Every day, thousands of business owners, bloggers, and influencers look for a cost-effective way to expand their presence on the internet. If you’re new to website building, finding a domain name that catches the attention of your core audience and stays in their memory can be a challenge, especially if you’re short on funds.
Domain names that generate a lot of traffic can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes even millions. An expired domain name can provide your online marketplace, learning platform, or personal website with a practical way to rank higher in Google search results without bankrupting you.
All domains have an expiration date, and if their owners choose to let their domain expire or are unable to pay their dues to the registrar, their expired domains go up for sale. You can find hundreds of expired domains in closeout sales and auctions, waiting for someone to renew them and make them marketable.
Namecheap is a registrar for expired domains, and they host auctions for entrepreneurs, marketing specialists, and website builders who want to improve their web traffic for less. They are a US-based company with expired domain names for sale for buyers from every industry.
They are ICANN-accredited with a colorful 20-year growth story. After creating a Namecheap account, you can browse through their endless selection of domains past their expiration date.
Namecheap is one of the first website registration services in the world to accept cryptocurrencies as payment. In addition to expired domain registration, they also host and manage actively registered domains.
If you’ve never heard of Namecheap before or you’re new to domain registration, you can use this article as a comprehensive guide on how to profit from online auctions and how to use its services.
If you’re in the digital realm, the importance of domains is no new concept. They are essentially your online identity, serving as an address where Internet users can access your website. But what happens when a domain expires?
Specifically, what goes on in the world of Namecheap expired domains? This SEO-optimized, detailed guide aims to explore expired domain auctions, what happens when a Namecheap domain expires, and even why Namecheap domains are often so affordable. Let’s dive in!
What is an Expired Domain Auction?
An expired domain auction is a marketplace where domains that have reached the end of their registration period and were not renewed by the original owner are put up for sale.
These domains become available for others to purchase, often through a bidding process. It’s a way for people to buy valuable, high-traffic domains that may have been previously unavailable. Expired domain auctions are popular due to several reasons:
- SEO Advantages: Expired domains often have existing backlinks and SEO history.
- Traffic: Some expired domains come with a pre-existing flow of traffic.
- Brandability: Certain names are catchy, memorable, and hard to come by.
How Do People Purchase Expired Domain Names?
Once your domain expires, you might lose the chance to renew it after a specific period. Thousands of public and private domains change owners every week, and investors are on the hunt for their next bargain.
You can buy many expired domains for a song. If you see one you like, you have to go through a transfer process before it’s registered in your name.
Going Through the Grace Period
It’s important to understand what happens when a domain expires, as every expired domain name has a grace period, which refers to the 30 days a registrant has to renew its status past the actual expiration date.
Sometimes, a registrant may renew a domain after the grace period, which will cost them a few extra dollars depending on their agreement with the registrar.
Going past the grace period can be fatal for a website. It may take 24 to 48 hours before a registrar can renew it. According to UX design experts, 88% of users refuse to return to a website when they experience reliability issues.
Different top-level domain names may have a longer or shorter grace period than others. Expired domains with a generic extension such as .net, .com, .org, and the like have a 30-day grace period before ending up in the hands of upstream vendors.
Website owners must renew location-specific domain extensions such as .uk, .mx, and .me about two weeks before their actual expiration date. If not renewed, they will immediately go through the redemption cycle. There are hundreds of domain extensions on Namecheap bound by specific transfer rules, so use this search page to see which ones are right for you.
When Does a Domain Name Stop Having an Owner?
You can search for all types of domain names on Namecheap that have different renewal and redemption periods. When a domain name expires, it could be yours for a bargain price after 30 days.
However, it’s worth remembering that you’re competing with thousands of other marketers, influencers, and business owners on Namecheap. The company has a first-come-first-served policy and will prioritize backorders on domain sales.
Prioritize Expired Domain Names with No Backorder Queue
A domain name with income-generating potential will have backorders before hitting its actual expiration date. If a website owner doesn’t renew the domain without a backorder queue, it will go to an expired domain auction.
Only people with a Namecheap account can participate, bidding on hundreds of websites per week. A second-hand domain name will have the same expiration date as it did at the hands of its previous owners.
For example, you’ll have to renew your domains that end with a .cm before their expiration date, or the Namecheap team will immediately recommend them for deletion. Use your account to search for a domain name with an expiration date that you’ll be able to handle.
How to Participate at Domain Name Auctions
Once most domains expire, they go through a grace period and a redemption period before the auctions. Most auctions run for one week, and they function like eBay. Everyone with an account can place a bid and have a domain name renewed, and your competition is mostly domain investors, marketers, business owners, and bloggers.
