My domain registrars auto-renew anywhere from the expiration time to 60 days in advance.
I think it’s interesting how far in advance domain registrars renew domain names.
- GoDaddy waits until the domain name is expired before renewing the domain.
- Hexonet renews about 5 days before the expiration.
- Uniregistry and Enom auto-renew one month before the domain expires.
- At the extreme (at least of registrars I use) is 101Domain, which renews 60 days in advance.
There are benefits to early renewals and benefits to last-minute renewals. If you have a large portfolio, you might appreciate not being charged until the domain expires to minimize your cash outflows.
At the same time, an earlier renewal provides more time to rectify any billing issues (such as an outdated credit card number) before a domain enters the deletion cycle.
60 days? That’s a bit much. (I should note that some ccTLDs on 101Domain require early renewal from the ccTLD administrator, but this isn’t the case with .com). But I’m curious what other people believe is a good timeframe for registrars to auto-renew domains.
I prefer auto-renew on day of expiry. 60 day window is ridiculous.
Day of expiry sounds good.
i let them expire. after that I have approximately 30 days to renew, during which the domain appears as expired and has some banners placed by name.com. if I dont renew in these 30 days, it goes to their expired domains section. Of course I can not manage the domain during these 30 days yet that is somewhat of a free period. 1/13th free period is not insignificant when you have a large domain portfolio. Of course my top domains are registered for 3, 5, sometimes 10 years to come. I never autorenew yet login every now and then and havent lost a single domain.
You can only get that “free” period once, and if you renew it’s still retroactive to the domain’s expiration date. I’m not sure how much help that is.
Registrars who renew early are cheating you once of 30 or 60 days registration. Great for them, not so good for you.
They aren’t taking any of your registration away. They’re still tacking 12 months onto the end of the expiration date.
Legally that’s correct. But if they keep renewing you early, you’ve lost a month or two of registration. It’s a one-off loss admittedly, but can apply to every domain you renew for the first time.
For registrars with lots of new business, the cash benefit must add up.
Hedge, in the comment above, plays them at their own game by renewing late. As this person says, the benefit is not insignificant over a large portfolio.
You never lose a month of registration. The 12 month renewal is from when the domain was due to expire, not when the domain is renewed.
I had some names that I got through 101domain when xyz first hit GA. I was shocked when they renewed 60 days early. I have since transferred them to godaddy. By renewing 60 days early it deprives you of 60 days to sell them. I no longer have any names at 101domain.
You can always turn off auto renew, but I agree it can catch you by surprise.