I guess this is a cautionary tale.

I was recently having issues with my Gmail account that’s tied to my Epik ( a domain registrar ) account, so when I was supposed to renew my domain, I didn’t receive any e-mails about it. When I decided to randomly check on my website, it seemed to be down. So I checked Epik and a domain that usually cost £15 a year to renew now cost £400 to renew as it was expired.

As a teenager who does not have £400 to spend on a domain, I decided to just wait until the domain fully expired and buy it for a cheaper price.

After some time, the domain fully expired and GoDaddy decided to buy it as soon as it did, and charged me £2,225 to renew the domain. I don’t understand how a price that large is justified, considering that my website gets barely any visitors and I basically only use the domain for hosting stuff. No idea how hiking prices this much is legal

  • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    5 months ago

    After some time, the domain fully expired and GoDaddy decided to buy it as soon as it did,

    Oh yeah, that’s what happens when you pick scammy domain registrars. It is very possible that Epik auctioned your domain (after wall they kept it after the expiry date and payed fees) and then GoDaddy snatched it. This is what usually happens.

    • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
      192·
      5 months ago

      Not just scammy

      Epik is an American domain registrar and web hostingcompany known for providing services to alt-tech websites that host far-right, neo-Nazi, and other extremist materials. It has been described as a “safehaven for the extreme right” because of its willingness to provide services to far-right websites that have been denied service by other Internet service providers.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epik

      I’m in no way surprised at what they did, and in fact only surprised that it wasn’t them that bought the expired domain, but instead was godaddy

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        32·
        5 months ago

        Great to know, wouldn’t wanna be associated with someone who seems to specialize in far-right businesses.

        Interesting, had to check and see: 4chan is registered with Cloudflare.

        A part of me would rather these baby Hitlers operating in the open in case it’s harder for the FBI to follow them around the dark web. Downside is clearnet makes it easier for low-braincell nazis to communicate. Woulda thought we’d have socially stomped out extremism by now so doing it technologically wouldn’t be necessary…

        Alas.

      • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        5 months ago

        You’re missing the point, it wasn’t bought by godaddy. Epik auctioned the domain to godaddy after it expired, it’s common for registrars to sell domains to each other so they don’t get a bad reputation and make people think what you’re thinking.