7mo ago

Forgot to pay my domain for a year and now I have to spend £2200 ($3000) if I want to get it back

I guess this is a cautionary tale.

I was recently having issues with my Gmail account that's tied to my Epik ( a domain registrar ) account, so when I was supposed to renew my domain, I didn't receive any e-mails about it. When I decided to randomly check on my website, it seemed to be down. So I checked Epik and a domain that usually cost £15 a year to renew now cost £400 to renew as it was expired.

As a teenager who does not have £400 to spend on a domain, I decided to just wait until the domain fully expired and buy it for a cheaper price.

After some time, the domain fully expired and GoDaddy decided to buy it as soon as it did, and charged me £2,225 to renew the domain. I don't understand how a price that large is justified, considering that my website gets barely any visitors and I basically only use the domain for hosting stuff. No idea how hiking prices this much is legal

113 comments

Sorry, but chalk this up to lesson learned. It's almost always been this way. Domain squatters will do this all the time. In fact, some domain registrars will use you searching their site for an 'available' domain, and if you don't buy it up right away -- will buy it and hike the price and sit on it for years in order to lock it down, knowing you wanted it.
btw, Namecheap says Sunglocto dot com is like $10 - so just register a .com. Not through that Epik piece of shit that you used before. Legit, use Namecheap; they've never done me wrong and have been my registrar for more than a decade now.
- Time to register that domain before OP gets it…
  
  Gohddzsx?
- Have also had good experience using namecheap for years.
  
  Thirded for Namecheap.
  
  Namecheap is alright, but Cloudflare only charges at cost with no markup.
- So search for a lot of domains at random to cost them some money?
  
  Absolutely. But I think it might be more advanced than that. They might have some sort of analytics that measures how long people stay on the page, etc to inform their purchasing decisions.
- Namecheap has extra rules if you want to use an API (minimum money spent with them, minimum of domains managed with them etc.) — GoDaddy style.
  Keep that in mind, if you need an API (for DDNS or for obtaining wildcard TLS certificates) you'll have to use a separate service for DNS.
  
  You really should have separate services for registration, DNS and hosting. That way you’re not held hostage by a single provider.
  
  DDNS with Namecheap is as simple as hitting a URL with a /GET request from the IP you want it to point to. No limitations. No special requirements.
  
  I have a script running that uses the Namecheap API to automatically get wildcard certs from Let's Encrypt. I didn't pay a dime for this. Did something change?
- +1 for namecheap. They've been reliable and fair to me for years.

Got a work related variant, a 3 letter domain we really liked was registered by a person asking a couple of hundred bucks or so. Which really was a good deal and we were more then happy to pay.
Our IT department advised guiding the transfer themselves. Instead our marketing department went ahead anyway and just agreed to "you end your subscription and after that we register it" ... instead of using transfer codes.
In the minutes between, a bulk claimer snatched it away.
- OMG. I can't believe the marketing department was that inept. Tragic
  
  Honestly I believe it. I had a VP of sales / marketing overriding requirements making them more difficult from the CEO after getting screamed at by the CEO who wanted the product (bono project) to be quick and easy for initial release.
  He also ordered IT garbage for a site once (consumer PCs running Windows not server edition)
  And to top it all off went behind supervisors backs in engineering departments asking for daily spreadsheets trackong their time because "if you can go to the bathroom you have time for this.
  All leadership was toxic though like the CEO screaming at him lol.
- LMAO they really are inept 🤦‍♂️

After some time, the domain fully expired and GoDaddy decided to buy it as soon as it did, and charged me £2,225 to renew the domain. I don't understand how a price that large is justified, considering that my website gets barely any visitors and I basically only use the domain for hosting stuff. No idea how hiking prices this much is legal
GoDaddy is known to do that.
Technically, they're not hiking the price. GoDaddy ~~bought~~ scalped it after it expired and then is re-selling it at an astronomically higher price. It's one of the many, many reasons people hate them.
I'm ashamed to say I still have a couple of domains with GD that I haven't migrated yet. This post might just light a fire under me to get that done.

