What happens when a domain expires

Currently, we offer a non-guaranteed 29-day grace period for renewal for many TLDs. Each registry has different rules for their grace periods. There is no guaranteed grace period. Once a domain expires, we may dispose of it at any time according to the registration agreement. After the grace period elapses, the domain may go into a Redemption Grace Period.

"Redemption Grace Period," or RGP, is a time frame during which the previous registrant can reactivate an expired domain after the registrar has issued a delete command to the registry. Only the previous registrant can retrieve the domain during this time frame, and it must be retrieved through the previous registrar. The Redemption Grace Period is named differently for some TLDs; the .org equivalent, for example, is "Pending Delete - Restorable." Currently there is an additional $270 fee for domains in Redemption.

Domains in our system can go into either Redemption Grace Period (RGP) or Extended Redemption Grace Period (ERGP). RGP domains may stay in your account for up to 30 - 42 days after any applicable expiration grace period has lapsed. After the RGP period has lapsed, they are deleted from our system and go into a 5-day Pending Delete status at the registry. Domains in Pending Delete status cannot be recovered. At the end of the Pending Delete status, the domain is deleted by the registry and is available for anyone to register as a brand new name.

ERGP domains may stay in your account for up to 90 days after any applicable expiration grace period has lapsed. After the end of the ERGP period, if you do not exercise your rights to recover the domain, you agree that you have abandoned the domain name services, and relinquish all rights and use of the domain name services per the registration agreement. There are typically no plans to drop or auction the domain at that time. The name will be deleted from your account, and the previous registrant data will be removed from the whois. We may auction, sell, delete or dispose of the name at any time. You will not have an opportunity to recover the domain once the 90-day ERGP timeframe has lapsed.