Domain Renewal Guide
How to manage renewals across a portfolio, what happens when domains expire, and how to avoid losing domains you want to keep.
Renewal basics
Domains are registered for 1–10 years at a time. When the registration period ends, you need to renew or the domain expires and eventually becomes available for others to register.
Most registrars send renewal reminders 90, 60, and 30 days before expiration. Don't rely solely on these emails - keep your own records, especially if you have a large portfolio.
Auto-renew settings
Auto-renew is the safest option for domains you want to keep. It charges your payment method automatically before expiration. The risk is renewing domains you no longer want - which wastes money.
- Enable auto-renew for: Domains you're actively holding, domains generating income, domains with significant value.
- Disable auto-renew for: Domains you're planning to drop, domains you're actively trying to sell (so you don't renew if they don't sell).
- Keep payment info current: Auto-renew fails silently if your card is expired. Check your payment method annually.
- Review your portfolio annually: Decide which domains to keep, sell, or drop before renewal season.
What happens when a domain expires
Expiration isn't instant deletion. There's a multi-stage process that gives you time to recover a domain before it's gone.
Expiration
The domain stops resolving. Your website and email go down. The domain is still in your account.
Grace period (0–30 days)
You can renew at the standard renewal price. The domain is still yours - just not active.
Redemption period (30–75 days)
The domain is removed from your account but can still be recovered. Redemption fees are steep - typically $80–$200 on top of the renewal cost.
Pending delete (75–80 days)
The domain is queued for deletion. You can't recover it at this stage.
Available for registration (80+ days)
The domain drops and becomes available for anyone to register. Drop catchers often grab valuable domains the moment they're released.
Drop catching
Drop catching is the practice of registering a domain the moment it becomes available after expiration. Services like DropCatch, SnapNames, and GoDaddy Backorder compete to catch domains for you.
If multiple people want the same dropping domain, it goes to auction. The winner pays the auction price. For valuable domains, this can get competitive quickly.
Renewal cost management
Renewal costs add up fast with a large portfolio. A 100-domain portfolio at $12/year average is $1,200/year just to hold. Be intentional about what you keep.
- Audit annually: Drop domains that haven't sold and don't have realistic prospects. Sunk cost isn't a reason to keep renewing.
- Multi-year registration: Some registrars offer discounts for 2–5 year registrations. Useful for domains you're confident about.
- Consolidate registrars: Managing renewals across 5 registrars is harder than managing them at 1–2. Consolidation reduces missed renewals.
- Track in a spreadsheet: Maintain a list of all domains with expiration dates, renewal costs, and status. Review it quarterly.
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