Wondering why a domain expired but is not available yet on the market? This article will answer that question and clear up some other confusing aspects like how much money you need for buying an expired domain.
To know when expired domains are made available, it’s important to understand what occurs to a domain name when it expires.
Each domain has a registration date and an expiration date. The owner can register their domain name for a period of 1 to 10 years. An active domain expires around midnight on the last day before the expiry.
The owner can renew their domain name with the registrar before it expires. If they let it expire or forget to pay the renewal fee, an expired domain name can cause other problems.
So, back to the original question, “Why is a domain expired but not available?”.
An expired domain may not be immediately available to the general public because registrars typically give registrants a grace period, which typically lasts for 30 days after the expiration date, so they can renew the domain name. Depending on the extension, a domain can remain expired or in redemption status for months.
During this time, the registrant can still restore their ownership of the domain by renewing it. The expired domain name becomes available for registration when the original registrant doesn’t renew the domain.
An expired domain can be registered on a first-come, first-served basis when it becomes available. If it isn’t available, a buyer can place a backorder for the domain to automatically be in line to get it.
It is recommended that a buyer use multiple backorder services to increase their chances of winning a domain. The fastest service gets the domain, so choosing the right service is important. The good news is that most backorder services will only ask for a fee if they are successful in securing an expired domain for a customer.
If multiple people send a backorder for the same domain, the backorder service will conduct a private auction to decide who will get the expired domain name.
Here are some reputable platforms that actively offer backorder services.
A registrar will email the owner when a domain will expire. Most registrars may also offer an automatic renewal option, so registrants can rest assured that their registration account is always current.
A registrant can also check the status of their domain using a WHOIS lookup tool. WHOIS data contains information on the domain’s owner, including their contact details and the registrar’s contact information. It will also display data on when the domain name was purchased and when it will expire.
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that the registrant can only renew the expired domain without paying additional fees if they do it within the grace period the registrar sets.
The length of the grace period will also rely on the top-level domain or TLD (.com, .org, or.net). Following this timeframe, the domain will enter the redemption period, which requires the owner to pay a redemption fee to buy back the domain.
After the redemption period ends, it means the domain will enter the forthcoming delete period. It will remain in this phase for approximately 5 days, after which the expired domain’s WHOIS record will be deleted. A domain on the pending delete list won’t be available to the public yet.
A new registrant should wait for the domain to go through the grace period and redemption period before acquiring it. Combined, these two periods can last from a couple of weeks to over a year.
New registrants then have to wait for the pending delete period to end and see if the registrar will put the expired domain up for auction in the open market. They can bid on it and win if they make the highest offer or pay a fixed price.
Domains aren’t permanently deleted from the Internet. The registrant can only terminate a name registration. After that, the former name is available for others to buy and own.
Do you have any more questions about how expired names work and when they’re available to buy? Let’s answer them here.
If no one buys an expired name when it becomes available, the registry can take it back. The registry will decide when it will be released again for a new owner to register.
An expired domain cannot be immediately available to the public when it expires. That’s because the registrar will hold it in a redemption period for a certain amount of time to give its current registrant the chance to renew their ownership.
Domains may remain in this state for weeks or months, depending on the type of domain name.
The registry will mark a name as expired, and its nameservers will be changed to parking nameservers. Its associated email address and website will also cease to work.
The name will be displayed on the registrar’s domain list with grace, followed by the expired status. If it isn’t reactivated, it will enter the redemption period, and the owner can redeem it by paying additional fees.
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