
A Step By Step Guide to Transfer Domains Out Of GoDaddy - jeffepp
http://blog.jeffepstein.me/post/14629857835/a-step-by-step-guide-to-transfer-domains-out-of-godaddy
======
jbail
I just transferred my 47 domains out of GoDaddy. I've been meaning to do it
for awhile --- primarily because the price keeps inching up and because I find
their advertising and use of spokeswomen sort of distasteful.

Seeing Jillian Michael's face when I'm buying a domain or setting up DNS
records for a client is pretty much the last thing I want to see.

I guess you could say SOPA was the last straw. Transferring 47 domains cost a
pretty penny, but it feels really good to leave that circus behind.

I went with Namecheap, primarily because I've heard good things about them and
this blog post made it easy. I like how simple and snappy their web site is.
Much quicker and easier to use than Godaddy...and no Jillian Michaels staring
me down.

~~~
lux
Same, but I think it was 46 for me ;)

Big relief having finally gotten off my butt to do that. Well worth the $200+
and at least that renews them all for an extra year at the same time, so it's
not like I wouldn't have spent it anyway (just not all at once).

~~~
jbail
Knowing that I would need to pay to renew them anyway made it slightly less
painful. It's tough to cough up $300+ at once, but SOPA is a horrible idea and
GoDaddy apparently has no clue who their customers are. I'd be very curious to
see some stats on how many transfers happened because of this effort.

~~~
lux
Would love to see that stat. I guess competitors could post about spikes,
giving us a sense based on their numbers.

~~~
freejack
We did 10x the inbound xfer volume on the 22nd vs. the 21st. So far on the
23rd, we're at 80% of the volume we saw on the 22nd. This only counts
_completed_ transfers, and there are a ton more in process as people fiddle
with the Godaddy knobs and dials.

One of our customers wrote a great transfer how-to that can be found here...
<https://twitter.com/technologypoet/status/150084142577623042>

...and to head off any bandwagon jumping criticisms, we've been publicly
opposed to this sort of legislative gerrymandering long before Godaddy stepped
out in favour of it... <https://www.hover.com/blog/hover-opposes-sopa>

~~~
Calamitous
I agree with your sentiment, but the Grammar Nazi in me wants to make you
aware that gerrymandering is a specific type of political malfeasance related
to redistricting, not a generic term for political chicanery. :)

------
RexM
After you get your EPP codes entered and GoDaddy is notified that you intend
to transfer the domain, you can either wait 5 days for GoDaddy to release the
domain, or you can go in and immediately accept the transfer by following
these instructions: <http://support.godaddy.com/help/6040?locale=en>

Then it's just a matter of waiting for everything to finalize. I started the
process this morning and it still isn't finalized.

~~~
jeffepp
EDIT: I updated the blog to include these instructions. Thanks.

------
CWuestefeld
As noted elsewhere, it's the hosting plans that they make their money from,
and so that's what I'd aim to transfer. So I've got a two-part question:

1) How does one transfer all the DNS information, including the A and MX
records (anything else I need?)? Is this all provider-specific? Or can they
just port in the existing data?

2) When I'm ready, I'd want to set up a web site, and especially a mail
server. Any recommendations? (I know this has been asked plenty in the past,
but this seems a good time to make a list excluding GoDaddy)

~~~
larrys
First, manage the dns with a third party dns service. Such as
<http://zoneedit.com/pricing.html> or similar. Don't use the dns of the
registrar.

But if you are talking about moving over just dns servers (not the records
that are in those dns servers) that is automatically ported over when you
change registrars. But if the dns servers are the dns servers of the registrar
that isn't what you want. Which is one of the reasons to use third party dns.
If you switch registrars the gaining registrar automatically sets the primary
and secondary dns to what it was at the old registrar.

I wrote this fast but if you have any questions let me know. This is what I
do.

To answer about mail server depends on whether you mean the mail server will
run on your equipment or on a VPS or?

~~~
286c8cb04bda
_First, manage the dns with a third party dns service._

This cannot be emphasized enough. Do not use your registrar's DNS. Do not use
your registrar's hosting. Do not use your host's DNS.

The three elements -- domain registration, DNS, and web hosting -- should be
segregated. That way, if you have problems with one, through chance, malice,
or incompetence, you can exercise the other two items to work around the
issue.

E.g.s:

If your web host is DDOSed, change the DNS entries to point to another host;
minimizing downtime.

