When does a .shop domain expire and drop?
An expired .shop drops about 80 days later. Here is that timeline in full, plus who runs .shop, what it is used for, and how to register one.
An expired .shop is released about 80 days after expiry, running a full grace, redemption and pending-delete lifecycle. .shop is an open generic extension operated by GMO Registry, delegated in 2016 for retail use and adopted worldwide, and open to anyone.
- Registry
- GMO Registry
- Backend
- GMO Registry
- Type
- gTLD
- Delegated
- 2016-05-05
- DNSSEC
- Yes
- IDN
- Yes
- Restrictions
- Open
- Label length
- 1–63 chars
- Grace
- 45 days
- Redemption
- 30 days
- Pending delete
- 5 days
- Expiry to drop
- 80 days
- Daily drop window
- 13:00–20:00 UTC
A global retail gTLD
.shop is an unrestricted generic run by GMO Registry, following the standard lifecycle: up to 45 days of renewal grace, 30 days of redemption, and a 5-day pending delete.
The word is understood in almost every market, which made .shop one of the most-registered new commerce extensions. Its drop stream mixes real merchants with lapsed launches, so a watchlist is how you tell a name heading for release from one that will be renewed.
Who runs .shop, and since when
.shop was delegated in 2016 and is operated by GMO Registry, a backing that gave it strong take-up across Asian markets alongside worldwide retail use.
As an ICANN-contracted gTLD it follows the standard registry lifecycle, which our engine encodes as data and re-verifies against the live record rather than assuming.
How to register a .shop domain
A .shop is open to anyone worldwide with no eligibility or presence requirement; the name states plainly that a site is a shop.
Promotional pricing drives speculative registration, so many lapsed .shop names drop uncontested. An expiring .shop you want follows the same stages as any generic; watch it and act at pending delete.
- Open registration: anyone worldwide can hold a .shop domain, with no local-presence requirement.
- Register through any accredited registrar; the registry sells wholesale, not direct to the public.
- Labels run up to 63 characters using letters, digits and hyphens, never starting or ending with a hyphen.
- Registration is annual and renewable; an unrenewed name enters the deletion timeline below.
The .shop timeline, stage by stage
The stages an unrenewed .shop passes through, each at its published length.
| Stage | Window | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal grace: about 45 days | Day 0 to 45 after expiry | The registration has expired but the current owner can still renew at the normal price, usually through their registrar. The name often stops resolving during this window, and nobody else can register it. Registrars frequently delete earlier than the final day, which starts the rest of the timeline early. |
| Redemption: about 30 days | Day 45 to 75 after expiry | Deletion has begun. Only the current registrant can recover the name now, typically by paying a restore fee on top of the renewal, and it cannot be registered by anyone else. A restore during this stage is a strong signal the name will not drop. |
| Pending delete: 5 days | Day 75 to 80 after expiry | The point of no return. Recovery is no longer possible for anyone, including the original owner, and the registry releases the name at the end of this fixed window. This is the stage worth acting on if you want the name. |
| Released: registrable by anyone | From about day 80 | The name leaves the registry's deletion pipeline and returns to the public pool, registrable at the standard price on a first-come basis through any registrar. Availability monitoring exists to catch this moment. |
.shop technical profile
How .shop publishes registration data, secures its zone, and handles non-Latin names.
WHOIS and RDAP
Registration data for every .shop domain is queryable over RDAP at https://rdap.gmoregistry.net/rdap/ and legacy WHOIS at whois.nic.shop, so status, dates and record changes are machine-readable, which is exactly what our monitoring reads.
DNSSEC
The .shop registry supports DNSSEC, so a domain can publish DS records and let resolvers cryptographically validate its DNS answers against tampering.
Internationalized names
The .shop registry supports internationalized domain names, so labels in non-Latin scripts register as punycode alongside ordinary ASCII names.
https://rdap.gmoregistry.net/rdap/
whois.nic.shop
Running on GMO Registry's registry platform, .shop publishes standard EPP statuses and RDAP records, so its stage transitions and drop timing are observable exactly as a .com's are.
Is .shop a good domain?
Where .shop fits, and its trade-off.
Reads as a shop
The extension signals commerce instantly and is understood across languages, which suits a storefront that sells internationally.
Strong in Asia
With a Japanese registry behind it, .shop took hold early across Asian ecommerce, giving it real recognition beyond Western markets.
Watch the renewal price
Like many new gTLDs, .shop is often cheap in the first year and dearer to renew, which is why so many are registered speculatively and then lapse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about .shop domains.
What is .shop, and who runs it?
.shop is an open generic top-level domain operated by GMO Registry, delegated in 2016 for retail use and adopted widely worldwide.
How long does it take for an expired .shop to drop?
About 80 days: up to 45 days of renewal grace, 30 days of redemption, then 5 days of pending delete. Registrars often delete before the end of grace; the pending-delete window is fixed.
Is .shop a good domain for an online store?
It states the purpose in the name, is understood across languages, and often has a brand available that .com does not. Check the renewal price before committing, as with any new gTLD.
What is the best way to get a .shop that is expiring?
Watch it and act at the pending-delete stage. Most lapsed .shop names are uncontested, so an alert at release is usually early enough to hand-register.
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