When a domain enters redemption it is a grace period that is allotted to renew a domain name after it has expired. ICANN has placed this “grace period” in place due to domain names inadvertently being deleted or expired.
However, if a domain falls into redemption it can be quite costly to regain the domain. Most registrars charge a fee to re-claim a domain. While the initial cost of purchasing the domain may be low and co.za redemption fees are quite low , other TLD’s / domains in redemption can cost hundreds of dollars or thousands of Rands to retrieve. What can be more costly is in this period the downtime of the domain can be costly to your business so it’s best to way up the options whether it’s worth waiting it out or forking out and paying the redemption fees.
A domain will not fall into redemption immediately after it expires. Approximately 30 days after the domain expires and has not been renewed with the registrar it will be placed into redemption status. If the domain is renewed within the 30 grace period you can avoid paying the redemption fees.
Domains stay in redemption for approximately 100 days. This allows the owner to re-claim the domain before it is released to the general public. After the 100 days in redemption, the domain name can be purchased by the general public or by yourself but be sure to do so soon for it is available to everyone and might just get registered by someone else that noticed on WHOIS that it entered redemption and has been waiting for it to be deleted so they can snatch it up.
