We’ve Come To An Agreement Now What
Congratulations! Youve managed to contact the domain owner, they were interested in selling, and now youve made a deal. How do you actually get the domain? Well, it depends. For gTLDs the transfer process is standardized. Theres information on the requirements here.
For ccTLDs there can be a lot of variance in whats required to transfer, so if you have trouble figuring it out or getting started, let us know. Were happy to help.
If the domain owner is an iwantmyname customer and so are you, you can do whats called an internal transfer or move..
If you want to transfer the domain from the owners account at another registrar to your account with iwantmyname, then the owner would unlock the domain, get the transfer auth code, remove any privacy services, and one of you would initiate the transfer at our website. More information on transferring TO iwantmyname here.
If the owner is an iwantmyname customer and you want to transfer the domain to your account at another registrar, then the owner would unlock the domain, get the transfer auth code, remove any privacy services, and one of you would initiate the transfer at the new registrars website. More information on transferring FROM iwantmyname here.
Depending on the domain type and registrars involved, transfers can be immediate, or take up to 5 days to complete.
What Is The Process To Lookup Domain Name Details
The domain name registration process has been engineered in a very transparent way. Everybody has an open access to obtain information about domain name registrant and the ownership of a domain by just clicking on certain informative links. It also helps in keeping a track of domain name expiry dates and the start date of registration.
How To Find Out Who Owns A Website Or Domain
You can also find out when its going to expire
Wouldnt it be nice to know who owned a certain website? Previously, I wrote about how you can find out who is hosting a website, but that only tells you where the server is located. If you want to verify the owner of a domain name or see when one expires , performing a WHOIS lookup is the way to go.
If you perform a search in Google for WHOIS, youll get a bunch of results, but normally the first one is whois.net. By visiting www.whois.net, you can not only find out who owns a certain domain name, but also when it was purchased and more importantly, when it is due to expire.
Looking up a domain name on www.whois.net is very simple. All you have to do is enter in the web address you want to look up and presto all the information you wanted will appear. For example, if you look up the website address for the WHOIS site, you will find out some important information. In the screen shot below, we can tell that the domain name was purchased in 1997 and they have paid for it through 2018 .
While WHOIS is a great reference for when you want to find information about someone elses website, but it can be a problem when its the other way around. When purchasing a domain or even afterwards, most companies provide a private registration benefit that will remove any personal information about the owner.
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Negotiating With A Domain Name Owner
If youve consulted WHOIS databases or otherwise discovered the identity of the domain name owner, the next step for those looking to purchase a domain name is to negotiate with the owner.
Its important to remember that as long as an owners domain registration hasnt expired, they retain complete control over the name and can either sell it or keep it, as desired. Sometimes, even if youve discovered the perfect domain name, the owner might be unwilling to put it up for sale. Circumstances like these arise rather frequently for that reason, its important to keep an open mind and be willing to entertain the idea of registering an alternative name.
Send an email or otherwise get in contact with the owner by using the information youve acquired through research. Reach out with a positive attitude. Even if there wont be any face-to-face negotiations, its important to be friendly. Once you agree to the deal, exchange payment for ownership.
How To Perform A Basic Whois Lookup
A basic WHOIS lookup will only show you the current status of the domain, but its a helpful start. Heres how to do it:
Step 1: Find a WHOIS search service
You can quickly and easily look up current ownership data here on Shopify.
Step 2: Type a domain name into the search field
For this tutorial, we picked manitobah.com, an online store that sells Canadian Indigenous-designed footwear.
Step 3: Check out the results
These results show the current status/registrar of manitobah.com, as well as the creation date of the domain, the name servers its connected to, and additional information you can see in the screenshot.
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How Can I Hide My Remaining Public Contact Details From The Whois Database
For Canadians with a .CA domain name, the?Canadian Internet Registration Authority ?automatically provides domain privacy be default. However, non .CA domain names will need to purchase an additional service called a Domain Privacy service. Once purchased, all Registrant information on the WHOIS database is replaced by proxy contact information. In most cases, this information belongs to the operating registrar such as Webnames.ca.
While the details list a registrar or proxy contact information, the true owner of a domain name is still the original registrant.
