over 4,000 domains, it's difficult to renew that much in advance. But still I have all my domain keepers renewed for an additional 1 year.

Feel free to give your feedback about my strategy and share your own to let others know.

 

[NameBuyer.com]

I'm not very good at this and often let my names go into redemption period. I'd blame it on the number of domains (8,000+), but I've always had the same bad habit even with 2,000 names and end up spending more on acquiring names rather than the renewals. I've been better about it lately, but still have some improving to do.

I've included couple more reasons why you should renew in advance:

1. If your domain expires, your Afternic listings will be flagged and pulled off the site, so you'll need to waste time resubmitting the listings. Plus, the 4 weeks that the domains are not listed could end up reducing your overall sales by 8% (1 month / 12 months in a year).
2. For your best domains, I always renew a year ahead of time now. About a year ago, I had 2 of my best domains (in my top 5%) go into the redemption period and I didn't get the proper notices and a software glitch (or something else) caused the domains to not be available to renew. The 2 domains cost me $2,500 originally, and I nearly lost them. So for any domains you really care about, take extra precautions, put them in a "top domains" folder and renew them early.

I'd also add, that you should audit your top 5%-10% of domains yearly (maybe at tax time), as these will be the domains most likely to be hijacked. All it takes is a rogue tech employee with an ill-intentioned plan, or even a software glitch. How many of us would notice 1 domain out of 1,000 or in my case 1 out of 8,000 missing? Might take a while.

 

[Brands.International]

Hello everyone,

Today I wanted to share my point of view on why you should renew your domains in advance and the benefits of it.

So let’s check at how renewing your domains for a longer period than a year might prevent a big headache in the course of time.

1) If you've developed a website and worked hard for marketing your brand and receiving a great number of audience on your domain name, simply don’t let that site suddenly go dark because you forget to renew the domain on due time. So when your registration expires, any services associated with the domain (your website, email service, and so on) stops working. Sometimes the domain renewal alerts can easily get overlooked due to aggressive spam filters on your email account, an overflowing inbox, or any of life’s other distractions.

2) As it may happen with anyone and there are some situations happening around us which are not in our control like the current global situation regarding the virus and its impact to overall humanity. This may lead to weak financial condition, savings are needed to be used for some emergency and more important needs and last but not the least, the lack of domain sales can kill the cash flow in such tough times.

3) There are also some cases where investors tend to renew domains each and every month as the renewal comes for their large portfolio of domains but with any sudden death in family or the domain owner itself, hospitalization, any case of emergency, etc may put your domains at risk of expiring and ultimately to drop. So it's better to renew a lot in advance.

4) Another positive side of renewing the domain is like when any endusers or domain brokers find the domain is near to expiration, they may try to wait for the domain to drop and either hand register it or backorder to secure the domain. But when your domain is renewed in advance let's suppose for an addition of 3 or 5 years, chances are high that the interested party would try to contact and buy directly from you rather than waiting for years for the domain to expire.

So never give a slight hope to anyone that your good domains are going to drop anywhere in the near future. Give yourself peace of mind by renewing your domains far in advance so you don’t accidentally lose them.

As for my portfolio, when it was around 1,000 domains, it was quite easy for me to renew domains for at least a couple of years ahead of expiry. But with the portfolio growing and now little over 4,000 domains, it's difficult to renew that much in advance. But still I have all my domain keepers renewed for an additional 1 year.

Feel free to give your feedback about my strategy and share your own to let others know.

Great advice, I totally agree.

In my opinion, renewing domains in advance give us the following advantages:

a) lot of negotiation power

b) protects us from low ball offers/other domain investors waiting for our names to drop

c) motivates us to take a really hard look into our portfolio, deciding what is worth to renew in advance and what is not

d) it makes sure we do not lose our domain names in case of some health accident, etc

e) sends a strong positive signal to potential buyers

f) in case of new gTLDs we can utilize various renewal promotions, thus saving a lot of money

1 disadvantage I see there - some people will say they can employ money to work harder in some other asset class. But if you are sure about your domain names, I do not see much better options really.

In new gTLDs, when renewal is $25 or less, I tend to renew a lot of years in advance, particularly when good renewal promotion is ingoing for a particular extension. So in .com, this should not be an issue with it's $10 or so renewal at average & when names are really good.

Then, some new gTLDs I have are for $120 and more, and here I am bit careful and freshly thinking each year whether to renew or not

 

[xynames]

It cuts both ways as far as potential buyers. As far as whether a domain renewed far out versus less than a year left on it is more or less appealing to the buyer.

There are those buyers who are hoping the domain will drop. These buyers don’t always have a pressing need and might have a take it or leave attitude towards the name. One or even two years out isn’t really enough to convince such buyers that the domain will not drop. They might still wait. In other words - such “on the fence about whether they even want the name” “hoping for drop” buyers might just forget about your name if they see it renewed far out in time.

