One of the most common errors I come across week after week, year after year, concerns domain transfers. That is when a request is made to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another.

Many domain owners wait until just a few days before their domain expires before requesting transfer, because they mistakenly think the remaining time on their domain will be lost if they transfer earlier.

The result is that the transfer often fails because the procedure can take a few days to complete. And during that time the domain expires. The ‘losing’ registrar will then refuse the transfer due to the universal rule that expired domains can’t be transferred.

I guess one reason so many domain owners are badly informed about this is because registrars consider it’s not in their interests. After all, the more failed transfers there are, the more the registrar can rake in for another year’s fees. Personally I think that’s a short-sighted attitude because it makes customers more determined to leave your service as soon as possible!

What you need to remember is this….

When you transfer your domain name, one year’s validity is added to the domain’s EXISTING expiry date. So no time is ever lost when you transfer your domain!

For example if your domain still has 6 months to go before expiry and you transfer it now, it will have 18 months after the transfer completes.

So the moral is …

If you’ve decided to transfer your domain to another registrar, don’t wait until renewal time comes around. Transfer it now!

The only exception is if you just registered or renewed a domain. You will then have to wait for 60 days before requesting a transfer. The reason is that domain registrars have a common rule against this. Many were ripped off in the past by fraudsters who didn’t pay their credit card bills and the registrars then had nothing in hand, neither cash nor domain!