Support

Frequently asked questions

If I backorder a domain will the $99 be placed on my credit card at that time, or will a charge only be placed on the card if I get the domain?

Your card is only charged if you get the domain.

Is my info safe?

Yes. We will never share your email address. We use Stripe for payments, so we do not store your credit card information - it actually never even touches our servers.

When does a domain go to auction?

If more than one person backorders the same domain, we create a 10-day auction for it. The first person who backordered the domain will automatically have the first bid for $99.

I'm confused as to how the auction works. I put a bid of $999.00 in the auction shows my latest bid as $455.00. Can you explain the bid process?

When you place a bid of $999, it means you are willing to go as high as $999, but the current price of the auction is only $455 because the 2nd highest bid is only $445. So, if someone bids $500, we will automatically increase your bid to $510. And if someone bids $700, we will increase your bid to $710. We do it this way so that you can place your maximum bid, but you will only be charged the winning auction price.

This took me by surprise, but the auction was suppose to be over at 12:40, but time was added on for another 2 hours till 14:34. Why did this happen?

If a bid is placed on an auction when there is less than one hour left in the auction, the close time is automatically updated to one hour after the last bid. We do this to prevent sniping, and to make sure everyone gets a fair chance at bidding on the domain.

An auction had an end time of 14:26 EST but then a new bid came in at 14:29 EST (3 minutes after the end of the auction). Please explain to me how bidding ended and then a new bid was placed.

Auctions end at 5 minute marks (e.g. 14:25, 14:30, etc..) so there can be up to a 4-minute "closing grace period" where the auction is in the process of closing, but if someone places a bid, it will extend the auction. When the auction gets down to this grace period, the countdown timer will say "The auction is ending very soon." We do this to make sure everyone gets a fair chance at bidding on the domain

Do you or any Park.io employees bid in the auctions?

No, we don't think it would be fair, so we have a company rule that no employees can bid in any of the auctions.

I don't want to display my username in the auction bids listing - is this possible?

Yes, on your Account Settings page, under the "Privacy" heading, you can set your username to be hidden. In the bid listing, your bids will show as "(hidden)" instead of your username.

If I win the domain, do I have to pay domain registration fees as well?

No, you do not need to pay registration fees on top of the Park.io fee - it is included.

What happens if I successfully backorder a domain, or win an auction?

Your credit card will be charged, and then you can log into your account to set the WHOIS contact information for the domain, update the nameservers, or get the domain transfer authorization code.

If I successfully backorder a domain, or win an auction, am I the full, sole owner of the domain?

Yes, and you can verify this by looking up the WHOIS information for the domain on who.is.

How do I manage the domains I have bought from Park.io?

You can manage your domains by clicking on the Orders tab and then selecting the order for the domain you would like to manage. From this page you can update the WHOIS contact info and namesevers for the domain, or get the transfer auth code for the domain (if you want to transfer the domain to another person or registrar).

How do I update the WHOIS info?

If you log in and click on the order you will see a section for your address - this combined with your user account email and name will be set as the WHOIS registrant. Keep in mind that some registries (e.g. .to, .bz, .io, .ac, .sh) do not display WHOIS information about the registrant.

Does Park.io offer renewal options and if so, how much is it to renew a domain?

Yes, there is an option to turn "Auto Renew" on in the Order details page. This will make sure your domain is automatically renewed. The cost for renewing a domain depends on the TLD - the price for the renewal will be listed on the order page.

The expiration date is not always a year after I paid for it - why is this?

There are many reasons for this - the domain is registered and then often put in a 10-day auction, which would make the expiration a year from the time the domain was actually registered instead of the time it was paid for. Also we sometimes get domains in other ways and transfer them, so the expiration date could be over a year after you make payment. Also, the .io registry recently changed management, and this affected some registration dates. The expiration date is clearly stated on the order page, so you can reference this.

What are your terms of service? What is the Park.io privacy policy?

You can see read the Park.io terms of service here and the Park.io privacy policy here.

Can I backorder other domains besides .io domains?

Yes, you can now backorder .ly, .to, and .me domains, as well as .io domains, and we plan to add others in the future. **You can now also backorder .sh, .ac, .vc, .je, .gg. More to come.