As far as buyers who are more motivated to acquire the domain, but still hoping for a drop, seeing that it is coming up for renewal soon might give them enough hope to keep a close eye on it, and then noting that it was paid out / renewed one year might be enough to push them to action.

 

[Joakim]

Thanks for sharing. I've started doing this on a selection of names, from 2-5 years ahead. It's a good feeling locking them down.

Actually, when renewing several years in advance, I feel more relaxed in knowing this is a marathon. Not a sprint.

 

[lock]

I win domains waiting it out all the time strength is having a long expiry but only do it with your sure things.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for great post @AbdulBasit.com!

I agree entirely that names used for development should always be renewed well in advance.

I think a selection of valuable other domain names should also be renewed in advance. Not only might you get better rates, but as you point out the renewal places you in better bargaining position.

Clearly names that you are unsure about renewing might want to wait until near end.

Bob

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I sold a name this month after I moved 34 domains from one registrar and had it get renewed. It still had good time before expiry. The buyer bought it and even created an account and accepted push. So you dont know. So renew the ones you want to keep and wait for their sale.

 

[emadpino]

In my opinion it is a waste of money and if you are concerned about those kind of buyers who wait for the drop, better not, they are not the buyers you are hoping to sell to, they are mostly domainers or buyers with $100 budget.

The serious buyers with a decent budget of spending do not really care about domain expiry.

I SOLD A DOMAIN FOR $5,000 WITHIN 2 DAYS BEFORE EXPIRY.
I sold so many domains within the last month of expiry.
I once sold a domain after it was expired for $999.

I believe renewing your domain on time is the best practice. however i encourage 1 year ahead just in case.

 

[karmaco]

I totally agree with you @AbdulBasit.com about renewing your best names or any for sure keepers in advance particularly with domain price hikes on the horizon for next year.

However, This is all dependent on sales and cashflow. Some should be set aside for renewals from any sale. Its all about budgeting. Another benefit to renewing early is if tough times do come you are safe and don’t have to sacrifice your better names.

I don’t judge anyone else’s decisions but for me it would just be unnecessary stress and time consuming to decide at last minute what I am keeping.

 

[nononsense123]

I agree with your points @AbdulBasit.com
I would add one more.. it's entirely psychological.. but renewing your domains for 3-5 years gives you a position of strength in negotiations. The potential buyer knows you can sit on it for 5 years without spending another dime. So you don't come/seem to come from a place of desperation to the negotiating table.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

It cuts both ways as far as potential buyers. As far as whether a domain renewed far out versus less than a year left on it is more or less appealing to the buyer.

There are those buyers who are hoping the domain will drop. These buyers don’t always have a pressing need and might have a take it or leave attitude towards the name. One or even two years out isn’t really enough to convince such buyers that the domain will not drop. They might still wait. In other words - such “on the fence about whether they even want the name” “hoping for drop” buyers might just forget about your name if they see it renewed far out in time.

As far as buyers who are more motivated to acquire the domain, but still hoping for a drop, seeing that it is coming up for renewal soon might give them enough hope to keep a close eye on it, and then noting that it was paid out / renewed one year might be enough to push them to action.

That's a good point and there are such potential buyers as well.

But when a domain is renewed for longer period of time, let's say 5-7 years in advance, that will motivate only the serious buyers (if that's the domain they really need it) to still get in contact and not to wait for the domain to drop.

I've actually categorized like top tier domains including some of the best and not for sale domains renewed almost for maximum period like GRO.com (for sale), AbdulBasit.com (not for sale) and many others which has expiry in 2028 and 2030.

 

[Recons.Com]

I would rather put the funds into growth, but, eventually, yes, will divert the funds into renewing early.

It could be a good cash flow management and tax optimization tool.

For developed projects, renewing ahead could also help with SEO as another, albeit weak, positive signal.

 

[BRANDERX]

Yes, it gets hard as the portfolio grows.
But can you explain how it could be risky?

I mean things could come up, like buying a very nice name, maybe a one word or whatever, or anything else that might be urgent, you'd be looking for the cash you already used to pay for 5 years of renewal for thousands of domains.

Yes, it may pay off, however I do think it is still a MAJOR expense. Who likes expenses, not mention "4-5 years in advance".

imo

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

I mean things could come up, like buying a very nice name, maybe a one word or whatever, or anything else that might be urgent, you'd be looking for the cash you already used to pay for 5 years of renewal for thousands of domains.

Yes, it may pay off, however I do think it is still a MAJOR expense. Who likes expenses, not mention "4-5 years in advance".

imo

Right. But I still believe renewing around couple of years in advance is a good idea. In long run I plan to keep at least 2 years ahead of renewal date. Though it will take some time to reach at that level.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[lock]

The commitment is you already spent it should be as valuable to protect assets as much as desire to grow portfolio.

 

[TauseefKhan]

I let my GD DDC expired this month. If you have a DDC and you are not planning to renew it. Then take advantage of it by renewing your domains in advance.

