No Thanks Epik.com

I've been busier than usual lately due to the tax filing deadline and forgot to renew a domain that expired on 4/13/2012. I discovered the situation this morning and didn't think much of it as I've routinely renewed domains at Godaddy.com a few days after they expired without any incident or price hikes.

Problem is, this particular domain is at Epik.com, not Godaddy. The domain was originally registered at Intrust Domains but was moved to Epik.com when they purchased InTrust not too long ago. That in itself would be fine but I wasn't aware that Epik jacked up their renewal rates to $35 per year. To make matters worse, they have a minimum renewal term of 2 years for domains in grace renewal status bringing the total cost to $70. I assume the 2 year minimum is due to the expired status because I have another domain there which is eligible for a one year renewal.

Basically, once Epik.com has you in a situation where you have no other options, they put the screws to you. I know it's my fault for letting it come to this but it doesn't excuse Epik for taking advanatage of their customers. Godaddy has a very liberal grace period and allows you to renew recently expired domains at regular price and doesn't raise the minimum length beyond the standard 1 year period.

This particular domain also has an Epik product portal installed. I'd be really hot about that accept for the fact that Google dropped the domain from their index long ago along with many other of my Epik product portals but that's another post for another time. Fact is, the domain is a pretty good one but with the Google de-indexing combined with the $70 renewal cost, it's not worth the trouble or cost. I refuse to throw good money after bad.

No thank you Epik.com.

UPDATE: Rob at Epik reached out to me and offered a substantial decrease in the renewal cost. Based on the reduced cost I went ahead and renewed for two years. He also offered a one year option but I just went ahead renewed for two since I could do it through the web interface and the price was in line with other registrars. Despite the performance of my product portals, which I didn't add content as recommended, it wouldn't be right if I didn't mention that Rob has always been more than fair in my direct dealings with him. Thanks Rob.

+Bill Eisenmann
@Nameclerk
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Godaddy Expired Domains | Godaddy Closeout Domains

1190 Available Keyword Domains Ready to Register

I don't recall ever sending out a domain list this large in the past. I've been busy working with my clients lately and that's been taking up a lot of my time. The good news is that I'm sitting on a text file with over 20,000 available keyword domains that I've mined over the past few months. If all goes well, I'd like to release a majority of those on the blog and through my email newsletter over the next couple months.

Fans of Epik will find several development worthy product domains in the mix. I've had a few sites developed by Epik myself and I've been happy with the results. We'll all benefit if Rob can help increase the liquidity in the marketplace he's been talking about lately.

Without further delay. Here are the available domains:

View 1190 Available Domain Names