Advice on releasing a domain I no longer need
May 20, 2016 7:41 PM Subscribe
I went to namecheap tonight to give up a domain I no longer need. It expires in 20 days, so I figured I would just get rid of it now.
The response was that I had to either let it expire, auction it, notify them if I was releasing it due to some legal procedure, or give it to them.
I get it, they just want to know that I understand what I am doing. But do I? Is there any advantage or disadvantage to me trying to auction it? How would I dream up a price?
Only other question on this topic I saw was from 2007 and that was someone who accidentally let their domain expire. I'm the opposite case.
The response was that I had to either let it expire, auction it, notify them if I was releasing it due to some legal procedure, or give it to them.
I get it, they just want to know that I understand what I am doing. But do I? Is there any advantage or disadvantage to me trying to auction it? How would I dream up a price?
Only other question on this topic I saw was from 2007 and that was someone who accidentally let their domain expire. I'm the opposite case.
It's ten bucks a year to keep it. Keep it until they pry it from your cold, dead hands. (Or someone comes to you with an offer you can't refuse.)
posted by notyou at 10:11 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by notyou at 10:11 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Just let it expire. And don't listen to notyou. Domain squatters are bottom feeders. If you don't need the domain, maybe someone will make good use of it.
posted by jzb at 2:19 AM on May 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by jzb at 2:19 AM on May 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
One thing to note is that domain squatters will basically pick up any domain that expires and try to auction it, on the logic that if someone paid for it once they'll do it again and/or to extort a person who accidently let it lapse.
posted by doomsey at 6:52 AM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by doomsey at 6:52 AM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
Another possibility is that someone picks it up, and uses it for spam/SEO purposes or just straight up serving malware, capitalizing on its good reputation from the time you were using it - had this happen to an old domain I let expire: We were using it for a limited time research project, and I happened to check up on it some years later to find it serving a poorly build website, obviously thrown together with content copied from around the web. People searching for the distinctive name of our project would end up there, and it wasn't very clear this was not the official project website.
Of course it's not your responsibility to look after an old domain in perpetuity, but if you could turn it over to someone who you know will put it to good use it's not a bad idea.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:09 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
Of course it's not your responsibility to look after an old domain in perpetuity, but if you could turn it over to someone who you know will put it to good use it's not a bad idea.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:09 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Looking back in my records I see that I bought this .us domain for $8 in 2014, and there appear to be minimum commissions to sell it (I looked at SEDO for instance).
So in this case I'm going with the "let it expire" option. But I appreciate you all taking the time to share the pros and cons of each option with me!
posted by forthright at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
So in this case I'm going with the "let it expire" option. But I appreciate you all taking the time to share the pros and cons of each option with me!
posted by forthright at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:52 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]