This guide is about running names you already hold. How buying and reselling works is covered in domain investing for beginners, and whether the sums add up is in is domain investing worth it. Registrar and venue terms below were checked 29 October 2026.
Keep one record for every name
Whether you use a spreadsheet or dedicated domain portfolio management software, the job is the same: one row per name holding the facts you would otherwise look up in a hurry. A spreadsheet is enough for most portfolios. What matters is the columns, and each one below exists because a rule or a venue term depends on it.
| Column | Why you track it |
|---|---|
| Registrar and account | Where to log in, and which account pays |
| Expiry date | Registrar reminders are tied to it |
| Auto-renew on/off and billing card | A failed charge can mean a failed renewal |
| Renewal price | Registrars must publish renewal, post-expiry and restore fees |
| Created and last transfer date | 60-day windows when a transfer out may be refused |
| Last change of registrant | 60-day transfer lock unless you opted out |
| Registrar lock | Must be lifted before a transfer |
| Nameservers | Can change the commission at some venues |
| Where listed, Buy Now and floor price | Keeps prices consistent across venues |
| Cost and date acquired | The basis for pricing and pruning |
| Offers received | The only real evidence of demand |
| Reminder email address | Where expiry notices actually land |
To fill the dates for a batch of names, the Domain Age Checker gives the registration date and true age for up to 20 domains at once, with a flag for domains that were dropped and re-registered.
Renewals: the dates ICANN sets
Expiry is the risk you can see coming. ICANN’s Expired Registration Recovery Policy sets the reminders for generic domains such as .com. Registrars “must notify the Registered Name Holder of the expiration at least two times”, approximately one month and approximately one week before, and send at least one more notice within five days after expiry.
What the policy does not give you is a guaranteed grace period. It says “registrars may delete registrations at any time after they expire.” For at least the last eight days a name can still be renewed, the registrar must interrupt its DNS, so the site and email stop working. After deletion comes a 30-day Redemption Grace Period, then five days of PendingDelete, then release.
| When | What happens | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| About 1 month before expiry | Registrar reminder | ERRP 2.1.1 |
| About 1 week before expiry | Registrar reminder | ERRP 2.1.1 |
| Within 5 days after expiry | At least one more notice | ERRP 2.1.2 |
| Any time after expiry | Registrar may delete | ERRP 2.2.1 |
| 30 days after deletion | Redemption Grace Period; old registrant can restore | ERRP 3.1 |
| Next 5 days | PendingDelete, then released | ICANN renewal FAQ |
Restoring a name in redemption usually costs extra; ICANN’s renewal FAQ warns it “may result in an additional fee”. Registrars must display their renewal, post-expiry and restore fees on their websites, so record all three. Comparing those prices is covered in domain renewal price.
Auto-renew helps, but it is not a guarantee. Cloudflare Registrar enrols domains in auto-renew by default and makes the first attempt about 30 days before expiry, yet its help page says “There is no guarantee that the renewal will succeed”, citing billing failures and registry downtime. If a renewal fails it retries three more times, then you must renew manually, and unrenewed domains are deleted automatically. ICANN’s advice is short: keep payment details up to date.
Transfers, locks and account security
Know which names are free to move before a buyer asks. Under ICANN’s Transfer Policy, the registrar of record may deny a transfer requested within 60 days of creation, or within 60 days of a previous transfer. That is a “may”, not a ban. The firm rule follows a change of registrant: the registrar “must impose a 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock”, though it may let you opt out before the change. A pending UDRP case also blocks a transfer.
Cloudflare, for example, offers a “Do not apply 60 day transfer lock” option when you approve a change of registrant. Moving a name between accounts at the same registrar is a separate route: Namecheap says “You don’t have to wait for 60 days to move a domain to another Namecheap account”, but “It is not possible to move expired domain names between Namecheap accounts.” For a move to another registrar, Porkbun’s guide sums up the steps: remove the registrar lock, then get the authorisation (EPP) code, “a single-use password”. Typical timings are in domain transfer time.
Your registrar login is the portfolio, so protect it. Cloudflare recommends that all account holders enable two-factor authentication, ideally “at least two different 2FA factors”, and store backup codes safely to prevent lockouts. Do the same at every registrar you use. Whether to hide your contact details is covered in domain privacy protection.
Price and list what you hold
An unpriced name cannot be bought on impulse. Give every name a Buy Now price in the record, then list it in the same form everywhere. Setting the figure is a separate skill, covered in domain appraisal.
Venue terms then shape the record. At Afternic, GoDaddy’s help pages describe List for Sale as free, with prices editable at any time unless a sale is pending. Buy Now prices are binding; the floor price is also binding, and GoDaddy recommends setting it 20–30% below Buy Now; a minimum set automatically at 65% of Buy Now is not binding. Offers need a response within 7 days. Afternic’s commission is 30% as standard or 20% with GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers, with a $15 minimum, so where a name’s nameservers point at the time of sale changes what you keep. That is why nameservers sit in the record.
Parking is optional. Sedo says parked domains earn from advertising links and claims they “sell twice as fast as offline domains”; that is Sedo’s claim, not a promise. The trade-offs are in parked domain, and a step-by-step listing guide is in how to list a domain for sale.
On SERPHeroes, you can list your domain on SERPHeroes one at a time or bulk-upload a list or CSV, which suits a portfolio export. It accepts “Registered domains you own, can verify and can transfer”, with “Prices from $10, in whole US dollars”. Listing is free; when a name sells, SERPHeroes keeps a flat 10% commission through Escrow.com, which also charges its own transaction fee, shown before the sale goes ahead.
Review on a schedule, and prune
Once a month, sort the record by expiry and look at the next 60 days. Confirm auto-renew and the card on each, check for failed charges, log any offers, and make sure listing prices still match the record. Before each renewal, decide deliberately: renew, reprice or let it go. Most domains never sell, and a name with no offers and a rising renewal price is a cost, not an asset. Letting a weak name lapse is part of the system, not a failure of it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need domain portfolio management software?
Not at first. A spreadsheet with the columns above covers most portfolios. Software helps when the record gets too big to review by hand each month.
Is there a 30-day grace period after a domain expires?
Not guaranteed. ICANN lets registrars delete a name any time after expiry. The 30 days is the Redemption Grace Period after deletion, and restoring usually costs extra.
Can I sell a domain I bought last month?
Yes, but a move to another registrar may be refused within 60 days of a transfer, and a change of registrant brings a 60-day lock unless you opted out.
Should I consolidate names at one registrar?
It makes renewals and security easier to manage, but each move restarts a 60-day window, so plan it when no sale is pending.
The takeaway One record, one monthly review, and a price on every name. When a name is ready to sell, list your domain on SERPHeroes alone or in bulk, with free listing and the money held by Escrow.com until the transfer is done.
