Don't Get Scammed on Your Domain Renewal

I receive several phone calls and emails each month from clients who get letters, emails and phone calls regarding the renewal of their domains. It makes them nervous because they may not have been the one who originally set their domain up and may not even know who the registrar is or when it will expire. First, do not renew your domain with anyone who is not your original registrar unless you are personally transfering it to a new registrar.

Domains should not be more than $10.00 per year if you are renewing. If you are purchasing a domain do it yourself through the many legit domain registrars. I use Go Daddy but there is also registrar.com etc. DO NOT DO IT THROUGH A THIRD PARTY!!!

I got one of those third party renewal letters in my home mail just the other day telling me it is time to renew one of my hundreds of domains. (see below for a link to the letter) I have all my domains with Go Daddy so I knew it was a "scam" for lack of a better word. Yes they are legit and can renew your domain for you but they are going to charge you more than 3X what it would cost you to do it yourself. It may help eleviate getting these notifications if you purchase the privacy upgrade for your domains but you can't really avoid getting these emails and letters because even if you upgrade your domain to private they can still find you if you have a website or email using that domain. I have even received letters on domains that were not set to expire for 2 years!! (How thoughtful of them to want to help me stay on top of my expirations.)