Have you been watching a domain names expire date that is registered with the domain name registrar Godaddy.com and hoping it will expire and you can "get it"? Maybe you wonder what happens to a domain name when it expires at Godaddy.com? In this article I will provide all the details you need to know and understand about expired domain names registered with the worlds largest domain name registrar Godaddy.com .
Godaddy has an in-house domain name auction service and all of its expired domain names end up there. The expired domain names are exclusive to only GoDaddy Auctions. The name used for this part of it’s site is call Godaddy Auctions and is located under the "Auctions" tab on thesite.
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 in the auction section. 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 and will be a no reserve auction with a low starting bid of $12 USD. Member listed domain names sale type will include Buy Now , Offer/Counter Offer or Offer/Counter Offer with Buy Now and will be priced in a wide range.
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, so the below should help you.
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. Godaddy states "approximately 10 days after auction close"
- Total time: 45 days after the expire date that the sale is final
I know the math doesn’t add up above, but the domain names that I get after winning an expired auction is 5-7 days after the auction ends. That is 40-42 days by my math, but the legal docs via GoDaddy state the expired domain sale is final 45 days after the expire date. Keep in mind that the previous owner has all those days to still use redemption to renew the domain name (see fees below). 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 (Update: prices have since changed to $11). 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). If no bids are are placed and the buy it now isn’t used, the domain name should follow the normal drop process and be released from the registry on the 76th day after expiration date. This can vary a little bit.
Redemption time frame and fees
If you happen to be the owner of an expired domain name that is registered at GoDaddy, the following are the fees and time frames of those fees to use the redemption option.
GoDaddy gets a bit "sneaky" IMO and removes the expired domain name from your GoDaddy account on the 18th day after expiring. Even though it will not cost you anything other than the renewal fee, you will have to call GoDaddy to renew the domain after the 18th day after expiration. I think this should happen after the 25th day! You will also have to add on the domain renewal fee to the late fee charges.. 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 sould 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 and holidays. Each auction will specifically show it’s ending time, with time zones being PDT.
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.
Michael Bilde
I agree that when auctions are over, the previous owner rarely renews before the domain is handed over to the highest bidder.
But it seems quite often that when really good names attract a lot of bidders, the auction is never brought to an end. Like with serious.com that you use as an example above, the old owner has now renewed it and the auction is off.
I suspect that many domainers try to contact these owners with offers, thereby making them aware that they are about to loose the name…
poker-pauly
Thanks for the very interesting and informative post.
Interestingly I recently was watching a former GoDaddy registered domain name (pokerpauly.com) so I phoned them to inquire about the process and they were absolutely no help and didn’t inform me about any of this info you’ve shared with us.
The only thing the customer service rep wanted to know was what domain I was interested in… of course I just laughed at him and said no way would I alert them to what URL I was watching.
Jamie Zoch
Glad I could be of some help! I hear you when it comes to talking with customer service reps… you are better off talking to a wall!
Patrick McDermott
“You will also have to add on the domain renewal fee. The prices stated above are only the redemption fees.”
Just as a reminder:
If available, a GoDaddy coupon code can be used to lower the renewal fee portion of the domain’s total price.
Ms Domainer
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Good info!
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Josh
There is a lot more to this than I thought. Thanks for breaking it down. So is this right… if I bought the domain on the 5th day of the Fire Sale for $5, I will end up paying $5 + $10.69 (renewal fee)?
Jamie Zoch
You are correct Josh. Auction price + Domain renewal fee. You can always look for a domain name renewal coupon as well. gdb776 seems to always work. It lowers “renewal” down closer to $8 for .com’s but works for .net, .org and likely others. Put it into the discount code section in your cart and make sure to hit Apply.
Clara
Hi, thanks for the information.
Just a question, is it the same with domain names registered by GoDaddy in its own registrar?
I hope to get an answer soon. Thanks.
Jamie Zoch
@Clara,
I am not sure I fully understand your question?
Clara
Hi Jamie Zoch, thanks for replying.
The article you write here touch on cases whereby people who registered their domain names with GoDaddy as their registrar and didn’t renew them and allow their registration to expire and GoDaddy will then puts them up for auction right?
What I want to know is if the process applies to domain names owners which are owned by Godaddy and not by any other person?
Thanks for reading my comment and hope to hear from you soon.
Jamie Zoch
Yes, any domain name that is registered with Godaddy.com or any of its resellers (WildWestDomains, BlueRazor etc) no matter who owns the domain, if it reaches expired status and follows the normal process will reach the auction if not renewed.
Clara
Yes, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate your article as I have been searching around for answers. Keep up the great work.
Dave
Good article, I was going to ask a question, but it has already been answered in the comments! Keep up the good work!
Mark
Thanks so much for the info.
Can someone explain how Godaddy’s backorder option enters into this process?
Wallace
thanks for the introduction, next time i know how to deal with a expired domain name.
John Humphrey
Hi Jamie,
Revisiting this post around a domain I’m interested in and very much appreciating the great info.
Jamie Zoch
Glad to hear the info is helping you out John! Any questions, just let me know.
kevin
my domain expired just 20 days ago, and its asking for $80 redemption fee, what should I do. please help.
Jamie Zoch
@Kevin,
Call GoDaddy and tell them to stop ripping you off! You can renew the domain yet for normal renewal fees, they simply pull the domain from your account to “easily” prevent you from doing it. Place the call and you should be good.