tldr - lesson learned. buy a new domain and move over to it.
but for those who want to learn something new - you are only renting your domains. If you fail to pay by the registration date then you generally get a grace period to pay more money to renew it. If you fail to pay before that period expires then the domain will be released. Some companies like godaddy will automatically buy the domain for another year (or more). But even if Godaddy doesn't then it still goes up on a list of expiring domains and there are backorder services that will try to buy the domain or auction them off.
So in the end it doesn't really matter what registrar you use. If you do not pay, it goes back to a list where people can see it is expiring and then you'll get some people who either want to legitimately use that domain or more likely they are wanting to try to sell it to you or someone else for more than they buy it for.
And I saw someone mention file a complaint. I'm sorry to say that if you did not have money to renew the domain then you aren't going to be able to do that either. This is called Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the fee is between $1500-4000 for 1 to 5 domains.. Additionally, just because you file a complaint does not mean the issue will be resolved favorably or timely. These complaints can last years, and there is no guarantee you will get the domain back.
This is why you should always pay your domain rental fee. And if you don't, then you need to either be willing to pay a ton of money to get it back or you will need to move on. Sorry its a tough lesson to learn but if you're just a student then you probably weren't using this to run a business or anything so in the end you are quite fortunate.

Make an offer of $0.01. Assuming the responses aren't automated, every time they reject it, raise the offer by 1c. Keep doing it till you hit the $15 mark and then just stop. It could waste literal years of their time.
- Reminds me of a guy I knew who kept getting letters for a $10 parking fine he got while at university. He waited until they spent more in postage than the fine before paying it.
  
  My last year of uni I was broke. The previous year the parking passes had red letters, that year purple. That was the only difference. The colour. I traced over all the letters of my previous parking pass with a blue sharpie and parked for free all year.

I have my dream domain. It was being squatted for a similar amount. I offered £100 and it was declined, I offered £250 and they replied to tell me the domain is easily worth the £2K, well sort after etc. I told them that this is my surname, and I'm not a corporation with unlimited funds and they can take the offer or leave it. 15 minutes later the offer was accepted. I was so happy. Still am chuffed about it.
- Where does the surname nooblet hail from?
  
  Nooblandia
  
  Dang, I used to use Nooblet when playing crysis wars a long time ago. All the flying tanks kind of ruined it after a while, but it was nice to find a moderated server running Savanah and Battleground which had the Helis and VTOLs…

Aaahh capitalism. This is what business school graduates call "innovation" and "smart".
But seriously, I'm sorry that happened to you. It's predatory, abusive, and wrong.

I simply don't get why domain squatting is legal. On my ccTLD it is absolutely illegal meaning you have to forfeit the domain if you don't use it anymore.
- Just because you don't have a website up at [XYZ].com doesn't mean you're not using it. You could have a domain controller on the back end doing file services, or you could be using it for network auth, etc. Not all .coms exist for the purpose of putting up a website.
  
  Neither do .dk domains, but in order to determine use the courts will have to be involved. I haven't heard about a lot of those cases, but I'd guess you can prove use against the person who wants to take the domain. If I have a domain called firstnamelastname.dk it'd be pretty easy to show that I got a mail address at contact@firstnamelastname.dk that's in use.
  
  I own 8 domains. Only one has HTTP/S ports open. The rest are for email and other services.
  
  Yep. I have one registered for professional email. I don't host anything else.
- I believe most regulated ccTLDs (not the ones sold to the higher bigger) actually do that.
- I've been wanting a ccTLD domain that's unused for a few years. The registrar suspended the domain (required contacts not updated) and put up a standard suspended notice, but doesn't release the domain.
  I guess the owner is a domain squatter and keeps paying the bill, so the registrar keeps getting paid. Easy money

Don't pay this! You just reinforce their predatory practices. How renewals at much higher prices are allowed - no clue!
Something similar happened to a company I know - it expired and was immediately bought by domain squatters, when they found them they were told that it couldn't be sold back because the squatter had paid $XXXX for and had big plans (I assume it was BS, just a premise to get paid - no site was ever put on the domain)
Solution: they bought the .org version and bought the .com back a year later.
edit:grammar

I knew GoDaddy is somehow involved as soon as I saw the title.
- network solutions does this too, search a domain on their site, comeback a month and now they own it and will sell it to you of course. not sure if they still do,but I know for fact they did years back.

