GoDaddy 'Transfer Fee' Gotta be kidding?

Taken from a post on the GoDaddy forums by a member of their staff...

"The $7.99 fee is a standard fee we charge towards transfers from another registrar to our services. Keep in mind other registrars offer similar transfer services for a fee as well.

One of the key things about a domain transfer is this includes your current registration time with the current registrar being moved over to our services. Once a transfer is successfully completed, we will add an additional year to that current registration time.

I cannot personally comment on the rates other registrars charge from registration renewals or transfers. But perhaps other members with experience with experiences with other registrars would be willing to share some feedback in this regard.

Christopher G."

Not sure about your problem though, best to contact them.

Use hostgator, I swear by them!!! Blows godaddy out of the water.

Everyone charges for a transfer. It is a "Push" that is free.

A transfer is required if the domain is moved to a new Registrar.

A Push is done moving between one account to another at the same Registrar.

Be careful GoDaddy will not "Transfer" a domain that has not been in your account for at least 60 days.

Yeah, the buyer will be the one paying the transfer fee. They need to initiate it from their GoDaddy account. You'll then get an email confirming that you want to transfer the domain to another registrar. Click that link and approve the transfers - and then you're done.

I thought Sedo took care of that though: they get you to transfer it to their account and then it gets pushed or something. It's been a while.

Nothing new about that. The registrars charge a transfer fee and add a year to the domain registration as they do it.

I think you're confusing pushing a domain with transferring a domain. Pushing a domain is moving it between an account within the same registrar. Transferring domain is moving from one registrar to another - and it does cost you 99% of the time to do that.

Yeah transfer fees are normal, but why don't you just tell the buyer to sign up to your domain registrar and push the domain to his account for free. Then he can transfer the domain to his Godaddy account himself, and you don't have to be worried about those issues.

This must be the first time you're transferring from one registrar to another. Fees have been there since the beginning.

I spent $7.95 on a Starbucks Coffee and a piece of Coffee Cake today....I don't get the point? If it was like $49 transfer fee, I would have started this thread....

Take a deep breath, step away from the computer very slowly, get in your car, put the key in the ignition and start driving to your nearest asian massage parlor, go in and hand them $100 cash and say these exact words "I want the works"

You're welcome. You'll forget the small transfer fee in no time.

OK I just fund out that this fee is for the BUYER!

I've sold domains before and never had a fee...

The email is supposed to be forwarded to the buyer, I had not read in properly (I bolded the part I should have noticed!)

Here is the email:

Re: Transfer of XXXXXX.US


Dear Josh Irving,

Go Daddy received a request on 2/6/2013 for us to become the new registrar of record.

You received this message because you're listed as the Registered Name Holder or Administrative contact for this domain name. If you're not the Account Holder, or you're transferring the domain to a new owner, please forward this email to the appropriate Account Holder to complete the transfer process.

IMPORTANT: If the steps below are not completed, the domain name(s) listed above will NOT be transferred to us.

When authorizing this transfer, you'll be prompted to provide the following Transfer IDs:

Transaction ID: xxxxxxxxxx
Security Code: xxxxxxxxx

To proceed with the transfer, log in and follow these instructions.

NOTE: After a domain transfer is complete, you cannot transfer it to another registrar for 60 days, apart from a transfer back to the original registrar, in cases where both registrars so agree or where a decision in the dispute resolution process so directs.

If you DO NOT WANT the transfer to proceed, do not respond to this message.

If you have any questions about this process, contact us by email at support@godaddy.com, or by phone at (480) 505-8877.

Regards,
Go Daddy

PS. The domain I sold was EDITED OUT (dot) US

Edit: I decided to leave the name out until it's transferred successfully

For giggles, how much do you think it was worth?


.com TAKEN
.net TAKEN
.co TAKEN
.org TAKEN
.biz TAKEN
.info TAKEN
.us TAKEN
.us.com TAKEN
.mobi TAKEN
.pro TAKEN
.ca TAKEN
.co.uk TAKEN
.xxx TAKEN
.asia TAKEN
.tv TAKEN

Namecheap not only DON'T charge you a transferral fee, but they give you a discount when you transfer from another company.

*I am in no way affiliated with NameCheap.*

Yeah, I think that's the situation with all transfers/registrars - the fee is actually a 12 month renewal.

Whatever you sold it for.

Sorry if there is any confusion. Chris's original response was correct. We do charge a fee to transfer to us, but that includes an extra year of registration on top of the existing registered time. If you are moving from one account with us to another with us then there is no charge, as that would be considered an account move and not a domain transfer. If the buyer of your domain wants it with us they would need to by the transfer in their account and get the EPP codes from you. They would pay the charge unless for some reason if you wanted to cover that for them.

Colby
Go Daddy Social Media Team

Yes, I've paid that fee.

It did seem a little dubious that the price quoted on the auction wasn't the price to pay.

I paid it, and now I know about it, it isn't a big shock. Just have to factor in it it's worthwhile paying for a pre-owned domain, and those extra costs. Often, I think it is.

I been doing support for a very good amazon script the past 3 years and I notice so many beginners using GoDaddy for hosting (Super Bowl Ads Really Work) and I always tell them if they have the option to get out of crapydaddy hosting and move to much better host such as Hostgator, Hostnine, Bluehost, Hostmonster and many other great hosts.

Godaddy also makes it difficult for a lot of scripts to function because they like to do their own thing and don't read .htaccess and other files like other hosts.

Biggest issue with godaddy is their host. If you run into any ioncube errors or .htaccess and you submit a ticket, they will send you to help guides that you need to be a rocket scientist to understand and get fixed. Any other host would help users and fix small issues like these.

Sorry for venting about the worst hosting provider in the world =), I just been dealing with a lot of clients using them and making like difficult.

They also charge an arm and leg for private whois. I use domainsite.com for all my domains and privacy whois is I think $1.99 compared to $9 on godaddy.

Registrars always charge a transfer fee. They also add another year to the domain so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Since you sold it on Sedo $500. If it was anywhere else probably much less. Just a guess.

OK, maybe I am mixed up, it HAS been a long time since I have done it BUT, as I recall, transfer IS free, ********HOWEVER******* they require you to RENEW the domain with them! In other words, if you have 6 months left, and you transfer, you pay the amount, but the expiration date is then LATER. So think of the fee as an advanced renewal, NOT as a fee to transfer.

There IS effort and risk, so WHY should they do it for FREE?

Steve

Split the fee with buyer and in the future make sure to pad the lowest price you'll accept by the amount that GoDaddy charges.

Thanks for sharing your painful lesson with the rest of us.

Good luck in seeing this transaction through.

EBM

@GetMoreCustomers - I was going on the information that the original poster provided - that "the buyer wants me to transfer the domain to GoDaddy - but GoDaddy is trying to charge me a fee."

I have never pushed or transferred domains like this, so I have no idea what the 'fee' is for. If the fee is like you say - a one year renewal for the buyer - then the buyer should be picking up that fee somewhere in the transaction.

That said, far too many people let a few dollars derail a deal. Almost everything is negotiable if both parties are at least open to the process (although the cardinal rule of negotiating is "he who cares less wins." -- I guess it just depends on how much both the buyer and seller want this deal to go through.)

I was mistaken there was no fee, it was hidden in the obtuse wording in the Godaddy email...Sold for just over double the amount guessed by the only person who made one!