What would you do? It was sort of like this "BlueMoonFilms - (ex. www.bluemoonfilms.com)." I forgot to renew and it was auctioned off within a cpl of months, less than 90 days.
business Just lost my film company domain url name
- Thread starter shootman
- Start date
I had the same issue. I was using domain.com and never got a notice or anything like that. One day I noticed my email wasn't working, so I logged in to my account and found the domain was gone. Called customer service and they informed me that it had lapsed and been bought up by another company (who I later learned was a subsidiary of domain.com). That domain is now for sale again, but at the cost of $1000 rather than the $20 ish I've been paying. I tried emailing the company that bought my domain, told them it was for my business, but I never got a reply back from them.
Honestly, this whole idea of "renting" a domain is silly to me. If you purchase it, it should be yours to keep. I lost almost ten years worth of emails, (just got a new laptop, so none of the data migrated), plus that email was tied to all my other social accounts.
Honestly, this whole idea of "renting" a domain is silly to me. If you purchase it, it should be yours to keep. I lost almost ten years worth of emails, (just got a new laptop, so none of the data migrated), plus that email was tied to all my other social accounts.
My name actually expired, I just thought I'd have at least 90 days to renew after it expired. But they auctioned it off before the 90 days. I was actually considering creating a whole new name for my film company. I considered creating a new LLC, new banking account, new logos, new check books, etc. Then I thought, why not keep everything and just add llc on the end of the domain name, so I decided to keep my name and registered it with the (llc), so from ex. bluemoomfilms.com to bluemoonfilmsllc.com, I also added the .net and also bought ex. bluemoonfilms.net At least now I get to keep my banking account, check book, website and and logo.
Any thoughts on this?
Any thoughts on this?
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I let them have it. It was for my older, unofficial company anyway, but it's a name I still use at times for certain projects.
If you do keep the new domain
And in case you're not aware? Domains expire on the day they expire and then you have a 30 day grace period in which to renew that domain. If you do not renew within 30 days? The registar will most likely sell it to a domain broker who will then hold it hostage for years unless they can get someone to purchase the domain at the sale price especially IF the domain name sounds like SOMETHING.
If the domain doesn't sound like anything i.e., like maybe you made up a name or spelled a word differently... Then the domain will be available to renew after the 30 day grace period at a normal price.
Unfortunately, all domain registars work with domain brokers who snatch up good-sounding domain names like crazy.
If you decide to keep it... All depends on your finances of course but if you keep it? Make sure you configure any additional urls with domain forwarding i.e., have each and every extra domain you register, point to the actual domain of the website you have up and running.
And in case you're not aware? Domains expire on the day they expire and then you have a 30 day grace period in which to renew that domain. If you do not renew within 30 days? The registar will most likely sell it to a domain broker who will then hold it hostage for years unless they can get someone to purchase the domain at the sale price especially IF the domain name sounds like SOMETHING.
If the domain doesn't sound like anything i.e., like maybe you made up a name or spelled a word differently... Then the domain will be available to renew after the 30 day grace period at a normal price.
Unfortunately, all domain registars work with domain brokers who snatch up good-sounding domain names like crazy.
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1. Set your domains to auto-renew.
2. If someone grabbed it on auction when it expired (post grace period) they were either looking to:
a. Sell it back to you at an inflated price or...
b. Make money with ads off of the traffic.
If they contacted you and you turned them down, and, it has little to no traffic, chances are they will let it expire. So if you can wait you may be able to get it back when it expires again. If it goes to auction make sure you get in on it. It would not go for much. I've seem some of my expired domains go for $2.
3. My last point is, you may just want to come up with a new name. Adding LLC to the domain is cool and all if you own the root domain, but since you lost it, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
2. If someone grabbed it on auction when it expired (post grace period) they were either looking to:
a. Sell it back to you at an inflated price or...
b. Make money with ads off of the traffic.
If they contacted you and you turned them down, and, it has little to no traffic, chances are they will let it expire. So if you can wait you may be able to get it back when it expires again. If it goes to auction make sure you get in on it. It would not go for much. I've seem some of my expired domains go for $2.
3. My last point is, you may just want to come up with a new name. Adding LLC to the domain is cool and all if you own the root domain, but since you lost it, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
.com is still king. Scooping up multiple TLDs is not really the best solution. You can own .info, .biz, .top and all the crazy vanity extensions they have these days, but you are still just settling, and spending $$$ to settle.
Sometimes after the grace period it enters what is called the redemption period where the registrar will offer to renew it with a fee attached (around $150). After this period it drops and is available to register again (but there are drop services that can also try to snag it for a customer). Other times yes, auction, and often times the auction has been going on since it expired. If you renew it is removed from auction. If you don't it will be awarded to the high bidder after the grace period. All depends on the registrar. Sure, brokers can be involved, but these are public auctions where you can bid if you have an account, and I've let domains expire that went for $2 and looked at them afterward, and it's just a page of ads. There's a lot of people out there looking for cheap domains with residual traffic to throw ads up on. With company names like this, they may be looking to sell it back to you.
Same thing happened to me years ago (I was too cheap to pay the ransom) ... Our solution: BlueMoonFilmCompany.com or something like that.