I forgot about a domain of mine, it wasnt much of a site, just has a bunch of backlinks, and its an .info but I just checked to renew it on enom its $30??? wft .info are $2.00 domains how can they do this? is there anything I can do? Or just let it go.... Thanks
Once it has expired purchase it again through GoDaddy or another cheap registrar. If they are saying it has expired and you can't register it, it is because they give you a 30-day (I think it's 30, don't take my word on that) grace period. This is basically to give you a little extra time, in the case of emergency, etc. Wait for the grace period to end and then purchase it at another registrar. Just don't tell anyone the domain otherwise people will blackmail you if the domain is precious to you.
If it went into redemption, consider yourself lucky.. The fee is typically mandated by ICANN at up to $80 US... That's the way it works man... Your registrar is not screwing you.. They are protecting your domain by holding it for you for a period of time to insure that you and ONLY you may get it back if you want it, and not some domain squatter..
But am I right in saying that if he/she waits this grace period off, he will be able to purchase the domain for a normal price again? Just wondering myself really.
No it isn't. There's nothing anywhere in their registrar contracts saying they're required to charge up to $80 when others do so higher. (e.g. Netsol $150) If the domain name isn't that important to you, superrichguy, then let it go. Otherwise, pay the price for not staying on top of it. Let this be a stern lesson, folks: once the domain name expires, the registrar doesn't have to do anything for you unless they see it's worthwhile.
Actually yes there is.. Well, not a specific number per say, but there IS a fee, and that is the charge that the registrar incurr for holding/handling the expired domain. The average tends to be around $80. I own a domain registration company BTW... We all offer auto-renew options btw.. IMO, there is no excuse for letting your domain renewal lapse. We, as well as every other registrar I know send out several reminders for renewal. Our process is we send a reminder at 90 days, then 60 days, then 30 days, then a 1 day deletion notice (actually 3 days prior) to give even more time for you to renew. The redemption period and whatever fee a registrar charges is something ICANN insituted to protect domain owners from what happened in the past, ie., lapse domains ending up in the hands of squaters or other registries for sale back to the owner at thousands of dollars... Why should a registrar eat the fees for someone else's incompetence? Pay the fee, if you really want the domain back.. If not, move on. For more info see here: http://www.icann.org/registrars/redemption-supplement-20feb02.htm
While I don't mean to argue, my actual main point is that the registrar isn't at all required to redeem the domain name for its last registrant. If you click the "Click here to read the original discussion paper on this topic" link from the one you originally posted, it gives the actual reason why that was originally talked about and eventually formed. (although what you said is partly right...) It's a misconception to believe that registrars must take a domain name out of redemption upon request. Go through any of ICANN's policies if you're up to it, but I guarantee you you're not going to find anything there saying it's a must. Of course, all that can be avoided if the registrant stays on top of it. As you said, there is no excuse for letting the domain renewal lapse.