Don't forget to turn off auto-renew!

Auto-renew is a great way to make sure a valuable domain doesn’t expire, but for most domains, we usually want to renew them year-to-year. Unfortunately, auto-renew is also a clever trick played by many registrars, especially Go Daddy, to take your hard-earned money.

When you register a domain, check to make sure auto-renew isn’t enabled. It’s not at all uncommon for this to be enabled automatically in hopes the customer will forget about it and let those domain renewal fees pile up.

Even worse, often times the renewal price isn’t the same as the registration cost! For example, Go Daddy will often offer .info domains for $0.99 or $1.99, but when it comes time to renew, charge the normal fee of $9.99. This limitation is always clearly stated, but registrars with special deals like this are hoping you leave auto-renew enabled. Watch out!