Introduction
Registration operations allow both to register a new domain and maintain up to date any data associated to an existing domain, such as for instance the owner details.
The most 3 common operations are New registration, Renewal and Transfer.
In addition to these operations, other operations are available to perform some specific changes. The last section of this guide cover free domain data updates which do not require any specific operations.
Here are the sections of this guide:
1. New registration
BillableAliases: Registration, Register, New, Create, Creation, Buy
This operation is used to register a new domain.
A new domain is a domain which is available, i.e. not registered at the time of registration.
Note that a domain which is made available after the completion of its entire expiration cycle is obviously also considered as a new domain.
Consequently, a new domain does not mean that it has never been registered before.
The usual minimum initial registration period is a 1-year period. Nevertheless, depending on the registry policies, it is often possible to order a new registration for a longer period at once.
Note that very few registries requires a 2-year minimum period for new registrations.
The price to register a new domain is often more attractive than the standard registration fee, as new registrations are regularly promoted by offering some reductions.
Pricing structure:
1-year period fee number of years
one-time fee, if applicable
ICANN fee, if applicable
discounts, if applicable
sales taxes, if applicable
2. Renewal
BillableAlias: Renew
This operation is applicable when renewing a domain for one or several years.
The expiration date of a domain indicates until when it is registered by its owner. Each time a domain is renewed, its expiration date is extended accordingly. As long as the expiration date is not over, the status of the domain is "active", and attached services such as websites and email addresses are up and running.
The renew operation is the most common operation as keeping renewing a domain is mandatory in order to remain in control of it.
Discounts may be available but they are less frequent than for new registration.
A domain can usually be renewed at any moment, as long as the new expiration date resulting from the renewal remains within a 10-year period from the renewal date.
Nevertheless, some restrictions are applicable for some extensions.
For instance, such restrictions may require a renewal to be made within a specific renewal period.
Pricing structure:
This is the same pricing structure as for new registration, excepting that there is never a one-time fee to be paid for a renewal.
1-year period fee number of years
ICANN fee, if applicable
discounts, if applicable
sales taxes, if applicable
3. Owner change
Often free of chargeAliases: Ownership change, Trade
A few registries require to use a billable operation for modifying owner's data.
For other registries, an owner change does not require a billable operation. This change can either be made solely or encapsulated along with a transfer or an account change.
Note that an owner change is not only required to modify the owner name. It may also be required to update the email address or to correct any typos. As a result, an owner change does not necessarily result in having the actual owner changed.
Pricing structure:
Free of charge
Or One-time fee, usually not exceeding $20
Sales taxes, if applicable
4. Transfer
BillableAlias: Transfer in
The primary goal of a transfer is to move a domain away from one registrar to an other registrar, i.e. performing a registrar change in short.
In addition, most registries also encapsulate two additional changes : a renewal and an owner change (although the actual owner may remain the same)
This section covers this standard version of the transfer. The next section covers the basic version.
This is the most ambiguous operation as its scope is not identical for every domain extensions.
A standard transfer encapsulates 3 changes:
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A registration change, i.e. assigning a new registrar to the domain
This is the primary purpose of a transfer. Note that he transfer must be ordered at the new registrar, so it is sometimes referred to as a "Transfer in" operation from the new registrar stand point. -
A renewal, i.e. extending the registration period of the domain.
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An owner change
This means that the account at the gaining registrar in which the domain is transferred to may either belong to the current domain owner or to someone else.
Obviously, this owner change is not mandatory, but the owner and contact details must always be reintroduced at the new registrar in any case. These details can either be identical or different to those from the current owner.
Note that it exists two formulas to calculate the new expiration date. This depends on registry policies. Each registry has opted for one or the other.
Here are two formulas:
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New expiration date = previous expiration date + 1 year
This is the most common formula. Note that for a limited set of extensions, the domain is extended by 2 years instead of 1 year. -
New expiration date = transfer date + 1 year
This formula is less frequently in use.
With this formula, any remaining registration period existing before the transfer is lost.
Therefore, it is best to order such a transfer when the expiration date is rather close than far, not to pay twice too many months.
After a transfer, the domain is usually locked for a 60-day period preventing any new transfer to occur. This rule is in place to prevent any fraudulent transfers. However, some registrars allow to opt out from such rule when initiating the transfer.
So be sure to transfer your domain to the right registrar, as you may be bundle with them for at least 60 days.
There is a subtle situation preventing a transfer to occur.
If the new expiration ends up being outside a 10-year period from the date of transfer, the transfer cannot be completed.
This limitation guarantee that the expiration date of any domains remains within 10 years.
Pricing structure:
1-year period fee number of years
A transfer usually extends the registration period of 1 year. Once the transfer is completed, a renewal may be ordered to add extra years if required.
ICANN fee, if applicable
Sales taxes, if applicable
5. Transfer (basic)
Free of chargeAliases: Transfer in, Registrar change
This section covers the basic version of the transfer operation, only applicable for a very limited set of extensions.
See the section above for the standard version of the transfer operation.
The basic version of the transfer only perform a registrar change.
As a result, both the expiration date and the owner remain unchanged.
As for the standard version of a transfer, it must be ordered at the new registrar.
6. Account change
Free of chargeAliases: Push, Transfer to another account
The account change operation is not necessarily offered by all registrars. It may also not be allowed for some extensions due to registry restrictions.
It allows to keep a domain at the same registrar while pushing it to a different account. This new account may belong to the current owner but it may also belong to someone else.
Consequently, an account change always encapsulates an owner change along with other contact data changes. Obviously, if the domain data must remain unchanged, the same data can be used in both accounts..
After an account change, the domain is also locked for a 60-day period such as for a transfer.
7. Restore
BillableAliases: Restoration, Redemption Restore
As indicated above, a domain domain must be renewed during a given renewal period and this period depends on the policies of the registry operators.
When this regular renewal period is over, and if the domain is sill available for renewal - this depends on the registry post-expiration policies - , a restore fee is charged in addition to the renewal fee.
Again, best to renew your domain in time to avoid the stress generated by this situation, especially when services are attached to the domain.
Pricing structure:
One-time restore fee, usually between $50-$100
Renewal fee (see renewal section above)
Sales taxes, if applicable
8. Delete
Free of chargeAlias: Deletion
This is a rather unusual operation but it exists. It is only relevant if you are in a hurry to precipitate the start of the registry expiration process for a domain.
Alternatively, just let the domain expires (i.e. do not renew it) and this process will start automatically.
Note that registrars' user interfaces do not necessarily offer this operation. You may have to contact the customer support to initiate such operation.
9. Other updates
Most are free of chargeHere is the list of additional data and settings attached to any domain. They can usually simply be updated or configured via the registrar account which contain the domain.
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Administrative, billing and technical contact details.
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Domain privacy: enable/disable + settings if any. Note than a fee can be charged for enabling domain privacy.
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Automatic renewal (auto-renew): enable/disable
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Transfer lock: enable/disable.
DNS nameservers: provided either by your registrar or by a third-party DNS services provider.
Let's also cover these two settings which are used in some advanced configurations:
DNS glue records: advanced settings allowing to create an authoritative name server on a domain.
DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions): enable/disable + settings. It allows to digitally sign DNS records.
Services linked to a domain, such as a website or an email address, may also be configured at the registrar of the domain. Please refer to this guide to understand the basics.