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Article title: Domain Redemption Phase — What It Is and How to Recover Your Expired Domain
Meta description: What happens when a domain expires in South Africa? Learn about the ZACR Domain Redemption Phase, redemption fees and how to recover your domain before it's gone permanently.
Domain Redemption Phase — What It Is and How to Recover Your Expired Domain
It is very important to renew your domain before it expires. If a domain is not renewed in time it will go through a series of phases before being permanently deleted — including a Redemption Phase where it can still be recovered, but at a significant additional cost.
On 1 December 2012, the South African domain regulating authority (ZACR) introduced the Domain Redemption Phase on all .ZA domains.
What Happens When a Domain Expires?
The process follows these stages in order:
Stage 1 — Domain Expires
Your domain reaches its expiry date. Your website and email will begin to go offline.
Stage 2 — Pending Suspension and Pending Deletion Phase
The domain enters a grace period where it may still be renewed at the normal renewal price. During this time your website and email will be offline or showing a holding page.
Stage 3 — Closed Redemption Phase
After the Pending Deletion phase, the domain enters the Closed Redemption Phase. The domain can still be recovered during this period but a Closed Redemption Fee applies on top of the standard renewal fee.
Stage 4 — Permanent Deletion
Once the Redemption Period ends, the domain is permanently deleted and becomes available for anyone to register. At this point it cannot be recovered by the original owner.
Closed Redemption Fees
If your domain has entered the Closed Redemption Phase, the following fees apply to reinstate it:
| Domain Type | Redemption Fee |
|---|---|
| .co.za, .org.za, .net.za and other .ZA domains | R350.00 |
| .joburg, .capetown, .durban | R700.00 |
| .com, .net, .org, .biz, .mobi, .travel and other TLDs/gTLDs | R3 800.00 |
These fees are charged by the registry and are in addition to the standard domain renewal fee.
How Long Is the Redemption Period?
The length of the Redemption Period depends on the registry:
- .ZA domains (.co.za, .org.za etc.) — 30 days
- .com, .net and most gTLDs — 45 to 90 days depending on the registry
Once the Redemption Period ends the domain is released for public registration and cannot be recovered.
How to Recover a Domain in Redemption
If your domain has entered the Closed Redemption Phase, contact our support team as soon as possible at my.hostking.host. We will check the domain's current status and advise on the exact redemption fee and process.
The sooner you act the better — once the Redemption Period ends the domain is gone permanently.
How to Avoid Domain Redemption
The best way to avoid redemption fees is to renew your domain before it expires:
- Log into my.hostking.host regularly to check your domain expiry dates
- Make sure your billing contact email is up to date so you receive renewal reminder emails
- Consider enabling auto-renew on your domain in the client portal so it renews automatically before expiry
- Renew for multiple years at a time to reduce the risk of accidental expiry
Need Help?
If your domain has expired or you're unsure of its status, open a support ticket at my.hostking.host and our team will check it for you. We are available every day from 7am to 10pm via live chat at hostking.host.
