It happens. Many people have reported forgetting to renew their domain names. They lose track and get suddenly surprised by the fact that the domain expired How to get it back?
I’ve got to experience this before. I buy a domain for a new project. It takes time to launch it. And suddenly, I get a quick email alert notifying me that the domain name has been expired.
I just missed renewing it? Can I get it back? At these times, I used to search ways and resources on how to recover expired domains and get it back. That was exactly why I decided to write this article.
I Forgot To Renew Domain Name – How To Get It Back?
Here, I’m showing you the possibilities of getting your domain back after being expired. Here are definitive answers for different scenarios. You will get to know what to do to get your domain name back.
Domain Expired – A Few Days Ago:
This is a very easy situation. It just happened a few days ago. And you’re domain name is still renewable. You can claim it back easily with just paying the renewal fee (on the domain registrar’s end).
You could easily detect such a thing via the sudden expiration emails. Also, It’s detectable if you tried visit your website and found it not loading any more. You will get to know that a domain issue is there.
Once the domain is expired, It will be in Auto-Renew Grace period for up to 45 days. Grace period here means that the domain is still yours & will instantly be activated after paying the renewal fee. No extra fees required.
Domain Expired (GoDaddy) – 19-40 Days Ago:
GoDaddy registrar is offering a shorter grace period of 18 days. This means that you can easily renew your domain name within 18 days after being expired.
Starting from the 19th day, GoDaddy will charge an extra fee of $80 to renew the domain name. It will be removed from “Active Domains” section. You can renew it via “Domains > Recover Expired Domains”.
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Most other registrars (aka; NameCheap) are offering 30 – 45 days grace period. GoDaddy has the shortest grace period of all major registrars. If you want to renew your domain at the regular renewal price, make sure to do within the first 18 days. After that, a hefty fee applies.
Domain Expired – 41-70 Days Ago:
My answer here would be “Maybe”. You can claim your domain back. But in most cases, you won’t be able to. The domain could potentially be already sold and went under a new ownership.
Starting at the 41th day after expiration, The domain goes into the redemption grace period. And it lasts for additional 30 days. During it, you still can redeem the domain name (with an extra fee of $100 or more).
The chances are very low here because it’s very possible to be already sold. Domain registrars partner with domain marketplaces such as; SnapNames and NameJet.
The expired domains will go into auctions on these sites. If the domain has been sold and not yet redeemed by you, It will definitely be pushed over to the winner of the auction.
Domain Expired – 71-75 Days Ago:
This period is called “Pending Deletion”. The domain is pending to be completely deleted. It will then be publicly available to anyone to register it at the regular registration rate.
During the “Grace Redemption Period”, It could have been already sold to bidders. If so, the domain ownership will go over to the winner of the auction.
In case it haven’t received any bids, the domain name will go back to be available at the regular registration fee. And anyone – including you – can register it from scratch.
What If Someone Else Own My Domain:
You may not even realize that domain has expired, unless you found out that someone else already bought it. It hurts but happens! And you’ve got left with a few routes here.
You may shoot the new owner an email of interest. Just ask him if the domain is for sale. Hopefully, he is willing to sell it at a reasonable price. Otherwise, you’ve got nothing to do as it has a new owner now!
You still can fill a UDRP to dispute the domain. But honestly, I don’t think it may work claiming your domain back. This could only work for big registered companies and trademarks.
Conclusion:
Expired domain re-claiming is not easy. Within the first 20 days after expiration, you can easily renew your domain and claim it back. After that, it starts to become harder and harder.
And it happens that you wake up one morning to find it already sold to someone else. People should be very cautious about monitoring their domain expiration dates.
Another good way to keep it secured is to set an auto-billing. This will ensure the domain will automatically be renewed every year. It all goes on an auto-pilot this way!
That was all about the Domain Expired & how to get it back. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear back from you.
