Domain Redemptions were added by the Registry in the late 2000 as an added layer for domain owners. Prior to that time, domains that expired would immediately be passed to a domain speculation service. That service understood the cost of rebranding, and the material harm to a business that would occur if it lost its domain name simply because there were out of town, or out of pocket for a personal situation. Because of that they would charge several thousand dollars to give the domain back to its rightful owner.
ICANN, the governing body for domains basically to blunt this practice created a secondary domain expiration status and this has become known as redemption. During this period the domain is held at the registry level for a period of 30 days that starts the 40th day after the domain expires.
Understand, that not all domains are eligible to be redeemed, especially high dollar domains. So although this process is place you are not guaranteed to retrieve your domain.
Because the registry is now involved there is now an added layer of cost added to most domains with the standard cost $199 for most extension ( com, net, org, biz etc).
Of course there are a few exceptions such .ca , the extension that belongs to the country of Canada. Canadian domains (.ca) enjoy no increased fees and are $29 regardless if its in a renewal or redemption period.
There are other over seas registries (.io) that charge upwards of $400us. Non ACTWD clients will need to call our office between 9am – 5pm central time or email techsupport@actwd.com to get a quote for redemption as well as to verify domain ownership and contact information.
If you have a .com/.net/.org please let support know you would like to redeem the domain, please use our Domain Redemption Request page. You will need to set up an account with us and start the redemption process. For more details on what the redemption period is, please click here.
