Domain Expiration Clarification

Domain Flipping is a topic in which I have alot of interest and knowledge in, but sadly not enough money to purse yet - On hold for the time being

Here's how the expiration process works and the steps involved when the owner fails to renew the domain on the given date

1. Grace Period: As the name sounds, this is a small window of 10-30 days (Depends on the Registrar. Godaddy has a small window while NameCheap has a longer window) where the owner can renew the domain for the normal price.

2. Registrar Hold/Redemption Period: After the grace period, the domain enters the Registrar Hold (30-45 Days depending on the Registrar), where the registrar would hold the domain so that the owner can renew the domain. During this window, I think the penalty is of $100 + Renewal Fee's (Not sure though).
At the same time, the domains is also gets available at auction sites such as NameJet, SnapNames, Pool etc. If someone bids and wins the domain, they have to wait till the Registrar Hold period is over. If, however the domain is renewed by the owner, the bidder get's refunded (On some auction sites, you can't cash out the refund, but only use it to buy domains from their platforms)

3. Pending Delete: If the owner still doesn't renew the domain and it doesn't gets bought at any auction site, the domain enters the Pending Delete phase which is normally of 5 days.
During this time, the auction sites set a timer and people start bidding on the domains. They get alot of exposure since people would sort out the domains set to expire in a few hours, so the good ones get bidded out.

If it's even a half-decent domain, you would not get it at $10. If, somehow the domain goes through the Registrar Hold/Redemption Period (Where you can backorder), then it would certainly get bids when it is into the last few hours of it's deletion phase (You can go to Namejet/SnapNames etc and see their domains along with time left in deletion phase on their Homepage - Point is, these domains gets ALOT of exposure.)

I actually tried to do the same, decent domains got through the RH/RP, but on the final few mins, got bought!

Moreover, if there are no bids, you still might not get the domains.
These auction sites like SnapNames, Pool etc hit the servers of Registrars constantly in hopes of catching the dropping domains. If you bidded at Pool, but SnapNames managed to grab the domain, the person over at SnapNames would win the domain.

Some of these sites are in business with registrars so they get prefrence from their domains, if I remember it right, SnapNames belongs to Web.com, so they get first pick on their domains.

Lastly, some people also have custom software's built which go out and hit the registrar serves in hopes of catching the domains. So if a domain goes through unnoticed at the auction sites, of these guys might snag it before you and you'd be left scratching your head.

Finally, if it's a good domain, invest in the $69 !


A domain is available to re-registrar at the registrar of your choice in 60-90 days from the day of it's expiry date on the Whois records. The days account for Grace Period, Redemption Period and Pending Delete. Depending on the registrar's policy, the amount of days vary.

Remember, all expired domains go through auction sites so you just can't expect to wait the days out and grab it at $10.. unless you're the only one who see's value init

Hope this brief explanation helped you out!

Those are from a third party vendor Nik and as with any expired domains, due diligence is essential.

I don't vet any of them and warn everyone to do their own checking.