If your DNS servers are taken offline by legal action against the company that
owns them, change the published servers at your registrar.

If your registrar goes bankrupt, your DNS and hosting will continue running
smoothly while ICANN handles the domain management.

While you're at it, host your email somewhere different than your webhost. If
you're account gets disabled because of a billing mistake, you want to get the
email that tells you about it, right?

It's not even that expensive to implement these steps -- $25, maybe $50 per
year. If you are at all serious about something on the Internet, spend the
extra money!

~~~
wx77
How realistic is it for these things to actually happen though, the only
seemingly realistic thing is the DOS attack.

I'm not saying it isn't smart I am just wondering if you have any examples of
the others actually occurring.

~~~
286c8cb04bda
Depends on what you mean by realistic. All of the examples I gave were things
that have happened, or could plausibly happen.

Police Raids: <http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/data-centers-ra/>
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/22/fbi_data_centre_raid...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/22/fbi_data_centre_raid/)

Shutdown Registrars: [http://domainnamewire.com/2009/10/12/directnic-picks-up-
red-...](http://domainnamewire.com/2009/10/12/directnic-picks-up-red-register-
domains-icann-notifies-two-more-registrars/)
[http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/03/registerfly-
terminated-b...](http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/03/registerfly-terminated-
by-icann/)

You can never know what the company executives or managers might be getting up
to, so -- as basic risk management -- you should prepare for catastrophic
events.

------
jameskilton
<https://dnsimple.com/> has a 50% off special for transferring domains off of
GoDaddy. They may not be the cheapest (it's $3 a month to host 10 domains +
yearly cost for the domain registration), but they have fantastic support and
are super simple to use.

~~~
aeden
In case you haven't seen it before, I wrote up a step-by-step guide earlier
this year as well: [http://blog.dnsimple.com/preparing-domains-godaddy-for-
trans...](http://blog.dnsimple.com/preparing-domains-godaddy-for-transfer-
out/)

Note the tip at the end: you usually have to wait the full 5 day waiting
period when transferring a domain out of GoDaddy because they let the domain
auto ack at the end, however you can speed things up using the technique
described in this help article on their site:
<http://help.godaddy.com/article/6040?locale=en>

Copied here in case they remove it. :-)

To Accept or Decline a Transfer to Another Registrar Log in to your Account
Manager. In the My Products section, click Domains/Domain Manager. From the
Domains menu, select Pending Transfers. Select the domain name(s) you are
transferring to another registrar, and then click Accept/Decline. Select one
of the following: Accept — This option might speed up the pending transfer's
completion. Decline — This option cancels the pending transfer, which causes
it to fail. Click OK twice. We process your request within 30 minutes.

~~~
nathanhammond
I can't say enough good things about DNSimple (and I've had lots of bad things
to say about other registrars). Are you guys still reselling enom for all of
your TLDs? Pretty please will you get your own setup for at least
.com/.org/.net addresses? And when/if you do can you make a big stink about it
so I know to transfer all of my domains to you guys? I'd love to give you more
money...

~~~
aeden
I can't promise I can do it, but I'll work on it. ICANN accreditation and
registry access is all about money. If I can get the working capital then I'll
get DNSimple accredited in 2012. Believe me, I'd _love_ to be able to do it.

~~~
sdfgkjshdfg
If I move to DNSimple now, will it be easy to move to your news registry
later?

I don't mind paying some, but just need it to be ultra easy :)

------
Shpigford
If you're transferring to Namecheap, you can combine both the domain name and
the EPP code on the same line (comma separated). That'll save you a step of
having to re-submit it for each domain.

~~~
jeffepp
Awesome. Going to update that in the post - Thanks Shpigford!

------
_delirium
Note that you also have to disable domains-by-proxy (domain privacy) if you
have it on any domains before they can be transferred.

~~~
bravura
This is also my understanding.

Which essentially means that you cannot transfer any domains out of GoDaddy
without losing your anonymity.

~~~
citricsquid
Purchase third party whois privacy. Whois privacy costs nothing to run, it's
just a company saying they own the domain on your behalf, this opens you up to
domain theft though, I don't understand why people use it. Set up a PO Box
somewhere and use that.

~~~
dchest
_Set up a PO Box somewhere and use that._

Is it allowed to use a fictional name?

~~~
citricsquid
I am 99% sure the only requirement is any contact delivered makes it to you,
so yes.