Find The Information You Need In Whois Records
If the domain owner is interested in selling their domain, their contact information is typically available in the Whois records. However, youll sometimes find that the information youre looking for has been blocked by the domain provider for privacy reasons.
If the domain that youre interested in is being sold by someone who is looking for a willing buyer, the steps outlined above is the easiest way to start negotiating a purchase. But if the seller has hidden their contact information or is not interested in selling their domain, dont despair! There are workarounds for those who are interested in a domain that has already been registered.
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How Do I Buy A Domain Name
Congrats! You found an available name and youre ready to make it yours. Simply add the domain name to your cart and start the checkout process. During checkout, youll make some decisions like how many years youd like to register it for, if youd like to add site hosting, email, advanced security, auto-renewals, and other features.
My Developer Set Up My Account And Is Not Returning My Calls How Do I Do A Change Of Registrant
To update the registrant information or to transfer your domain name to a different registrant, please contact the registrar that registered the domain name. For information about the domain name, including the registrar name, conduct a search of the public Registration Data Directory Service at . The registrar’s name will be included in the result. A list of registrars and links to their websites is on the ICANN-accredited registrar list.
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Ways To Contact The Owner Of A Godaddy
In April 2020, GoDaddy announced that they would be removing public WHOIS information. In a statement given to Elliot Silver of DomainInvesting.com, GoDaddy said that
Due to changing privacy regulations in the U.S. and around the world, GoDaddy is in the process of making some changes to align our offerings similar to what we did in GDPR regions.
The changing privacy regulations reference is the set of rules that makes up the new CCPA, California Consumer Privacy Act, which offers consumers rights and control over their data privacy.
The CCPA is somewhat similar to GDPR, a European privacy law that was introduced in May 2018. The GDPR meant big changes for WHOIS information, as many domain registrars redacted information for all domains, meaning that WHOIS data started to look a little something like this:
After GDPR, GoDaddy kept most of their WHOIS information online, available for the public to view via GoDaddys WHOIS search. However, in light of the CCPA, GoDaddy has taken most of their WHOIS data offline, with WHOIS listings being massively affected:
Visit the domain
If the person who owns the domain that you are interested in wants to be contacted, they will usually make it fairly foolproof. The most obvious place to start is by finding out whether the domain in question hosts a website or landing page.
The site or landing page will usually contain some way for you to get in touch with the domain owner.
Check WHOIS history
Keep Your Information Up To Date
It’s important to keep your domain contact information up to date especially the email address because:
- We send important notifications for your domain to this email address.
- We use the email address to verify domain ownership.
- Other domain providers may request this information if you transfer the domain to them.
To ensure that your information is up to date, we’ll email you asking that you review your domain’s contact information once a year. The message will arrive from either customercare@squarespace.com or no-reply@squarespace.com depending on your domain’s registrar.
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Why Do I Need To Keep Contact Information Associated With My Domain Name Registration Up
It is very important to keep your contact information up-to-date at all times so that you receive important notifications about your domain name from your registrar. These notifications are typically sent via email, and if your email is not updated, you may not receive important notifications that are designed for your protection. For example, your registrar will notify you of changes to your account and domain name registrations so that you can confirm the changes. If your email information is not up-to-date, unauthorized changes could be made to your account without your knowledge. To learn more about why it’s important to keep your contact information updated, read ICANN’s blog on why it’s important to keep your contact information up to date.
Public Whois Database Listing
If youâre comfortable with having your information available to the public and donât want the extra fee associated with private domain registration Network Solutions will submit a public listing to the WHOIS lookup database. This listing will include your name, address, phone number, email address and domain name expiration date. Your IP address and host name will also be listed.
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Why Do You Want To Find Out Who Owns A Domain Name
Finding out who owns a domain name can tell you valuable data about the domain name owner. Generally, the information includes an email address, name, and contact information, so that you can get in touch to buy the domain name.
You can also know when your domain name was registered, how many owners the domain name has had, etc. If you find that many people have owned a unique domain name, it means there are many chances of the domain being used for spam.
For example, If you are developing a WordPress website, the most important decision you make is selecting a perfect business name and matching domain. If you find out a great and specific domain and you want to purchase it. But, it is already registered then you find out to see who is the owner of a domain and they agree to sell the domain name to you or not.
There are many ways to find domain name owner. In this article, well tell you the 3 effective ways to find the owner of a website.
