Dynadot Help

Expired Auctions

• How do I participate in your Expired Domain Auctions?

  Our Expired Domain Auctions are a great way to pick up domains that are about to expire. There are a few requirements to participate: You must have a Dynadot Account (creating one is free). You must not be banned from our auctions. You must have $5 in your account balance or have completed a successful order payment of at least $5 with us within the last 365 days. If you are new to Dynadot or do not have a recent order history, the easiest way for you to fulfill this requirement is by creating a prepay order. Please note that the amount of the prepay will default to $100.00, but you can adjust this manually. Our expired auctions use proxy bidding. If you have the winning bid, you will be sent an email when the auction closes. There will be a very limited payment window (48 hours) before the order is canceled, so we recommend using auto-pay for auction orders.NOTE: In rare cases, a domain won at auction will not be added to your account because it was renewed by the original registrant. If this occurs, your account will credited the full amount of the order. Because of the nature of the life-cycle of a domain, we must auction expiring domains at the tail-end of the original registrant's Renewal Grace Period. In most cases, this will not cause a problem and the domain will be added to your Dynadot account in 3-4 days.How do I place a bid on an Expired Domain Auction?

• What does it mean when a domain is in "Auction Lock" status?

  When a domain won in our Expired Domain Auctions is added to the winning bidder's account, the domain is put in "Auction Lock" status for about 15 days.While in this status, the domain cannot be unlocked, transferred to a different registrar, or moved into another Dynadot account. However, you can set the name servers for the domain. The Whois information will still show the registrant as "Pending Renewal or Deletion."At the end of the 15 days, the "Auction Lock" status will automatically be removed.NOTE: This is different than the "Buy Lock" that is placed on Marketplace domains. Inventory from our registrar partners may have a 60 day hold depending on registry transfer requirements. Dynadot is unable to override such restrictions.

• How do I participate in your Expired Registry Auctions for .AI?

  Our Registry Expired Auctions are a great way to pick up .AI domains. This auction lasts 10 days. There are a few requirements to participate: A minimum participation fee is $100.00 USD or 5% of the winning bid depending on which one is higher. You must not be banned from our auctions. Your account balance must be enough to cover the fee, otherwise if you have placed a winning bid but the fee is not covered, your account balance will be locked until there is a higher bid or the order is paid. If you win the auction and decide not to pay for the order, you'll still be charged for the auction fee. The auction winner has 10 days to pay for the auction once it's finished.

• What is an Expired Domain Auction?

  When a domain is not renewed by the registrant, it's auctioned off. The highest bidder for the domain may then receive the domain in their Dynadot account.Auctions last for 7-11 days, and you can bid anytime during that period. If a bid is received in the last 5 minutes of an auction, the end time will be extended by 5 minutes. There is no limit to the number of times an auction may be extended before the auction's final "end time" is set.You may also place a proxy bid for higher than the current minimum bid. If someone else places a bid, the system will automatically bid for you until your max proxy bid amount is reached.If you're the highest bidder when the auction ends, you have 2 days to pay for the auction. Once you pay, the domain is moved into your Dynadot account in about 4 days.To bid on an auction, first create a Dynadot account if you haven't already. We require at least $5 account spending before you can participate in our expired domain auctions. You can prepay $5 into your account and use the account credit to pay for your first won auction or other purchase with us.

• I won an Expired Auction domain, but my order was cancelled because the original owner renewed. How did this happen?

  The original registrant normally has a Renewal Grace Period of 30 days to renew, which ends shortly before the domain is listed in our Expired Domain Auctions. However, in some rare circumstances the domain may be renewed after the auction has commenced or ended. In such cases, the Expired Auction order will be cancelled and the payment will be refunded.

• How do I download a list of the current Expired Auction domains?

  Find your next great domain in our Expired Domain Auctions! You can use the search options to search through the domains in our auctions on the page or you can download a list in a CSV file.To download a list of the current Expired Auction domains, please follow these steps: Navigate to the Expired Domains Auction page under our Aftermarket section. Click on the "Download" icon located to the left of "Domain Name" at the top of the list. Save the CSV file to your computer. Want to keep an eye a particular domain? Add it to your watch list. How do I participate in your Expired Domain Auctions?How do I place a bid on an Expired Domain Auction?

• How accurate are your Expired Auction traffic and revenue stats?

  Our Expired Domain Auctions offer information about the monthly revenue, monthly visitors, inbound links, and age of the domain. We use well-known third party parking companies to park expired domain names. The stats we publish on the Expired Domain Auctions page are directly from these companies.We also use EstiBot Domain Appraiser to provide an estimated value of the domain name in our auctions. According to EstiBot, they use a "statistically derived model to calculate the value of a domain name based on over one hundred internal and external domain attributes. Internal attributes include domain length, extension, word count, pronunciation and other characteristics directly linked to a specific domain". More information about EstiBot's methodology is available here. NOTE: The data provided is intended for informational purposes ONLY. We highly encourage users to conduct their own research to ensure that they make informed decisions that best meet their needs.

• I paid for my winning Expired Domain Auction order. Why is it still processing?

  Expired Domain Auction won orders take 3 to 4 days to process as you await the tail-end of the original registrant's Renewal Grace Period. If not renewed, the domain will be added to your account as soon as this period is over. If you need an estimated date and time for when your auction order will complete processing, please email [email protected] and include your order number in the subject line.NOTE: Once the domain is added to your account, it will be in "Auction Lock" status.

• Which TLDs are supported in your Expired Domain Auctions?

  We have a massive selection of top-level domains (TLDs) available for you; ranging from .com, .tv, .name and many, many more. We currently have over 275 and regularly add more. Please visit our Expired Auctions page and click on "Filter" button, you can see a list of TLDs and search for the TLD you are looking for using the TLD filter. What is an Expired Domain Auction? How do I participate in your Expired Domain Auctions? How do I place a bid on an Expired Domain Auction?

• How do I place a bid on an Expired Registry Auction for .AI?

  Find your next great domain in our Expired Registry Auction for .AI! To place a bid in the Auctions, please follow these steps: Sign in to your Dynadot account. Upon finding your perfect .ai domain, click on the domain name itself or on the Bid Now button. In the price box, enter the bid amount. Please remember that the minimum starting bid is $140.00 USD. Check the box below to acknowledge that you will pay for this auction if you win it and to acknowledge that you agree to our Service Agreement. Press the "Place Bid" button to place your bid. NOTE: Funds for the bid are locked until there is another bid (you are outbid). Also please note nonpayment will result in you being ban from auctions as well as the deposit being forfeited.