Also, sometimes I noticed that end-users use renewal as a trap. They wait for the domain to expire and then later they try to get it from aftermarket or on the drop. So, renewing in advance prompt him to contact u.

 

[VRDomainNames]

I see the benefit of both renewing in advance and waiting to the last minute. I've allowed domains to expire, renew them and list them for sale again, to have them sell right away. The fact that it expired brought attention to them.

I've also registered expired domains that I previously sold for x,xxx. Multiple times. I sold one a few years ago that I mistakenly renewed for many years. It won't expire for another 4 years. The buyer never did anything with it and has since retired or went out of business. Had I not renewed it so long, I could possibly get it again, but now I'm forced to wait.

On the other hand, I have a domain from 1996 that I keep renewed long-term.

 

[Compassion]

Another reason to do it is because of registrar price increases.

Back in the day with my enom reseller account, renewals for legacy names were fixed at $6.95....Then without warning they jumped.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Yes just happened with one domain, perhaps a customer request. Another cost to keep in mind, outside commission.

Yes it also happened to me. I had not realized it either. So in pricing domains at Sedo near to expiry keep in mind you will have to pay a renewal. If it is $9 not a big deal, but if a higher renewal can be significant.
Bob

 

[rajdomains]

I agree with you @AbdulBasit.com

I am doing this from last year for all the premium domains I own. Renewed them for at least 3 years in advance.

It's good to renew premium gems for years and everyone who owns premium domains must do.

 

[WatchDogue]

4) Another positive side of renewing the domain is like when any endusers or domain brokers find the domain is near to expiration, they may try to wait for the domain to drop and either hand register it or backorder to secure the domain. But when your domain is renewed in advance let's suppose for an addition of 3 or 5 years, chances are high that the interested party would try to contact and buy directly from you rather than waiting for years for the domain to expire.

So never give a slight hope to anyone that your good domains are going to drop anywhere in the near future. Give yourself peace of mind by renewing your domains far in advance so you don’t accidentally lose them

While I enjoyed your entire post and your renew-in-advance premise, I thought reason #4 was a compelling and persuasive reason for long term in advance renewals.

For high quality names in particular, any interested party realizes they must contact and deal directly with you rather than trying to " wait out " a possible drop of the domain.

 

[BRANDERX]

Hello everyone,

Today I wanted to share my point of view on why you should renew your domains in advance and the benefits of it.

So let’s check at how renewing your domains for a longer period than a year might prevent a big headache in the course of time.

1) If you've developed a website and worked hard for marketing your brand and receiving a great number of audience on your domain name, simply don’t let that site suddenly go dark because you forget to renew the domain on due time. So when your registration expires, any services associated with the domain (your website, email service, and so on) stops working. Sometimes the domain renewal alerts can easily get overlooked due to aggressive spam filters on your email account, an overflowing inbox, or any of life’s other distractions.

2) As it may happen with anyone and there are some situations happening around us which are not in our control like the current global situation regarding the virus and its impact to overall humanity. This may lead to weak financial condition, savings are needed to be used for some emergency and more important needs and last but not the least, the lack of domain sales can kill the cash flow in such tough times.

3) There are also some cases where investors tend to renew domains each and every month as the renewal comes for their large portfolio of domains but with any sudden death in family or the domain owner itself, hospitalization, any case of emergency, etc may put your domains at risk of expiring and ultimately to drop. So it's better to renew a lot in advance.

4) Another positive side of renewing the domain is like when any endusers or domain brokers find the domain is near to expiration, they may try to wait for the domain to drop and either hand register it or backorder to secure the domain. But when your domain is renewed in advance let's suppose for an addition of 3 or 5 years, chances are high that the interested party would try to contact and buy directly from you rather than waiting for years for the domain to expire.

So never give a slight hope to anyone that your good domains are going to drop anywhere in the near future. Give yourself peace of mind by renewing your domains far in advance so you don’t accidentally lose them.

As for my portfolio, when it was around 1,000 domains, it was quite easy for me to renew domains for at least a couple of years ahead of expiry. But with the portfolio growing and now little over 4,000 domains, it's difficult to renew that much in advance. But still I have all my domain keepers renewed for an additional 1 year.

Feel free to give your feedback about my strategy and share your own to let others know.

Interesting & has its advantages. Like you said though, for XL portfolios, it becomes kinda hard & too expensive to do, maybe too risky.

imo

 

[lock]

Risky is time vs outbound vs type in as long as time is managed well enough to bring income. If names require outbound vs names good enough to bring a visitor there is another management level.

 

[sircc]

As far as buyers who are more motivated to acquire the domain, but still hoping for a drop, seeing that it is coming up for renewal soon might give them enough hope to keep a close eye on it, and then noting that it was paid out / renewed one year might be enough to push them to action.

That is the strategy I adopted long ago. Let interest for a name that might drop grow and renew close to expiration.

Sometimes, sales will happen not long after the renewal. With the grace period, there's no reason to lose them.