What happens when a domain expires?

When Does a Domain Expire?

When you register your domain (e.g. imanilife.com), you purchase the right to use that domain for as long as you keep the registration active.

• Domain registration terms are annual so your domain will need to be renewed each year.
• For a new domain registration, the expiration date will fall annually on the date of purchase.
• If you transferred a domain from a previous provider to a new registrar, the domain is automatically renewed for one year when the transfer completes. The expiration date is still based on the original registration date, not the date of the transfer.
• If you are not sure when your domain expires, you can check on your Purchase Report or your Orders page. 

We strongly urge our users to renew their domains in a timely fashion. Once they expire, it can be difficult or impossible to obtain them again.

• Expired domains aren’t necessarily released back into the pool of available domains.
• Additional fees may apply to recover an expired domain.
• In some cases, it may not be possible to recover or re-purchase domains.

We will notify you of the upcoming expiration several times via email (generally 28 days prior to expiration and again 5 to 7 days prior to expiration.) If your domain is not renewed, we will also notify you via email within three days after expiration.

Reminder notification emails will be sent to the email address you provided at the time of establishing your account, ONLY where your domain was registered by CDC Web Design.

What Happens When My Domain Expires?

Once a domain expires, it goes through a series of steps that make it increasingly difficult (and more expensive) to renew. The different steps are listed below:

Grace Period

For most TLDs, an expired domain falls into a grace period for about ten days to two weeks. During this short window, the domain can be renewed at the regular price, along with our service fee. Even then, in some cases there might be some difficulty renewing your domain during this grace period. This simple renewal now extends into additional support time which is billed hourly.

Expiry Auction

Some domains may be flagged to be placed into an expiry auction at the end of the Grace Period. During the Grace Period, the domains may still be renewed as normal. Once the Grace Period has ended, the domain will be in an active auction. This active auction period normally lasts two to three weeks. During the active auction, it is not possible to renew, transfer, or make any other changes to the domain. If a domain is not sold at auction, it will enter the Redemption Period.

Redemption Period

After the grace period ends, your domain enters the redemption period, the length of which can vary. This means the domain name can still be renewed, but there is an USD $80.00 redemption fee required in addition to the normal renewal cost. (This is standard practice for domain registrars, and can be quoted for as much as USD $85.00 at some registrars.)

If you made a payment in an attempt to reclaim the domain out of redemption and were unsuccessful, you will get a refund. The redemption fee is non-refundable in the case of a successful redemption, should you decide to cancel the domain after it is redeemed.

Please note that redemption fees are non-refundable unless the redemption process fails.

Domain Released

If a domain is not redeemed by the original registrant, the domain is usually then returned to the pool of available domain names and can be registered again on a first-come, first-served basis. However, it is common for back-order companies to wait for domains to be released and purchase them the moment they become available. There may also be another individual who likes the domain waiting to buy it.

This means that even if your domain is released, another party can purchase it before you get the chance to. While your redemption costs are refundable, our service charges are not.

Please Remember

Keep in mind that once your domain expires, it can be unavailable for up to 90 days. Once it goes back on the market, anyone can register it. You should never allow a domain to expire unless you are fully done with it and never want to use it again.

If you would prefer to use your domain with a new host, do not cancel the domain registration. Instead, either connect or transfer the domain to a new registrar. Let us know what you’d like to do, regarding your domain transfer request.