In a recent post I discussed some basic pointers that will help you protect your domain name and keep it from falling side-long into a reseller pool. Some of my readers may find themselves in the unfortunate position of being too late to the party with an expired domain name and both their website and email down for the count. Additionally, they may be faced with the unenviable task of trying to rescue their domain name from the clutches of the unsavory, the dishonest and/or the incompetent Registrar. Today’s article will give you some tips and strategies for rescuing your domain name after expiration as well as what to do once you have regained control.
Too often, website owners discover that their domain name has expired because their mail and or website suddenly stops working. The situation quickly becomes a crisis as work grinds to a halt and everyone scrambles to figure out next steps. If you find yourself in this situation, the first step is to determine which Registrar is currently holding your name and whether you have or can retrieve your login credentials. Your webhost and domain name Registrar may be the same company but in many cases, they are not.
All Registrars are required by the terms of their contracts with ICANN to provide Whois lookup on their websites. If you are not sure where your domain name is registered, a Whois lookup on the Network Solutions website will often provide the information. Because Network Solutions owns and maintains the ‘root servers’ for many common TLDs (the letters AFTER the dot – .com, .net, .info and so on….) their lookup is generally the most complete and informative, especially in alerting you to where your name is actually registered.
Note whether you are still named as the Registrant or not. If there is anything in the Registrant information that indicates your Registrar has either taken control of your name or allowed someone else to do so, you may already be in the Reseller Pool. Check who is now providing DNS for your domain name – circled at the bottom of the image. If it contains words like “reseller” or “transfer, this can also indicate your name has gone into the pool.
What happens next varies, depending on whether you know who the Registrar is and if you have or can retrieve login credentials. Some Registrars, notably Network Solutions (SRS Plus – my Registrar – is an affiliated subsidiary of Network Solutions I use to manage my client’s domain names…) and GoDaddy give you a 30-day window from the date of expiration to login and retrieve you domain name. Others put your domain name into the pool at one minute after expiration, allowing squatters to buy it and hold it for resale to you at a much higher price than renewal would have cost.
If you find your domain name in the pool but you are at one of the decent registrars AND you know how to login (or can retrieve the login via email), you can resolve the situation pretty quickly by logging in and renewing your domain name, which will bring your website and email back online within 24 hours – often sooner. I strongly recommend that you renew your name for three to five years so you don’t have the worry and hassle of dealing with this situation once a year.
If you are at a less trustworthy Registrar – Tucows affiliates, eNom and Register.com are just a few of the MANY Registrars that I have found unsavory and untrustworthy over the years, you may have a problem that requires professional help to solve – especially because in the case of TuCows, they do not work directly with clients – they have a host of affiliates like BuyYerDomainCheep.com (fictional!) and it can be very hard to figure out who actually provides access to your domain name information. Time is of the essence in these situations as your name may already be in the pool or going there shortly – if you find yourself in this situation, contact me RIGHT AWAY!
If you are fortunate enough to be able to access your name and renew it, consider transferring it to a better Registrar. If your name has gone into the pool and someone has purchased it with the intent of reselling it to you, you have a serious problem. First, you need to consider the cost of buying your name back versus the cost of rebranding your website and email. For some, this is not a huge hurdle. For others, it is a massive headache. You will need to factor this in because whomever has pulled your name out of the pool is free to set the price for repurchase – I had a client in this situation many years ago and the reseller wanted $950 to sell it back to him. This is perfectly legal and there is nothing you can do but either play their game or buy another name and start over. You must be VERY CAREFUL if you decide to engage with the reseller. I strongly encourage you to engage either an attorney, a third-party escrow service or both as I have seen people get seriously burned in these situations, losing both their domain name and their money in the process. Obviously, the best course of action is to not end up having to make these tough decisions – please check out my prior article about protecting your domain name and if you need help or advice – or want me to put your name into my Registrar account (you retain ownership, I provide protection…) for safe-keeping, please contact me before your name expires so we can work through your next steps.
I hope you find this article about the difficulty of untangling your domain name scary enough to take action today to protect your valuable intellectual property TODAY.
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