I don't have or want to pay by credit card, is there another option?

Yes, you can credit your account with Bitcoin - click on your Account details page after you log in for instructions.

Can I get a refund on my account credit?

Refunds on account credit will be subject to a 10% transaction fee. There may also be a holding period depending on the way you credited your account.

Can I use multi-factor authentication to add security to my Park.io account?

Yes, there is an option to turn Authy on for your account by editing your account details (click on your username in the menu bar after you log in).

If I sell a name through Park.io, what is your commission?

If you sell a domain through Park.io using the "Buy it Now" option for your parked domain, we charge 10% commission. Transactions are handled by escrow.com

I don't think Authy worked because I wasn't asked for it when logging in.

If you enter the correct code from a computer, for convenience we store a cookie there so you don't have to enter the code each time you log in. If you'd rather enter the code each time, simply make sure to log out of Park.io and the cookie will be deleted.

If no one bids in an auction, who gets the domain at the end of the auction?

The person who placed the first backorder on the domain is the first high bidder and will get the domain if no one else bids.

Why do all of the first bids in an auction have the same timestamp?

The first bids correspond to the initial backorders for the domain and are automatically placed at the start of the auction, so these bids will have the same time as the start of the auction.

Please can you direct me to the instructions on transferring domains to another party or explain how I can do this?

It depends on which domains you would like to transfer.

For .io, .me, .ac, .sh, .gg, .vc, .je and .to domains you can view the order and click the "Transfer auth code" button to get the transfer auth code. Using this code you can transfer the domain to the registrar of your choice.

For .ly domains, we can push the domain for free to your Register.ly account - just send an email to support@park.io with the email address associated with your Register.ly account and which domain you would like us to push.

Note: please see the "TRANSFER PROHIBITED" question below.

I do not see the "Transfer auth code" button for my .io domain order - why not?

You must wait 2 weeks before the transfer code is available. This is to prevent payment fraud. Once you are an established user, you no longer have to wait - you can get it instantly.

Note: please see the "TRANSFER PROHIBITED" question below.

Can I push my domain to another Park.io user? What is the fee?

Yes - on the Order details page, simply click on the button labeled "Push" and enter the email address of the person you want to push the domain to. They will have to create a Park.io account if they do not already have one. There is no fee to push a domain.

If someone buys a parked domain with the "Buy it now" option, how will you pay the seller?

Transactions for "Buy it now" sales are handled through escrow.com - they will disperse payment directly to your bank account, or however you choose to receive payment..

I'm trying to transfer my domain to another registrar, but I'm getting an error: TRANSFER PROHIBITED. Why?

Some registry operators follow ICANN rules, which state that there is a 60 day waiting period after initial registration before the domain can be transferred to another registrar. In the meantime you can update the nameservers, etc.. on the domain so that you can use it, from the order details page on Park.io. If you sell the domain prior to this period, we can push the domain to another Park.io user account for no additional fee.

I've noticed that some domains that should be dropping are not on your drop list - why aren't they?

It is possible we do not know about the domain, or we feel it isn't a good domain for our list, or we don't think we will be able to get it, or we choose not to list it for another reason. Feel free to ask us about a specific domain by emailing support@park.io.

In an auction, if all bid amounts are the same....is the top bidder the leader?

The first bids ($99) all have the same time that the auction is created, but the top bidder is the person who placed the first backorder on the domain, and so they are the current high bidder.

I just changed the DNS. Can you please speed up the process?

Name server updates for some TLDS can sometimes take 4 to 6 hours for updates at the registry level. For .io, .ac, .me and .sh domains it should be almost instant. .ly domains usually take 15 minutes or so.

Can I list my own domain for auction on Park.io?

Sorry, not at this time. We may add this feature in the future.

Can I cancel an order or bid?

You can delete an order on your Orders page as long as it is before the drop date of the domain. Bids cannot be canceled. We take the integrity of domain name auctions seriously. Before you bid, make sure you do your research. Each bid submitted is considered a binding contract.

What time zone is the end date and time of an auction?

Auctions end at 12:40pm ET, unless they are extended because of bids within the last hour.

Do you have an API?

We currently provide JSON endpoints and RSS feeds of our domain listings and auctions. You can also get the last 50 sales in .csv format here.