Domains
The most replaceable part of a name, and the part people decide first. A domain is rented a year at a time from a registry, through a registrar, under rules most buyers never read. These pages cover what a registry lookup really says, which endings come with conditions, what a name will cost over its life rather than at checkout, and what happens when one expires.
A lookup answers a narrower question than you think. It tells you whether a registration record exists, not whether you can buy the name at a normal price. The first-year price is marketing. Renewal is the real cost. A domain is not a right in a name. Owning the .com gives you no protection against a trademark owner, and losing it does not stop you trading.
Before you buy
Start with what a lookup actually tells you. Behind “available” and “taken” there are at least five states: never registered, premium or reserved, registered and in use, registered and parked, and expired but still in redemption. Two of these look unregistered, and one of those may cost thousands. Three look registered, and one of those may be free within weeks. The page explains each state, why the checker on this site sometimes says “unknown”, and why a privacy-redacted record still means the name is taken.
Then decide on the ending. Choosing between TLDs weighs what an ending costs you in trust, typing errors and renewal risk. It is aimed at people who are tempted to pay a premium for a .com when a sensible alternative exists, and at people who are tempted by a cheap new ending without thinking about how customers will remember it.
Some endings cannot simply be bought. The country codes you cannot just buy lists ccTLDs that require you to be resident, incorporated or represented locally before the registry will sell. Those rules matter if your brand plan depends on a national ending in a market you are not yet in.
What it really costs
Renewal pricing traps covers the gap between the checkout price and what you will pay over a decade. That includes introductory discounts, premium names that renew at premium rates, registry price rises and the notice rules in ICANN's contracts that limit them, registrar margins on renewal, and the redemption fee you pay if a renewal slips. It ends with a simple way to compare candidates on ten-year cost instead of first-year price.
When a domain expires
If the name you want is held by someone else and looks abandoned, read expired domains, drops and backorders before you plan around getting it. Under the gTLD rules an expired name passes through a registrar grace period, a 30-day redemption period and a five-day pending-delete period before it is released. It is often auctioned before it ever drops. The page explains each stage, what a backorder actually buys you, and how to avoid losing your own names to the same process.
When someone else has it
Disputes have their own section. If someone registered your name in bad faith, start with the UDRP three-part test and the procedure step by step. If they registered it first and in good faith, buying it is usually the only realistic route.
All domain pages
- What a lookup actually tells youRegistered, unregistered, reserved, redeeming and parked are five different states, and only one of them means you can buy it
- The endings you cannot simply buyA dozen country codes require you to be there, or to have a local contact, before the registry will sell
- Choosing between TLDsWhat the ending actually costs you in trust, typing errors and renewal risk
- Renewal pricing trapsPremium renewals, registry price notices, the ten-year lock-in and the transfer trick
- Expired domains, drops and backordersThe lifecycle after expiry, day by day, and why a backorder is a bet
First published 2026-09-27. Rewritten 2026-10-18 to introduce every page in this section. General guidance about domain registration, not advice about any particular name.