~~~
dchest
3.7.7.1 The Registered Name Holder shall provide to Registrar accurate and
reliable contact details and promptly correct and update them during the term
of the Registered Name registration, including: the full name, postal address,
e-mail address, voice telephone number, and fax number if available of the
Registered Name Holder; name of authorized person for contact purposes in the
case of an Registered Name Holder that is an organization, association, or
corporation; and the data elements listed in Subsections 3.3.1.2, 3.3.1.7 and
3.3.1.8.

3.7.7.2 A Registered Name Holder's willful provision of inaccurate or
unreliable information, its willful failure promptly to update information
provided to Registrar, or its failure to respond for over fifteen (15)
calendar days to inquiries by Registrar concerning the accuracy of contact
details associated with the Registered Name Holder's registration shall
constitute a material breach of the Registered Name Holder-registrar contract
and be a basis for cancellation of the Registered Name registration.

[http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra-
agreement-21may09-en.h...](http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra-
agreement-21may09-en.htm#3.7.7.2)

~~~
bermanoid
From what I've seen (I have personally never done it, but know people that
have), this is not typically enforced in any way, and you're probably fine
entering completely fictional information for all of this stuff.

 _But..._

I knew a guy in college (super disreputable, FWIW, so I don't necessarily
believe everything he said) who claimed that one of the first tricks up his
sleeve when he was launching a new site was to file complaints about incorrect
WHOIS data against all his competitors (and sometimes against random sites
with useful keyword content and a bit of pagerank) and then pounce on the
domains if they opened up so he could point them to his new site. He told me
that often enough to be useful to him, people either failed to respond to the
verification requests in time, or had actually provided false data, and he was
able to either snatch their domains or at least cause some trouble.

So I probably wouldn't recommend messing around with phony data, better just
to set up some contact info that you don't mind having out in the open.

------
re_todd
This is awesome, everyone says to transfer, but most people won't because it's
too much of a hassle. This helps alleviate that barrier. I've just tweeted
this and will email my friends too. We nerds are a kind of multiplier effect.
GoDaddy, you're days are numbered.

------
j79
This is a great step by step guide for transferring domains. Exactly what I
needed (I tried earlier and quickly got lost!)

I do have a question for anyone who could help: Can I transfer a domain which
is set to expire in 2019? And, are there typically fees for transferring a
domain?

~~~
jeffepp
It seems that the transfer adds a year thankfully and does not reset the clock

~~~
larrys
The only thing I would add is that a domain can never have more than 10 years
on it. So if you created a domain today with a 10 year period and decided to
transfer it in 3 months it wouldn't get a year added to it when you
transferred. Note that the year is not actually added to the domain by the
registrar. It's part of the way the system works for .com .net domains with
Verisign which operates the backend for <b>all</b> registrars.

------
dazbradbury
I'm not sure whether it was the HN posting, but it seems Tumblr is not coping
with the amount of traffic. Whilst that isn't all that interesting, I just
wanted to say kudos for having a link to charity on the error page:

    
    
      We're very sorry
      Our servers are over capacity and certain pages may be temporarily unavailable. 
      We're working quickly to resolve the issue.
    
      In the meantime, please consider donating to the Red Cross 
      to help those in Japan who are in need of support.
    

Unfortunately, the link provided is broken:

<http://www.ifrc.org/en/get-involved/donate/donation-japan>

Anyone from Tumblr watching?

------
yurisagalov
The site seems down for me, but Google has a cache:

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BOfAgm...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BOfAgmNnuAJ:blog.jeffepstein.me/post/14629857835/a-step-
by-step-guide-to-transfer-domains-out-of-godaddy+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

~~~
jeffepp
It's down. I'm working on it...

~~~
jeffepp
It's a tumblr issue. At first, I thought it may have been GoDaddy revenge
since the transfer is still not fully complete..

~~~
jeffepp
Its back up!

