Domains and registrars

[jolibe]

What if I forgot to renew my domain on time? Does a registrar have the right to immediately block a domain? I thought I had some time to renew the domain. I found out now it costs $200 to restore.

[QIII]

They have the right to do whatever you agreed to.

It is not at all uncommon for them to hold the domain name without reassigning it, expecting that the owner will eventually show up to ask to get it back. And the fee is often a few hundred dollars. Eventually they will have to sell it again if it is unclaimed, of course. They don't like to have a domain name sitting around not making money any more than a mortgage company wants the liability of an empty house on the books. They'll work with you, but they are a business trying to make money.

I just have my registrar bill a credit card when the renewal comes due.

[CharlesA]

What if I forgot to renew my domain on time? Does a registrar have the right to immediately block a domain? I thought I had some time to renew the domain. I found out now it costs $200 to restore.

That is the part of how the domain registry itself handles expired domains and grace period that is in place for some domains.

Here's a decent article on how to validate if a domain can be recovered or not:
https://docs.gandi.net/en/domain_nam...w/restore.html

And the list of deadlines:
https://docs.gandi.net/en/domain_nam...eadlines-table

That may differ based on who your registrar is though.

They have the right to do whatever you agreed to.

It is not at all uncommon for them to hold the domain name without reassigning it, expecting that the owner will eventually show up to ask to get it back. And the fee is often a few hundred dollars. Eventually they will have to sell it again if it is unclaimed, of course. They don't like to have a domain name sitting around not making money any more than a mortgage company wants the liability of an empty house on the books. They'll work with you, but they are a business trying to make money.

I just have my registrar bill a credit card when the renewal comes due.

Same here. I've also get email notifications set up at my domain registrar who will email me when my domain is 90, 60, and 30 days from renewal/expiration.

[SeijiSensei]

I don't know if it's a standard policy, but my registrar, DirectNIC, has a 30-day grace period after the expiration date. You can renew for the standard $15 fee.

I'm not sure I understand how this extortion scheme works. If the domain has actually expired, you should be able to claim it once again if no one has snatched it up already. So did your provider re-register the name and now wants $200 to hand it back to you? Have you done a "whois" search for the domain? What organization is listed as the owner?

(On Linux, you can install the "whois" package, then run "whois domain.name" from the command prompt.)

[jolibe]

What domain zone are you talking about?

I'm talking about .net domain name

[QIII]

For .net, .com, .org, (gTLDs) my registrar has a 40 day grace period with no additional fee. After 40 days, they charge $150 to renew. Names are not returned to the pool immediately, but they are eventually.

Some ccTLDs (Country Top Level Domains) revert back to the pool immediately after 30 days. Germany (.de) for instance. You have to pay the new owner if it has been picked up.

gTLDs can each be subject to different rules, but since we are talking .net, I don't think anything extraordinary applies.

The bottom line is this: The registrar can charge whatever the purchaser agreed to. If the name has been returned to the pool and subsequently re-purchased, the new owner calls the shots. The registrar may attempt to help you get your domain back, but the new owner squatting on it may extract a painful price.

[plapladeni]

I have been using the domain name for the last 6 years. My registrar received a complaint about my domain name. The registrar decided to immediately block my domain without investigation. I have not been able to contact the registrator for 2 days, he simply doesn’t answer. What to do in this case?

[geekykhan]

For a late payment to my understanding most just charge a few hundred here and there.

To the person that has not been able to contact the registrator for days I would simply keep trying their chat/email options.. Hopefully they're in operation and just busy.

[kelod]

Perhaps you`re right. But I would not risk choosing a completely unverified registrar and focusing only on the price. Because the price can then change. Or, for example, domain names renewals will be too expensive. I chose https://pananames.com/ registrar 4 years ago. There is clear pricing here. And I immediately use the hosting that the registrar suggested. So far there was no reason to doubt.

[plapladeni]

Still, I will probably change the registrar.