Domain Name Renewal
Domain Names need to be renewed before they expire to avoid disruption to your company website or email. Unlike car registration, you will not be sent a domain name renewal letter in the mail. Domain name renewal notices are sent by email and therefore it is very important to ensure that your email address and other contact details are kept up to date. Unless you transfer your domain to another domain name registrar, you will continue to pay your domain name renewal to the company where you bought your domain name from.
You should renew your domain name before the expiry date but domain names can be renewed for a period of 30 days after the domain has expired. Though the rules may vary for different domain name extensions and it is best to renew the domain, if you want to keep it, as soon as you get your renewal notice and avoid any disruption to your email or hosting.
Domain Name Renewal for Global Domains
For global domain names, (which is administered by ICANN) if your domain is not renewed 30 days after it has expired, the domain name goes into redemption lock. You then have 30 days to renew your domain before your domain goes back to the public pool of available domain names. There is a fee associated with removing the domain from redemption lock. The fee is around US $200, so we strongly advise you to renew your domain before it goes into redemption lock to avoid this situation. If you do not want to pay the redemption fee, you can wait for the redemption period to expire, approximately 30-35 days and buy your domain back from the general pool BUT you may find that your domain is bought by somebody else before you are able to buy it back. Snatching expired domains is big business - so assume that if you don't renew your domain name, somebody else will.
Domain Name Monetization
Many people are unaware of the practice of monetizing domain names and although they may feel that they have no need for their domain name, the domain name itself may be valuable. Most registrars now offer some kind of premium domain name selling and the fact is, that many would not be concerned if you let your domain name lapse because they would make a truckload more money if you let your domain registration expire and they picked up and resold your domain name than if you renewed your domain name.
Some people may even think that if they let their domain expire, they may be able to register it again later. Often this is not true and if you you have inbound links to your site, good keywords in the domain or a high page rank, you may find that your domain has just become a prize catch for someone else. There are registrars who do not care that a customer's domain expires, because they know they can register that domain before it goes into the general pool and sell it for thousands, tens of thousands or more.
Renewal Notices
The first domain name renewal notice is sent 60 days before your domain name is set to expire and we strongly recommend that you renew your domain name as soon as you receive your first notice. You will also get additional notices, if you do not renew your domain name.
How do I know when my domain name is due to expire?
You will need to login to your domain name registrar and check when your domain name is due to expire. If you bought your domain or transferred your domain to Passion Computing, please login here.