------
fersho311
This review is really preventing me from going with namecheap...
<http://www.webhostingreviews.com/namecheap-reviews.htm>

can someone advise?

~~~
foxylad
I transferred all my domains to NameCheap after the elephant slaughter, and
have had absolutely no issues.

Personally I'd like to hear NC's take on the incident before I pass judgement
on that post, but if you're not comfortable with them, find another registrar
that you are OK with. The whole point is that GoDaddy are bad, not that
NameCheap are good.

------
btilly
For those looking for alternatives, it is worth noting MediaTemple's
unofficial position on this topic:
[http://twitter.com/#!/demian_sellfors/status/149950134556426...](http://twitter.com/#!/demian_sellfors/status/149950134556426240)

(Demian Sellfors is the CEO.)

------
ck2
The irony is that godaddy has the fastest transfer out I've ever experienced
with almost realtime acks if your receiving registrar supports it.

(and I've used nearly a dozen registrars, not just resellers)

You can be out in under 4 hours, all depends on how fast the registry
responds.

------
jwn
Thanks for the guide! I've got 21 domains at Godaddy and I've started
transferring the inactive ones as a test. Once I've got a feel for the process
I'll start moving the ones that have DNS entries with GoDaddy as well.

------
lukeholder
namecheap adds 1 year to your existing expiration date when you switch.
Nothing to do on your part. No need to contact support with the question like
I did.

~~~
qeorge
FWIW, this is a common (and excellent!) practice. So no matter which registrar
you transfer your domains to you should get an extra year added to your
registration.

~~~
aeden
It's actually a requirement for gTLDs like com/net/org. When you transfer a
domain the registry automatically extends the domain 1 year (or the minimum).
If the registrar is charging for the transfer _and_ the extension then you're
being taken for a ride.

------
poutine
Just transferred 40 domains off of GoDaddy using this. Thanks.

------
jiggy2011
This is great and all but I don't really see a boycott as being such an
effective solution.

The problem with boycotts is they are based on the following things:

1) The spending power of the boycotter. 2) The potential spend of the
boycotter on the relevant service/product. 3) The amount of influence you have
over others to boycott.

So whilst you can move your handful of personal domains that you were using
for your hobby website or small startup elsewhere, the biggest spenders on
domains I would imagine are going to be medium-large businesses.

These are much more cautious to join a boycott unless there is obvious PR
benefit (e.g fairtrade or animal testing free products spring to mind) because
they are beholden to shareholders and are generally conservative when it comes
to changing suppliers unless there is a clear cost-benefit. The only people in
the organization that are likely to care about this will be the techies who
unless they are the CIO/CTO do not have the influence to affect domain
purchasing decisions.

The conversation probably goes approximately like this:

Boss: Good day underling! Please secure us the following list of 100 domain
names from the great godaddy, lord of the DNS!

Techie: But sir , we shouldn't use godaddy. There is an active boycott because
of SOPA, how about company X instead?

Boss: What is this SOPA of which you speak?

Techie: _explains SOPA_

Boss: Damn hippies! I neither understand nor care for their plight, godaddy is
cheaper and we already have an account with them. I know not of this company
X, do they advertise at the superbowl?

Techie: but...

Boss: Please do as I command and grace godaddy with our pieces of silver.

Techie: _enters company credit card details at godaddy.com_

------
elmcitylabs
Great post. We're in the process of transferring 50+ domains from GoDaddy.

------
chaselee
Our domain was registered through Google and they stuck it on GoDaddy. Working
on getting it transferred safely. Nice post Jeff!

------
olifante
This is the straw that broke the camel's back. I just migrated my 44 domains
to NameCheap.

Use the "sopasucks" discount code, it takes $1.99 off each .com domain. For
some reason, .me transfers are much more expensive than .com transfers: $19.99
vs $8.98

------
obituary_latte
I really wish I had a spare $754 ($681 with code) to transfer all my dumb
domain names.

~~~
Shpigford
I used the opportunity to do some house cleaning. I had to quit being
sentimental and be honest with myself about what I would _really_ use. Then I
just let the ones I didn't want anymore stay with GoDaddy to eventually
expire.

~~~
justinmares
Just a warning - GoDaddy will automatically charge your credit card to renew
current domains. You have to remove your payment information or delete the
domains.

~~~
courtewing
This isn't entirely accurate. GoDaddy has both auto-renewal and manual
renewal. I'm not sure what the default is these days, but you can set your
domains to manual renewal and let them expire. Be warned: you're going to get
a ton of email notifications from GoDaddy as your expiration dates approach.

------
jneal
I've been wanting to move away from GoDaddy for awhile now. I only went to
GoDaddy in the first place over 10 years ago because they were the cheapest
place. Since then, their prices have risen, their interface has become
horrible, their up-selling has become unbearable, and their TV advertisements
annoy me.

