ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) regulates domain registrations and sets prices. Visit www.internic.net to learn your rights as a consumer.
Domain Name Renewals
Do this early, before the expiration date.
Expiration
If you fail to renew, then your registration will be interrupted, and then your nameservers will be changed by the registrar. This means it will be a few days before you can see your site is down, and after you finally pay to renew, then it will be a few more days before you can see your site is up.
Redemption
The rules of redemption are different for every company. Here we discuss Shaw Web Hosting redemption.
After 29 days of being expired, you enter the redemption period. Now Shaw Web Hosting requires $60.00 plus the normal price to renew the domain name. HostGator will require you to pay this cost or register a different domain. (We make no profit on the redemption fee. The entire payment goes to the registratar.) This redemption period can last until the next expiration date or until the registrar auctions the domain to a higher bidder, whichever comes first. The registrar may also release the domain so that it can be registered again, but they will not announce when they do this, and they cannot be forced to do this.
Transfers
You always initiate the transfer with the new company (takes 5 to 7 days). There are many obstacles that make a valid domain registration transfer fail.
- If the time with your current registrar is less than 60 days, then you are not allowed to transfer yet. Note, if you just renewed your domain, you may still transfer because you were with the current registrar for more than a year.
- Your domain status is "locked". This is for your protection against false requests; just ask your current registrar to unlock your domain.
- Your whois information is incorrect or private. You must have your valid email listed as the Admin Contact Email so you can receive a confirmation letter from the current registrar; you must follow the instructions provided in the subsequent letter.
- An invalid EPP code ("Auth key") was provided. This is required for most domain names; you must get the EPP code from the current registrar and provide it to the new registrar. If you change any contact information or name servers with the previous registrar, you must get a new EPP code, because it may have changed.
- Domain name is in redemption. You must pay the current company before you may transfer.
Please initiate your domain registration transfers at least 1 month before the domain expires. This will give you a chance to fix any mistakes and re-initiate the transfer in time.
Normally, when you transfer your domain registration to a new registrar, you get an additional year added to your expiration date. However, if a domain expires, is renewed and then transferred between registrars within the first 45 days after the expiration date, the domain will not retain the original renewal year once the transfer completes (meaning your expiration date stays the same). This is a registry restriction and applies to all registrars.