Buy a different domain. Let them pay for this one until the end of time.

This happened to me years ago (the .com of my full name). I kept checking in at expiry date for 3 years and they eventually let it expire, so I bought it back for normal price.
- This ☝️it happened to me and to a close friend, if you are reselient and can wait it is possible to but it back at regular price
  
  Hopefully it’s not a common last name + a first name that suddenly became popular, could imagine it getting scooped by someone else.

You can file a complaint if they just squat on it. Godaddy is terrible
- I've always wondered how well that actually works. Anyone go through this process?
  
  I tried to get a squatted .UK domain through this process. Nominet are the authority for these domains. After acknowledging the request to both parties, I am then asked to pay £100 to assign a mediator. I guess this puts off frivolous requests, but it put me off going further.

Damn you reminded me to check my gmail and there was a domain renewal reminder, thanks!

Lesson learned, they regularly do this if you have a website that one of their crawlers hit as active. If you really care about it check in about a year later, chances are if you havent inquired within a year they'll release the domain and you can pay normal sale price for it

Now would be a good time to look for a .com you like, or one of the more common TLDs. And register it at Namecheap, Porkbun, or Cloudflare. (Cloudflare is cheapest but all-eggs-in-one-basket is a concern for some.)
Sadly, all the cheap or fun TLDs have a habit of being blocked wholesale, either because the cheap ones are overused by bad actors or because corporate IT just blacklists “abnormal” TLDs (or only whitelists the old ones?) because it’s “easy security”.
Notably, XYZ also does that 1.111B initiative, selling numbered domains for 99¢, further feeding the affordability for bad actors and justifying a flat out sinkhole of the entire TLD.
I got a three character XYZ to use as a personal link shortener. Half the people I used it with said it was blocked at school or work. My longer COM poses no issue.
- Good news! .xyz is no longer the top malicious non-com/net/org domain.
  It's uh, .top now. https://www.spamhaus.org/reputation-statistics/gtlds/domains/
  
  So that explains why it's so cheap.

This was the plot to an episode of iCarly
- if only we listened to spencer's advice. always listen to spencer's advice.

After some time, the domain fully expired and GoDaddy decided to buy it as soon as it did,
Oh yeah, that's what happens when you pick scammy domain registrars. It is very possible that Epik auctioned your domain (after wall they kept it after the expiry date and payed fees) and then GoDaddy snatched it. This is what usually happens.
- Not just scammy
  Epik is an American domain registrar and web hostingcompany known for providing services to alt-tech websites that host far-right, neo-Nazi, and other extremist materials. It has been described as a "safehaven for the extreme right" because of its willingness to provide services to far-right websites that have been denied service by other Internet service providers.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epik
  I’m in no way surprised at what they did, and in fact only surprised that it wasn’t them that bought the expired domain, but instead was godaddy
  
  You’re missing the point, it wasn’t bought by godaddy. Epik auctioned the domain to godaddy after it expired, it’s common for registrars to sell domains to each other so they don’t get a bad reputation and make people think what you’re thinking.
  
  Great to know, wouldn’t wanna be associated with someone who seems to specialize in far-right businesses.
  Interesting, had to check and see: 4chan is registered with Cloudflare.
  A part of me would rather these baby Hitlers operating in the open in case it’s harder for the FBI to follow them around the dark web. Downside is clearnet makes it easier for low-braincell nazis to communicate. Woulda thought we’d have socially stomped out extremism by now so doing it technologically wouldn’t be necessary…
  Alas.

