This is important: Don’t EVER buy a new domain the first of a month.
No, there is no astrology, voodoo or zombies involved. Just good old reason and experience.
If you get a great idea for a new website the first and purchase a domain, well, go ahead. But don’t whine afterwards. You were warned.
Now, let me tell you why you shouldn’t pay for a new domain name the first of a month.
When You Buy a Domain…
When you buy a domain, you go to a domain registrar, write the name of the domain you want, and if it’s free, you pay, and you get your name.
But there’s something else happening at the same time.
Some registrars will ask you if you want to pay for several years at once, or only one year. I always choose one year at a time, because I want to see if my idea is good or not.
If my idea behind the domain sucks, there’s not reason to pay an extra $10 yearly for something that doesn’t make the money back.
So, I go with one year at a time.
The next thing that happens is that the registrar will sign you up for automatical renewals.
Now…
Warning: Automatical Renewals Can Cost You Dearly
Let’s pretend that you go an idea for a website, and you bought a domain for it.
The idea never worked. You didn’t make as much as one cent from this domain, so you just forgot all about it. On purpose, maybe. Anyway, you forgot.
But (suspense music in the background) your domain registrar did not (loud thunder sounds)!
And he doesn’t care that your little idea didn’t work. He just wants his money, because now your first year is up, pal, and your domain is going to get renewed.
Yeah, I know, it’s only an extra ten bucks wasted, unless…
Unless you don’t have money on your PayPal account, and your credit card had been drawn out way too long, and your evil registrar grabs your Visa with his slimy long fingers and drags some money out of it.
The next day, you get a nasty letter from your bank and a huge fee attacked to it. (Very loud music in the background now.)
Okay, I admit, that’s worst case scenario, but just losing $10 is still ten too much. (Calm violins.)
This is why you should turn the automatical renewals off, which leads to another problem.
No Renewal = Lost Domain
If you turn off the automatical renewals, you have to keep an eye on your domains yourself. Your registrar will probably send you reminders (mine does), but anyway – an email can get lost.
You should therefore not only rely on these reminder mails, but simply log into your account at your registrar the first and renew all the domains that are due that month.
So on October 1, you log in, and you pay for all the domains that are due in October, and you can stay calm for the rest of the month, knowing that everything is in order.
But hey! Say that you bought a new domain the first of a month, and the first of that month a year later, you have a strong headache, and you don’t feel like using your computer…
You think: I’ll be back in business tomorrow. Today, I’ll just lie here in the dark and feel sorry for myself.
That’s fine – except that the world continues to do what the world does, and your smart, little domain expires.
Boom!
Well, to be honest, you normally get a second chance, but why risk it?
Buy your new domains from the second of each month, and you can relax and do business.
Final Words
Remember what Britt Malka says? Don’t buy a new domain the first of a month!
That was one of the most entertaining articles I’ve read in a long time. Loved the sound-effects! 😀
I learned the lesson about auto-renewal the hard way…. had 5 domains renew at once when my bank account was nearly empty. Living on rice and beans the rest of the month taught me to uncheck that option 😉
Hehe, poor you 🙂
Such an entertaining and readable article Britt, combining both humour and practicality. So refreshing after reading all the ‘me-too’ articles one sees on the web.
Britt, I think the possibility of losing a good domain without renewal is far more catastrophic than automatically renewing one you don’t want. But there is a solution. The minute you decide that a domain is a dud, inform the registrar or service provider that you want to discontinue the name immediately. If it’s canceled, there’s no chance it will renew. I’ve done this quite successfully with a couple of bad domains.