Redemption period

For generic domains, ICANN requires registries to offer a 30-day redemption grace period after deletion. Restoring usually costs much more than a normal renewal, and registrars must make that fee available to you.

It comes after the renewal grace period. While the domain is in redemption, your website and email on it won't work.

Example: the card saved for yourbusiness.com expires, the renewal fails and the reminder emails go unread. The domain passes its expiry date, the grace period ends and the registrar deletes it. To get it back, you pay the restore fee plus a renewal, within the 30 days.

After it ends, the domain can be registered by anyone, including people who look for lapsed domains to resell.

Country domains such as .uk set their own rules, so check the rules for your extension.

What it means for your price: a restore fee can cost many times a normal renewal. Keeping auto-renewal on with a valid card, or setting a reminder with Renewal Radar, is the cheapest way to avoid it.