Domain Name question

Kerry22

Hi everyone!


Can anyone offer me some advice on this?


I just got told that my domain name has been cancelled as the credit card that I paid with had expired. Not sure how because my renewed credit card (well actually a debit card) was given to me a couple of years back.


Anyway it's not on a yearly recurring fee and has been cancelled.


I now have a few days to come up with a redemption fee if I want to keep that domain. As it is a .com it is desirable to me, or am I being naive here?


If I don't come up with the redemption fee (around £80) then it will go to auction.


I'm an honest person but I'm wondering if I'm being too naive and I should just let it go and get the same name but use .org or .net or something?


Anyone know what to expect here or what options there are open to me? If any? I just don't have that money and would have to borrow it.


I'm new to this stuff and your advice would be really appreciated

SeduLOUs

It all depends on what you use the domain for. Is it worth £80 to you?

If it's just a personal blog or something I'm sure you could just get a .co.uk instead without causing any trouble.

But if it's a business site then it's a different matter entirely...

Kerry22

Thanks Sedulous


it was going to be used for a specific blog site later on, so there won't be any customers upset by it. But it's an unusual name and I don't think I'd ever get the .com back as anyone else purchasing it would know themselves that it's unusual.


Also because of that I'm thinking ahead in terms of selling such a name later if it were not used...

SeduLOUs

Well if it's as unusual as you say, maybe no-one will bid and you can just buy it back later.

Can you bid on it yourself in the auction?

gjchester

Kerry22 wrote: »

I just got told that my domain name has been cancelled as the credit card that I paid with had expired. Not sure how because my renewed credit card (well actually a debit card) was given to me a couple of years back.

Most likely you bought it for x years, and that's up, they either tried to bill you on the old card, or they emailed you (old address on their records maybe) and got no reply and so the domain expired.


The domain is pending sale, and you have one last chance. Your choices are either pay the fee to get it back, or let it go and see if you can buy it later, depending on the name depends if the folks who make a living buying up expired domains to sell back at high fees will buy it or its uncommon and you can pick it back up for a few quid.

kwikbreaks

So is it in actual use for a website now or just parked?

If it's parked and is as unusual as you say I doubt if it will be taken by anybody else and you'll just be able to re-register it although it may be a few months before you can.

If you are actively using it and the site produces any income then maybe you need to pay or you'll have to get the site re-established with a fresh domain name.

I_have_spoken

You can check if .co.uk, .org etc. versions of the domain are available and would be acceptable to you. Because everyone knows them .com addresses will always be more costly to register and maintain

gjchester

I_have_spoken wrote: »

You can check if .co.uk, .org etc. versions of the domain are available and would be acceptable to you. Because everyone knows them .com addresses will always be more costly to register and maintain

Not really. It all depend what the top level registrar wants to charge.


A .COM may be as little as £7 a year, a "specialist" extension such as .TV which is owned by small nation of Tuvala in the pacific but highly prized by TV companies or a "profession" such as .lawyer or location as .London can cost a lot more than a .com.

chunter

Yes, I would say if you haven't actually used it or haven't put it on marketing material, I would wait the 3 month 'limbo' period and try and buy it up again when it comes back on the market for 7 quid.

f not, you can look around for something similar or better.

Kerry22

Thanks. The name is my full name. It's unusual but not that unusual. In other words there will be others with the name that would want it.


I will definitely be using it at some point in the near future and have content ready for it.


So I think I'm just wondering whether it would be worth keeping it for that £80, because I expect I could sell it if, worst case scenario I didn't actually use it...and may make some extra money that way.


Anyway, that's what's going through my head.


Thanks for helping me think through the options

paddyrg

People don't generally pay much for secondhand unused domains. Each domain is unique/highly unusual in itself, but doesn't mean people necessarily want to buy them at that time. The fact that there's a massive dilution of the name pool just now, that it's a personal name, that the site was inactive won't make it a priority purchase for anyone.