Icann Domain Name Registration Lookup
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is responsible for coordinating and maintaining IP address allocation, domain name system management, and certain other specifics of the internets overall infrastructure.
In other words, ICANN keeps tabs on all registered domain names and network addresses to ensure an up-to-date database that can be accessed and interacted with.
The ICANN Domain Name Registration Data Lookup is a search tool that provides current registration data on domain owners. This information comes straight from registry operators and registrars, as ICANN doesnt store such information.
Simply enter the domain name into the search bar and click Lookup. ICANNs lookup tool will draw the available information about the domain owner from the WHOIS directory and display it on the next page.
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How Can You Find Domain Information Using Gandis Whois Lookup Tool
Though there is an abundance of WHOIS lookup tools online, we have decided to create our own free WHOIS domain lookup tool which we have designed to be as simple to use as possible. All you have to do after opening our WHOIS lookup page is to search for the domain you want to know more about. The WHOIS domain lookup tool will output every piece of information you need, presented in a clear and readable way.
WHOIS lookup is the easiest way to check the availability of a domain. If it happens to be taken, you always have the option to contact its owner using their contact information you find using our WHOIS lookup tool, and maybe directly negotiate a purchase. The WHOIS domain lookup might indicate that the domain name youre looking for points to an abandoned website. In that case, it might simply be available for purchase again when it reaches its expiration date. In this case, you will be able to acquire it just like you would any other new domain name.
What Do You Do If You Are Not The Legal Owner Of Your Domain Name
If you are not the name listed under registrant, hopefully, you recognize the name that is! And, hopefully you can identify them as the person who registered the domain name for you. Another hope is that you are still on good terms with the person who set up the domain name ownership for you.
Most web developers, designers, etc. who regularly register domain ownership know that their clients name should be in the registration, not their own. However, others may just not realize the legal ramifications of their actions. In trying to register the website on your behalf, they may have just unknowingly put in their own contact information without any ulterior motive. In this case, they would probably cooperate if asked to change the domain name registration over to your name.
A disreputable web developer, however, could have registered incorrectly on purpose, either to hold you hostage to their fee structure, or to make it difficult for you to switch vendors. They may not cooperate with you, in which case, you need to take action.
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Go For A Different Domain Name
There is always a chance that even with all the aforementioned steps, the owner will flat out refuse to sell their domain or name a price that is way outside your budget. In this case, you can consider a different domain name.
Do not forget to try your domain name with different TLDs . If the .com version of the domain is taken, maybe the .net will be available. Check out our article about the different types of domains if you wish to learn more.
Even if that is not the case, sit down and try to brainstorm other domain names. Who knows? Maybe you will come up with one that you like even more than your original idea.
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Who Should I Contact For Any Other Questions I May Have
Most questions about your domain name registration can be answered by your registrar. To locate your registrar, visit whois.icann.org to perform a WHOIS search for your domain name. The results of the search will display the name and web address of your registrar.
If your question is not answered here, please contact ICANN organization’s Global Support Center’s Global Support Center for assistance.
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I Need To Contact Another Registrant But Their Contact Information Is Unavailable In The Public Whois How Do I Contact Them
Registrars are permitted and sometimes required to mask otherwise publicly available registrant contact information in the Registration Data Directory Service ). The registrar of the domain name related to the registrant you are trying to contact should provide a web form or other type of communication method for you to contact a registrant if their contact information is unavailable publicly. Use to lookup the registrar of the domain name related to the registrant you would like to contact.
Two: Check The Whois Directory
Every time someone registers a domain name, the domain registrar that processes the sale is required to collect basic contact information. In some cases, that information then gets submitted to the WHOIS directory, so that theres a record of who runs each website online.
The WHOIS directory is therefore our next stop for seeking out a domain name owner.
Put in the name of the domain youre looking for and scroll down to find all the data the WHOIS directory lists for it. In a few cases, that may contain the owners contact information. If so, you can skip the next step.
Even if not though, it will always include at least their domain registrar and domain expiration date. That lets you know if the domain will be coming up for renewal soon. If so, you may be able to snap it up for cheaper when it expires than if you buy it from them directly. But that only works if they dont renew, so youre taking a chance.
Either way, knowing the domain registrar enables you to take the next step.
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