Frequently Asked Questions

Your Domain Name, that is, your personalised Internet address, is a crucial part of your web presence, consequences of losing it in error range from annoying to disastrous. Note that when you lose a Name you also loose your web position attached to the Name, which could have taken years to build up. Once you lose a good name it is most unlikely that you will get it back.
Netcells takes good care of hundreds Names for our clients, at cost that is no more than the industry standard. As most other providers we buy names from wholesalers - OpenSRS/Tucows in Canada and Joker in Switzerland. Our Names can be set to renew automatically, manage your Names as part of your overall package, the renewals are added to your yearly bill, you can manage your Names yourself from one single interface or we can do it for you. In brief, placing your Domain Name(s) with Netcells removes the stress and uncertainty often associated with big automated providers.
But - transferring Names from registrars who are uncooperative, inefficient or worse (as many of them are) can be a headache and a time waster.
Below is the basic information to help you with this process - please read it carefully (for .UK domain names see ›FAQ#265).

1. Am I the Owner of my Name ? - transfer can only be requested by the Owner of the Name, or the Admin Contact of the Name - those people will be contacted by email and must confirm the transfer. If you see from the public records that you are not the Owner or Admin (for example your designer or accountant is) you have no other choice than to ask this person either to approve the transfer or change the contact details to yours. Once the Name is moved those details can be changed.
2. Do I have the necessary information ? - there are a few things you must know before you can transfer your Name, specifically, the contact details, status (valid or expired), expiry date - you can get this information by checking public WhoIs records, for example on ›networksolutions.com, the current registrar (the company holding the name - this will show in public records or sometimes this will be the wholesale company, often you can see who the registrars is from the nameserver addresses, for example: ns1.netcells.net)
3. Who controls my Name ? - Domain Names are registered by authorised resellers (such as Netcells) who buy names in bulk from wholesellers, first of all you should find out what company is holding your Name - see above.
4. Are the contact details of the Name valid ? - if the Owner and/or Admin Contact email addresses are no longer valid they have to be updated before the transfer can take place.
5. Did the Owner or Admin Contact confirm the transfer ? - when transfer is requested a confirmation email is sent to Owner or Admin it has to be acted on or the request will time out - specifically, the Owner or Admin Contact has to go to a given web address, log in, enter some data and tick a few boxes to approve the transfer.
6. Is the Name valid or expired ? - when the registration period has run out you still maintain rights to a Name for several weeks (with exception of .eu names), although this is against the regulations some registrars can hold up the transfer if the Name is not paid for.
7. Is the Name locked ? - Names are usually locked to prevent unauthorised transfers, many registrars allow the name owner to lock/unlock the name via a User login, if not you have to contact them to unlock the Name. Many Domain Names also require a Transfer Code (AUTHCODE) - you get that from your current registrar.
8. Is the current registrar cooperative ? - transfers generally require some cooperation of the current registrar of the Name (ie. the company currently holding it), with exception of the .uk type names (.co.uk, .org.uk etc) which can be transferred by contacting Nominet on www.nominet.org.uk. It is the registered Owner or Admin Contact who has to deal with the current registrar to get the Name released, Netcells cannot help you with this process. It may be useful to read your current registrar transfer policy before proceeding. Some registrars give you an login to a control panel to manage the name yourself, others make the whole process puzzling, time-consuming or next-to-impossible, in the latter case you need to contact them by letter or phone.
9. Is there enough time to move the Name ? - transfer can be done in a matter of minutes, it depends on the type of the Name (.com, .eu, .co.uk etc) and the registrar, but it can also take weeks in case of problems - you should not leave the transfer later than about 2 weeks before the expiry date.
In most cases the process has to be Registry approved and that can take 9 days.

We do not charge anything for transferring Domain Names to Netcells, unless there are problems, in which case we would contact you regarding any possible costs.
When the transfer is completed, most Name will be automatically renewed at our usual rate. The renewal is counted from the expiry date, not from the transfer date.
The Domain Name cost is normally included in the hosting, you can see those prices on: ›netcells.net/products.