Letting a domain expire is one of the most expensive mistakes a business can make. After expiry the name does not become free immediately - it goes through several phases and the cost to recover it climbs steeply at each step.
The expiry timeline
- Day 0 - expiry date. The domain stops working. The website goes offline, e-mail stops flowing.
- Day 1 to 30 - grace period. You can usually renew at the normal price. Trinico Cloud sends multiple reminder e-mails before and after expiry so this rarely catches anyone out.
- Day 31 to 60 - redemption period. The domain enters "Closed Redemption". Renewal is still possible but a registry redemption fee applies on top of the normal renewal cost. Fees vary widely between registries.
- Day 61 onward - public release. The domain is deleted from the registry and becomes available for anyone to register. From this point on you cannot guarantee getting it back.
What does redemption cost?
Each TLD's registry sets its own redemption fee. For .za domains the fee is set by ZACR; for gTLDs (.com, .net, .org, .cloud, .shop, etc.) the fee is set by the registry of that TLD. Because these fees change from time to time, we always quote the current price up front rather than publish stale numbers in this article.
Get a current redemption quote Open a redemption ticket
How to never need this article again
Switch your domain to auto-renewal in your client area and make sure your billing card is up to date. Auto-renewal kicks in 30 days before expiry, leaving plenty of buffer if a payment fails. Combine that with a working WHOIS e-mail address and you will never enter the redemption period.
Need a hand?
The Trinico Cloud team is in South Africa and replies during local business hours. Reach us via WhatsApp, e-mail or a support ticket - whichever suits you best.
