How to transfer domains away from EasySpace for (almost) free
EasySpace is an Scottish hosting provider and domain registrar company. The company is a subsidiary of iomart. Both are headquartered in Scotland.
Why This Page Exists
While helping a client move away from EasySpace, I realised how the copy and design of their Control Panel make it appear as if there is a mandatory fee to transfer domains away from EasySpace.
This page is here to help anyone who is in the process of leaving EasySpace, and to describe how to do this without paying EasySpace's exorbitant transfer fees.
How To
Firstly, ignore the Domain Transfer Management option in the main menu. That's where they ask you to pay £15 plus VAT per domain. Nuts.
1. Find a good registrar
As a rule of thumb I always suggest to keep domain registrations with a different company than your hosting provider. It makes everything so much easier when moving things around. See FAQ below.
2. Remove WHOIS Privacy
What is it? It's a paid EasySpace feature (which most other registrars offer for free) that cloaks your personal details, so that when someone performs a search on the WHOIS directory, most – or all – your personal information is kept hidden.
It is important to remove this cloacking before initiating any transfer as it may cause issues during the transfer and later. You can re-enable WHOIS privacy at your new registrar later.
The main issue is that you will receive emails to accept the transfer. If your email address is cloaked by EasySpace domain privacy, those emails might not reach you.
In my experience EasySpace don't forward to your real email on file. So, again, avoid problems and remove the feauture before initiating the transfer.
To remove WHOIS privacy you will need to contact EasySpace support.
3(a). For .uk and .co.uk domains
This is a special case. These domains are controlled and transferable via Nominet, the official registry for .uk and .co.uk domains.
This can happen independently from your current and new registrars as all that's needed is a registrar IPS tag change, which can be done directly on Nominet's website at this page
Wheter you need to move 1 or 1000 domains, Nominet requires a lump £10 (plus VAT) payment for this operation.
For these domains go to Nominet and follow the instructions for "Transferring your domain to someone else". It's very simple and well laid out.
3(b). For .com, .org, .net, domains
For these and other generic domains, the process is as follows.
A. Unlock the domain
This can be done via the control panel.
B. Retrieve Transfer Code
Also this can be obtained from the control panel. It's a short text code that looks like a bunch of nonsense. Copy it somewhere. You will need to give it to the new registrar to enable them to request the transfer.
This should called Auth Code, or EPP key.
C. At your new registrar, search for the domain and follow the transfer procedure.
This process varies depending on what company you pick, but it's the same – or similar – as buying a new domain from scratch.
At some point they will ask you for your transfer code (Auth Code, or EPP key) which is the one you got in from EasySpace in the previous step (B).
This procedure requires payment to your new registrar, for whatever they charge for transfers.
D. Watch your email and wait.
You should receive a transfer requests requiring approval from your new registrar, an email from EasySpace requiring confirmation (watch for those pesky fake radio buttons!), and maybe OpenSRS confirmations, amongst the rest of admin and billing info.
FAQ
How long will I need to wait for the transfer to complete?
Depends, but the maximum time allowed by ICANN's tranfer policy is five days.
EasySpace can do two three things when a transfer is started:
Wait it out until it transfers due to time-out, usually for the longest allowed time (5 days)
Expedite the transfer if they feel good that day or you paid for their Domain Transfer service
Deny the transfer. This can only happen if you are not in good standing with them: unpaid invoices, etc. Otherwise they have no grounds for denial.
Can you recommend a good registrar?
As of 2009 through today I can vouch for Gandi, a French company and one of the largest domains registrars in the world. But there are plenty other excellent ones out there, like (Hover), etc.
Can you recommend a good web host?
Yup. We use Webfaction.com since 4 years. It's one of the few that get shared hosting. Their bespoke control panel is genius (not cPanel thankfully) and any support questions are answered in minutes. Let's hope it stays this good for a long time. Couldn't recommend them more.
Who are you?
Someone who's tired of seeing cowboy hosting companies rip-off customers.
How can I thank you?
Send me love notes @0phile or use my affiliate link to sign-up for Webfaction.com or Fastmail.com
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