How I lost a few domains and the lessons learned.

[Artashes]

Just wanted to share that I lost a few relatively cool domains from my collection a couple of weeks ago. The reason: not noticing the renewal reminder emails sent to my very old email account until it was too late. A couple of them included OpenSourceTalk.com and StartupTalk.com, which are now the property of greedy domain brokers such as BuyDomains.com, who overvalue domains by a mile.

The problem is that Namecheap (much like any other registrar) would charge you a large amount - in this case $200 per domain) to register the name back before it gets thrown out in the public. I didn't value these names this highly, so decided to skip on the offer.

One of the domains I took a risk on. Decided to wait it out, not register it for $200 and then was able to get it back at a regular fee. However, not so lucky with the rest of 'em.

The feeling sucks big time. The lesson is learned - keep your administrator email address updated and relevant. Make sure to check the status of your domains regularly, not 3-4 times a year like me.

Cheers.

 

[easyhostmedia]

i have all mission critical domains on autorenew and i am aways checking domain status

 

[Artashes]

i have all mission critical domains on autorenew and i am aways checking domain status

Only use autorenew at GoDaddy, not NameCheap.
Good point though, another lesson learned. :rolleyes2

 

[easyhostmedia]

Only use autorenew at GoDaddy, not NameCheap.
Good point though, another lesson learned. :rolleyes2

not used GoDaddy

i use 123-reg got all .uk domains and namecheap for all others. have used them for years. only thing i dont trust Namecheap with SSL certs (especially when it comes to renew them) as i can guarantee that 99.9% of the time they will mess up an SSL renewal

 

[HostLeet]

Sorry to hear that, Art. This happens very often unfortunately, so you're definitely not alone.

As others have said, the auto-renew setting helps a lot. If you use NameCheap, I believe you can add funds to your account so they can be used automatically when a domain needs to be renewed. Although, when you have many domain names under your belt, it is very easy to forget to renew a few or update the WHOIS info, so I understand.

 

[easyhostmedia]

I also have a wall chart with all domain renewals marked so i can keep a check. This is due to an issue i had with 123-reg about 3 years ago.

I had a domain registered for 10+ years that was for a site of a local community group i helped setup. I provided the domain and hosting at my cost, 3 years ago i got a call from the group chairman to ask why i was selling the domain, i told him i was not the site was online etc, i checked the server and everything was their, but when i checked the URL it just showed a page saying the domain was for sale, so i checked the whois and it showed it was registered to someone in Russia, so i immediately contacted 123-reg and they just kept saying the domain expired and i never renewed this so it was placed back for others to register and this is what happened. even after showing them i have site files on my server and have had the domain 10+ years this meant nothing to them, i even provided logs showing i have not received any renewal emails from them, but they told me to contact the current registrar about this as it had nothing to to do with them. well i got no reply from the registrar and 123-reg would not budge, so i contacted Nominet and gave them all the details and records i had. they contacted 123-reg who could not provide them with anything to show they had emailed me the renewal notices, so nominet then forced the current registrar to surrender the domain back to me and back into my 123-reg account, but then 123-reg refused to give me any access to the domain until i paid them the renewal fees, i refused stating they messed up costing me money and time and again it took nominet to get this sorted and force them to give me the domain access. so now i check my domains on a regular basis

 

[HostColor]

I always renew the most important domain for a period of 3 - 5 years.

 

[easyhostmedia]

I always renew the most important domain for a period of 3 - 5 years.

that still does not stop you accidentally forgetting to renew the domains, but is an ideal solution for mission critical domains

 

[ughosting]

Always auto-renew, and have stored cash with the registrar topped up so can always pay.
(I use NetEarthOne as their reseller programme is the best)

 

[Obelix]

I, unfortunately, know the feeling. I also have lost a domain name like this a few years back and ever since then I learned my lesson. I wasn't sure whether to renew it or not (it wasn't that successful) but by the time I decided to give it another try, it was too late. Oh well, live and learn.