I believe that their support of the SOPA could be looked at as their last
straw for me. I'm planning on moving all of my domains on Dec 29 unless they
change their stance on SOPA. However, even if they did change their stance I
don't think it could really save me as a customer considering all of the other
aforementioned issues.

------
underworld12
How long does the transfer process take? Also, what about DNS configurations?

~~~
felideon
If my memory doesn't fail me, Namecheap gives the option to either keep the
same nameservers or switch to Namecheap's nameservers.

Unless you host your DNS externally (and you have GoDaddy configured to use
those), you will have to switch to Namecheap's nameservers and I believe
reconfigure your records.

For a smooth transition, you could change your nameserver configuration on
GoDaddy before transferring, and then have Namecheap keep the settings.

EDIT: Just noticed another commenter mention that you can export your zones
from GoDaddy.

------
PhrosTT
Count me in for about 14 or so plus SSL certs and other fun.

What a windfall for Namecheap.

------
chrislaco
Just transfered out 34 domains. Thanks for the export instructions!

------
DannyDover
Quick tip, you can use the promo code 'switch2nc' to save a dollar off each
transfer.

(I am not affiliated with namecheap, the promo code or anything related. I am
just cheap :-p)

------
jsnrkd
The tutorial took about 10 minutes to complete for my domains. I've been on
the look out for an easy way to leave GoDaddy for a while now. Thank you!

------
nxn
Anyone familiar with any good registrars that support both .me and .it
domains?

EDIT: gandi.net looks like the best bet if anyone else needs both .me and .it.

------
laironald
I'm so confused. How does GoDaddy dominate the domain market? I guess those
Superbowl Dollars are in proper use...?

------
bigohms
Huge believer of voting with your pocket. We have just submitted to have the
last 247 GoDaddy domains transferred.

~~~
bigohms
Just wrapped up drinks with a CTO of a large enterprise, he's feeling the vibe
after a hearty SOPA chat and has committed to move their portfolio of over
1,700 domains off GoDaddy by year's end. Their expenditure is over 20K/year
and with a discount code floating around here (thanks guys!), he's putting the
savings into bonuses

------
satyajit
Just transferred (recovered/save/gavelife) (well, just) 3 domains out of
GoDaddy. Rest of my domains are gathering dust elsewhere, but I am happy that
this marks the end of my relationship with the nasty GoDaddy. Best wishes to
them with their skimpy dress ads on SupBowl!

------
chrislaco
Also, item of note for these instructions. GoDaddy auth codes sometimes
contain commas, so they'll export as quoted values.

The domain,authcode trick in the bulk form doesn't work. Make sure to enter
the unquoted auth codes for those domains in the cart during transfer.

------
halfbrown
So much good info here in the comments and in Jeff's post. I'll be moving my
domains ASAP!

------
noinput
I just setup a tumblr for anyone interested, i'll keep count for those that
want to submit: goodbyegodaddy.tumblr.com

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3384048>

------
marquis
GoDaddy will stay in business while ad syndicates continue to accept their
money. Is there an ad syndicate that allows you to specifically black-list
companies? Some kind of 'ethical ad' startup?

------
gluejar
Don't for get to ask your credit card provider to reverse your GoDaddy
Payment- the SOPA-enabled chargeback is the real nightmare for internet
companies.

------
nivertech
I need a similar guide for register.com I have one very old domain stuck there
because I lost access to email address with which I registered there.

------
joell
We'll be transferring ~30 domains later today.

------
epynonymous
couldn't access the link, but i noticed that godaddy puts a lock on domain
transfers by default, after removing the lock, my current registrar,
iwantmyname.com, asked for a $10 transfer fee. i'll probably wait until they
catch onto the fact that there's a mass exodus from godaddy and give free
transfers :)

------
PakG1
Can someone please provide advice for SSL? I don't think it's as easy? Am I
stuck for SSL?

~~~
amalcon
You mean your cert? Technically, you don't need to _transfer_ the cert --
nothing prevents two CAs from signing certificates for the same domain. You
can just buy the cert from someone else and start using that.

------
cemregr
I've been having trouble accessing this page for the last hour. Oh, tumblr.

------
benawabe896
6 domains for me.

------
laserDinosaur
I only have one domain =(

Transferring anyway :)

------
cefarix
Thank you!

------
wangjing16899
问题