Recommendation: Cloudflare, register for 10 years, set to auto-renew every year. If anything goes wrong you get 9 years to fix your credit card info.
I'm sorry you lost your domain, that really sucks, thanks for sharing your cautionary tale with us all!

Sounds like you're in the UK, if so I'd recommend legit companies run by old nerds like Mythic Beasts: https://www.mythic-beasts.com/domains

It is either an extortion from your domain registrar or sometimes opportunistic domain squatters taking over your domain for a year or two. Check for how long it was registered a put a reminder to get it back
- Also, check back in a month. Sometimes a domain squatter will just never at, hopin to flip it before the registrar takes it back

Time to grab sungloc.to instead?
- sungloc.utus

That’s a horrible domain name anyways. .xyz is trash, the name itself is long, hard to pronounce and sounds like gibberish. Time for an upgrade.
- That's the second time I've seen someone cast xyz in a negative light. What's wrong with it? (Genuine question, in case it needs saying)
  
  It's just a hallmark of "I bought the cheapest domain name TLD available".
  That's not necessarily bad if all you need is something to get the job done, but there is a stereotype associated with it.
  
  It's commonly used by spammers, so it could cause issues if you're planning to use it for mail.
- .top is cheap right now and much easier to make into a phrase
  
  bottom.or.top

Hahaha. I purposely got a jibberish .xyz domain. If they ever ask for more than the $9.99 a year they can pound sand.
- If you don't mind using a gibberish .xyz domain, why not an 1.111B class? (6-9 digits.xyz for $0.99/year)

I’ve lost my domain too. It took me two years to get it back. Hopefully it won’t be squatted for long

I had a squatter get mylastname.com after my dad died. After a while I guess they noticed that I registered mylastname.net and orffered to sell me mylastname.com I didn't respond and they let it expire. I should probably register it.
- The .com of my last name is taken by an actual business. Fine, no issue there. The .net of my last name however is being squatted on by Hover, who seems to have done the same with tons of last name domains and are selling email addresses on them in the form of firstname@lastname.net. The .org of my last name is currently redirecting to the .xyz of my last name, which looks like a family's personal website that lists their address and phone number as a header at the top of the page.
- /me points to my lemmy domain, I also have
  <reallastname>
  .nz
  You should see the confused looks when I say firstname@lastname.nz and they reply with blueether@
  <reallastname>
  .nz and I say no... as I said it...

It's legal because they bought the domain and they can charge whatever price they want if you want to buy it from them.

I am sorry that happened to you
Thanks for sharing your story, though. I have a few domains, two of them being very important for me (one I use for all my emails, and the other one for all my self hosted stuff). So I'll be paying close attention to their renewal
I hope you can find another domain that you like and that you can transfer your stuff to it.

I'm glad I don't care about the domain name. Just something easy to remember but I can always change it and tell the fam.
- It’s important if you’re building a brand, or if you’re dumb like me and run your own email server
  
  Luckily for me I don't need many email addresses and zoho will do something like 5 for free on your domain. Do you dislike running the email server? I don't mind all the normal day-to-day upkeep of things, but is email some special kind of hell or something?
- If I ever changed my email domains I'd have to go change a lot of online accounts.

I had a domain I bought from Namecheap like a decade ago and they're still emailing me about the one I let expire lmao.

An .xyz domain? Nothing in that TLD is worth having, xyz domains are blacklisted by half the email providers by default.
- My emails seemed to go through pretty well. It's been blocked by Discord and steam. But other than that, emails seem to go through pretty well.

Wow, I'm glad I have auto-renew enabled.

I wonder how much sungloct0.xyz costs!?

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters

DNS Domain Name Service/System
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
IP Internet Protocol
3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 4 acronyms.
[Thread #877 for this sub, first seen 19th Jul 2024, 00:15] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

Fewer Letters	More Letters
DNS	Domain Name Service/System
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
IP	Internet Protocol

*any email

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