Jamie’s site, DotWeekly.com fell off the internet. Fortunately for us, I was able to find some of his posts available at archive.org. Things may have changed since Jamie published this.
Have you been watching a domain names expire date that is registered with the domain name registrar Godaddy.com and hoping it will expire? Maybe you wonder what happens to a domain name when it expires at Godaddy.com? In this post I will provide all the details you need to know and understand about expired domain names registered with the domain name registrar Godaddy.com .
Godaddy has an in-house domain name auction service and all of it’s expired domain names end up there. The name used for this part of it’s site is call Godaddy Auctions.
Type Of Auctions
There is not only expired domain names at Godaddy Auctions. There is a mix of expired domain names and domain names listed by members. By clicking on a domain (at auction) you can clearly see what type of listing it is by looking at the Sale Type. If the sale type is Expired, then it is an expired domain name auction. Member listed domain names sale type will include Buy Now , Offer/Counter Offer or Offer/Counter Offer with Buy Now.
Expire Timeline
If you happen to be watching a specific domain name using the whois system and the expire date is coming up, when may the domain name reach auction? The first thing you need to understand is that many people wait until the last minute to renew. The expire date is a little deceiving as well.
If the expire date is reached:
- 25 days after the expire date is when the auction would start
- Auction length is 10 days
- You receive the domain 5-7 days after that
Keep in mind that the previous owner has all those days to still use redemption to renew the domain name. If you win the auction, pay for the domain name and the old owner uses the redemption option, you get a refund from Godaddy and the old owner keeps the domain name! This does happen but not very much when the auction runs it’s full process. The domain name is more likely to get renewed during the 10 day auction if at all.
If no bids are placed during the auction, Godaddy then runs a Fire Sale on the domain name. The first day of the fire sale, the domain is priced at $9 buy it now. The second day if not purchased is $8 and all the way down to $5 on the 5th day of fire sale. Each domain purchased is the price of the auction + domain name renewal fees (normal renewal fees).
Redemption time frame and fees
If you happen to be the owner of an expired domain name, the following are the fees and time frame of those fees to use the redemption
Days Late 1 – 25 is $0
Days Late 26 – 32 is $20
Days Late 33(plus) is $80
You will also have to add on the domain renewal fee. The prices stated above are only the redemption fees.
Auto Renew Period
So you were watching a specific domain name and it reached the expire date but when you checked the domain name whois again, it “looks like” the domain name was renewed for another year? This is likely Auto Renew Period. A domain name registrar that auctions expired domain name will automatically extend renewal for one year, so they can auction off the domain name. Although the auto renew function is used, the auto renew can be removed by the domain name registrar and the domain name can continue the expiring process if no bids are place on the domain name.
If no bids were placed during the auction and the old owner did not renew, on the 71st day after the expire date, the domain name status would turn to PendingDelete. The PendingDelete status lasts for 5 days. On the 76th day the domain name will be removed from the registry and be available for public registration.
Small Tid Bits
Q.) What if somebody wins the auction and doesn’t pay?
A.) If you were the second highest bidder, Godaddy will ask if you would still like to purchase the domain and the bid price will be lowered to the point where you would of won the auction if the highest bidder didn’t bid it up.
Q.) Are the answers above for all TLD’s?
A.) No. They cover the most popular like .com, .net and .org. The auction process may differ a little depending on some specific TLD’s.
Q.) How do I tell if an expired domain name is in Auto Renew status?
A.) For Godaddy, if you visit the domain name directly in your address bar (direct navigation), on the top of the screen it will say the domain name expired on a specific date and is pending renewal or deletion like below
That is the best way to tell if the domain name is still expired or not as Auto Renew does not always show up in whois data. I have seen autorenew in .org whois records but not for .com or .net domains.
Q.) What time do Godaddy Auction end at?
A.) Godaddy auctions end at all different times of the day, even on weekends. Each auction will specifically show it’s ending time.
I hope this answers some or all of the questions you may have that are not always displayed very clearly. If I happened not to answer your question, please feel free to contact me or post a comment below and I will reply.
