[ Disclaimer: this is primarily written for the New Zealand context, so anything ending in .nz, but some parts are generally applicable ]
Oh dear. Your invoice for domain renewal has landed at the wrong email address, or your existing domain name registrar has gone quiet. This is definitely less ideal, and can leave you in the position of having a domain name that has expired. Lets explore what that means, and your options.
So. Domain names expire. You can think of it like ‘owning’ a domain name is more like a subscription.. You subscribe to the domain name, you pay for it each year, and you get full rights to it. When the subscription ends (the domain expires) then the domain moves into a process of expiring.
The domain name is placed into ‘Pending Release’ status for a period of 90 days. In this state, the domain name is inactive (mail and websites won’t work) but it is still registered to you. You can renew at any stage during this 90 day period (some registrars charge more to renew your domain the closer you get toward the 90 day mark) and by doing so, this reactivates the domain name. You can also transfer your domain name to another registrar during this period if you want – only some registrars allow this incoming transfer, or allow you to get the domain ownership code while the domain is expired, so it can pay to check first. If the registrant of the domain (You) fails to renew by the 90th day, the domain name is released available for registration on a first in, first served basis by the .nz Registry.
Ideally you’ll catch your name back in that 90 day period. As the domain gets closer to the 90 day mark, it’ll get listed on services like https://www.expireddomains.co.nz/ so people can bid on the domain – highest bidder wins the domain provided that service catches the domain when it becomes available. This part gets interesting.
On the day that the domain name is set to ‘drop’ and becomes available for anyone to register, there is a set sequence that isn’t very well documented out there, but here is the process:
The domain gets queued up by the domain name commission for the next domain release window ( this is documented at https://docs.internetnz.nz/faq/general/ ). The release maintenance window runs from 00:29:00 to 00:34:00 and all domain names should be released during this maintenance window. So – at some point in that window, your domain name is going to become available. You are able to send up to 15 requests per second to try and catch the domain within this window, to try to be the first one to catch the domain when it becomes available. Its really a gamble as to whether you will land it or not.
The downside of this process is that once its gone through the process of being released to the public, you really have no say on getting the domain back. You’ve had your chances. That’s it. Its painful, but unfortunately the domain is completely out of your hands.
Domains can be confusing at the best of times. If you are having issues, or need a hand, get in contact and we’ll do our best to get you the best outcome.