My .com domain is expiring in a few weeks. I do not want to renew with the same company. If I wait until the expiration date, can I renew with a different company? Is the domain instantly released the day of the expiration date? I do not want to risk losing the domain. I tried to transfer my domain but the company will not unlock it without a $60 fee.
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is the domain instantly released the day of the expiration date?
No there is a grace period, then redemption period, pending delete then the domain name is deleted and becomes available for registration again. The process could take up to 75+ days. The problem is that there is intense 'dropcatching' activity, any domain name that is remotely interesting will be snapped by somebody else within milliseconds. And everybody can see the lists of dropping domains, so don't expect that the drop will go unnoticed.
In short: allowing your domain name to expire is very dangerous.
I do not want to risk losing the domain.
Then do not take any chance. Do not wait until it expires to renew it.
I tried to transfer my domain but the company will not unlock it with out a $60 fee.
I don't think a lot of registrars have such a fee. Surprisingly this is allowed by Icann, see: #9: My registrar is charging me a fee to transfer to a new registrar. Is this allowed? But the fact that such a fee exists is a good reason to leave that registrar imo. I am willing to bet that the annual fees are not competitive either. So by transferring to a better registrar you may save money in the long run.
Kate
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I tried to transfer my domain but the company will not unlock it with out a $60 fee.
Unfortunately, this is the problem and needs to be resolved. Why will the company not unlock it without a fee? There shouldn't be a "fee" to unlock the domain, unless maybe the contact details have recently changed (although I'm not sure that the registrar can do much about this anyway, since it is a restriction imposed by the registry/ICANN). Or it's something that has been in the registrar's T&Cs from the beginning?
The domain needs to be unlocked before it can be transferred to a different registrar. (You will also need an EPP code.) However, if you have recently changed the contact details of the registrant on the domain then you will need to wait 3 months before it can be unlocked and transferred.
If I wait til the expiration date, can I renew with a different company?
If you wait until the expiry date then you can transfer it to a different registrar and "renew with a different company", however, you will likely experience some downtime. And you need to clarify with the current registrar that the current $60 "unlock fee" will not still be in force. But you will likely need to have already unlocked the domain and acquired an EPP code (required by the new registrar) prior to expiry.
Ordinarily, the domain should be transferred some days (preferably weeks) before expiry.
is the domain instantly released the day of the expiration date?
No. With .com domains they go into a 42 day "grace period" after expiry, during which time they can still be renewed at no additional cost (unless the current registrar is imposing additional fees for some reason). No one else can register the domain during this period. You can also transfer the domain during this time as well. But, as mentioned above, you will likely need to have already unlocked the domain and acquired an EPP code prior to expiry.
After the "42 day grace period", it's still not "released" but there will be additional costs involved in renewing the domain (imposed by the registry/ICANN).
MrWhite
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