Domain investors search for optimizable domain names that they can transfer to their marketing teams who will link build, post to social media, and attract more visitors so they can resell a renewed version for a higher price.
Sometimes, they won’t wait until a domain expires before selling it. These investors frequently carry renewed websites with high search ranks and traffic potential, which people search for on domain registrars.
Auctions start with a bid floor, which is commonly lower than Namecheap’s target price. Bids will come in real-time before surging in the closing hours. The owner of the Namecheap account with the highest bid will get the chance to renew the domain.
Should You Search for Domain Names at Auctions?
When participating in auctions, it’s worth remembering that the previous owner of a domain name let it run past its expiration date for a reason. Expired domains typically have lower web traffic and lower SEO potential. Unless you have no money to spare, it’s best to keep your account off the Aftermarket.
Some online auctions feature domains on the Google ban list for being part of private blog networks. If you’re not paying for a new domain name, you can expect to encounter numbers, misspelled words, and incoherent symbols on your search.
Qualities to Look for When Purchasing a Domain Name
According to marketing experts from Hubspot, 75% of people never make it to the second search page when looking up something on search engines such as Google or Yahoo. If you want your new domain to be profitable, here’s a list of what to look for on auctions and marketplaces.
What Was Previously on Your Domain?
As a domain’s new owner, you will be responsible for its reputation, branding, and purpose. All the goodwill or nefarious activities it is known for will transfer to your list of things to worry about or celebrate.
You shouldn’t sign a contract with a registrar without doing your due diligence. A history of ban listing is a bad sign. Search engine algorithms minimize the appearance of pornographic, hacked, and spam websites, even after new owners repurpose them.
Was Your Domain Popular and Trustworthy Before Going on Sale?
People who sign up on online registrars to buy a domain generally look for two attributes: popularity and trustworthiness. Long domain histories are a good sign. That means the domain’s previous owners and builders must have invested more time and money into improving it.
Organic traffic is a sign of earnings potential. If a domain doesn’t generate traffic from bots, it can show its ads to more potential buyers and customers. It’s also a sign that it can rank higher in search rankings, but you should conduct a SERP analysis to be sure.
Purchase a Domain That Will Work for You
Namecheap auctions are ideal for people who want to promote their products and services online with a new domain without paying extravagant sums.
Now that you know how to sign up for auctions and which domains to look for, you can reap the benefits of creating sister sites to double your brand awareness and credibility without spending too much money.
What Happens When a Namecheap Domain Expires?
If you own a domain registered through Namecheap and it expires, the process is somewhat similar to most other registrars but with its own specific timeline.
- Grace Period: Initially, there is a grace period lasting around 30 days. You can renew your domain during this time without incurring additional costs beyond the standard renewal fee.
- Redemption Period: After the grace period, the domain enters a redemption phase that lasts for approximately 28 days. Renewing during this stage is possible, but you’ll have to pay a redemption fee on top of the standard renewal rate.
- Auction: If the domain is still not renewed after the redemption period, it’s put up for auction where others can bid on it.
- Public Availability: If nobody buys your domain at auction, it’s released back into the public pool of available domains.
Can I Transfer an Expired Domain from Namecheap?
Transferring an expired domain from Namecheap is tricky and depends on where it is in the expiration timeline.
- Grace Period: You can generally renew and then transfer the domain without a hitch.
- Redemption Period: You’d have to redeem it first (which comes with a fee) and then initiate the transfer.
- Post-Auction: If someone else wins the domain at auction, transferring it would require you to purchase it from the new owner.
Why is Namecheap Domain So Cheap?
Namecheap domains are often more affordable than those from other registrars for several reasons:
- Volume: Namecheap handles a large volume of domain registrations, allowing economies of scale.
- Limited Overheads: By operating primarily online and automating many of its services, Namecheap can afford to offer lower prices.
- Competitive Strategy: Affordable pricing is a part of their market strategy to attract more customers.
- Package Deals: They often bundle domains with other services like hosting or SSL certificates, making the individual domain price appear cheaper.
Conclusion
Expired domain auctions are a high-stakes world where valuable digital real estate is up for grabs. If you’ve registered a domain with Namecheap and it expires, you have multiple opportunities to reclaim it, although the cost can escalate the longer you wait.
As for Namecheap’s wallet-friendly prices, they can be attributed to high volume, lower overheads, and strategic pricing.
So, whether you’re looking to snag an expired domain or are worried about your own Namecheap domain expiring, understanding these processes can help you make informed decisions in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
