04 / Transfers
Five names, four registrars.One account, yours.
Domain transfer help for small businesses whose names are spread across old agency logins and a registrar nobody remembers. We move them into one account in your name, then watch the renewal dates so none of them lapses.
Domain transfer help: one registrar, one account
The account that holds your domain is the most important login your business has. Whoever controls it controls your website and your mail. In about half the consolidation jobs we take, that login belongs to someone who no longer works with the business.
A transfer itself is mechanical. The owner unlocks the name at the current registrar, requests the authorisation code (also called an auth code, EPP code or transfer key), and the gaining registrar submits it. The losing registrar has up to five days to release the name. Most release it within hours if the owner approves the confirmation email; some just wait out the five days. For a generic TLD, the transfer adds a year to the registration, so you lose nothing on the expiry date.
What goes wrong is everything around it. The registrant email is a dead address at a former agency, so the approval mail never arrives. The name was registered fewer than 60 days ago, or its owner contact was changed recently, and the registrar refuses. The DNS was hosted at the old registrar for free and disappears the moment the name leaves. That last one takes down mail on a Friday afternoon. We copy every DNS record to the new host and check it answers before the transfer is submitted.
The 60-day lock
A domain transferred in the last 60 days cannot move again. Plan the registrar change around that, not around a sale. The same lock usually follows a change of registrant name or organisation, though many registrars let the owner opt out of that one at the time of the change. If you are buying a name and want it at your own registrar, ask the seller to push it to your account at the registrar where it already sits, then transfer it out after the 60 days.
Who the account belongs to
We do not hold names in our own account. Never. Every name ends up in an account registered to you or your business, with your email and a card you control. Two-factor authentication goes on before we leave. We get access as a delegated user, or you share the screen while we do it. When the job ends, our access ends.
The registrar's transfer fee, usually the price of one year's renewal, is charged by the registrar to you directly. We do not mark it up and we do not resell names.
A domain transferred in the last 60 days cannot move again.ICANN transfer policy, the rule that delays most sales
Inventory, day 1
You send every name you think you own. We look up each one: registrar, expiry, lock status, nameservers, whether DNS is hosted at the registrar. Usually there is one name you forgot.
Pick the destination, day 1
One registrar, chosen for the TLDs you hold, its renewal price after year one and whether it offers two-factor login and a registry lock. We name two that fit and you choose. You open the account yourself.
Copy DNS, day 2
Every record at the old host is exported and recreated at the new one, then queried directly to confirm the answers match. Only then does anything move.
Unlock and transfer, days 2 to 7
You unlock and fetch the auth codes, we walk you through each. Transfers are submitted in a batch. Five days is the maximum the losing registrar can hold them.
Lock and hand over, days 7 to 8
Transfer lock back on, auto-renew on, card on file checked. You get a domain card for each name, showing registrar, expiry, lock status and nameservers.
Renewal / Watch
Renewal watch,90, 30 and 7 days out
Auto-renew is not a plan. It charges a card, and cards expire. We look at the expiry date and the card on file before every renewal, at 90, 30 and 7 days out.
A domain expiration check sounds trivial until the registrar's reminder goes to an inbox at the expiring domain. That loop is common, and it is how working businesses lose their names. Our renewal watch sends reminders from our own address to two contacts you choose.
At 90 days we confirm auto-renew is on and the card on file is valid past the renewal date. At 30 days we check again, and flag any price change at the registrar. At 7 days we look for the renewal charge itself. If the name enters grace, we phone you.
After expiry: the windows
Missed renewals are not instant losses, but the clock runs fast and gets expensive. For most generic TLDs the sequence is the same.
| Window | Typical length | Can you recover it, and at what cost |
|---|---|---|
| Expiry day | Day 0 | Website and mail may stop as the registrar parks the name. |
| Auto-renew grace | Up to 45 days, registrar sets it | Yes, at normal renewal price. Often 30 days in practice. |
redemptionPeriod | 30 days | Only the last owner, with a restore fee that is often USD 80 to 200 or more on top of the renewal. |
pendingDelete | 5 days | No. The name drops and is open to anyone, usually a drop-catcher first. |
Not our job
What a transferwill not include
Names held in our account
Your names sit in your account. If a provider insists on holding them for you, that is the arrangement we are usually here to undo.
Disputes over ownership
If a former partner or agency claims the name and will not release it, that needs a lawyer or the registrar's dispute process. We can document the records; we cannot settle the claim.
Hosting moves
We move the name and its DNS. Moving a website between hosts is a different job and we do not do it.
Drop-catching
If someone else's name is about to expire and you want it, we will explain the drop process. We do not run backorders.
Questions
Asked beforeevery transfer
Will my website or mail go down during the transfer?
Not if the DNS is copied first. A transfer changes who sponsors the name at the registry, not where it points. The outages we see come from DNS hosted free at the old registrar and deleted when the name leaves.
The registrant email is a dead address. Can we still transfer?
Usually, but first the contact must be updated, and that may trigger the 60-day lock. If you cannot log in at all, the registrar's account recovery process applies, and it wants proof of identity or business ownership. We tell you exactly what to send.
Is renewal watch worth it for one name?
For one name with auto-renew on, a calendar entry and a card that does not expire will do. Renewal watch earns its fee when you hold five names at three registrars, or when a lapsed name would take down your mail.
Who is this not for?
If all your names already sit in one account you control, with two-factor on and auto-renew set, you do not need a consolidation. Ask about a domain name check instead, or set up mail on your domain if that is what is broken.
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