One of the most painful things that has ever happened to me was losing my original domain name. This used to be Fancy Girl Designs, when I was just starting out in 2011. I got it from Google, because my site was originally on Blogger; (Hey, we all have to start somewhere, right?) and pointed it to my self-hosted site when I moved later. Well, a year later, we went on a month-long vacation, and I forgot that my domain was up for renewal while we were away. When I got back, my website was gone, and my domain had been bought by someone else.
Can you imagine how awful that felt?
I tried to get in touch with the person who bought it, intending to buy it back. I was just paying $10 a year for it, so I thought it couldn’t be 10x higher than that, right? I was so wrong. He was selling it back to me for $500. I was devastated. That amount seemed so big to me at that time. It was very early on in my business, and I was too proud to ask my husband for the money.
Forced to rename my business and my website (only slightly), I bought a new domain, and tried to forget about the old one. But I kept checking the price every so often, and was heartbroken to see that its value was increasing exponentially each year. At one point last year, domain name sites were selling it for over $8,400! A part of me was happy that the domain was worth that much (apparently the keywords ranked really high in searches), but I was really sad I still couldn’t afford to buy it back. I didn’t lose hope though. I just kept praying for a chance to get it back some day.
Well, yesterday, just out of the blue, I had a lightbulb moment. I searched for the person who sent me the $500 quote in 2012. Emailed him and asked if it was still available. And you know what? He was willing to sell it for a discounted rate. (What?! Yay!)
I still can’t believe it! Of course I said yes, please, take my money! And now I own it again.
It’ll take time for me to do all the redirects and stuff, but it’s mine again! I got it back! Thank God! I thank the Lord for whispering the idea to me, and for softening the heart of the seller. I thank Him for the provision too, that I could afford to buy back what was once mine.
A VERY PAINFUL LESSON
What’s the takeaway here?
If you have a domain in mind, buy it! If you can afford to buy all the extensions, do so.
And make sure it’s set to auto renew so you never lose your domain name ever.
Also, only buy from reputable sources. (I have a client who bought hers but the domain provider requires her to pay for hosting as well, even if she’s hosted elsewhere.)
I hope you never get to experience what I went through. It was an expensive lesson, and one I will never forget!
