Register a .shop domain: rules, price and transfer

A .shop domain is a generic extension for anything to do with shopping and selling. Anyone can register one, even without a shop: the registry only asks that your details are correct and that you use the name fairly. At LJPc hosting a .shop domain costs €34.99 a year excluding VAT, with DNS management included, and you order or transfer it in the customer portal.

Below you can read when .shop suits you, which rules apply, what a .shop domain costs and how to register or transfer one.

What is a .shop domain?

.shop is one of the new generic extensions from the large expansion ICANN started in 2012, like .online and .app. Its registry is GMO Registry in Tokyo, part of the Japanese GMO Internet Group. According to the registry, .shop is meant for commerce: online stores, high-street shops that want to be found online, and sites about shopping such as malls, reviews, guides and blogs. People understand the word shop in many languages, so the name tells your visitors straight away what your site is about.

.shop was hotly contested. Seven applicants wanted to run the extension, and on 27 January 2016 GMO Registry won ICANN's auction with a bid of more than 41.5 million US dollars. .shop was added to the internet's root in May 2016. After a sunrise phase for trademark holders from 1 July 2016 and an early access period in September, anyone has been able to register a .shop domain since 26 September 2016. How all these new extensions came about is covered in the history of domain names.

Because .shop is a generic extension, its registry has an agreement with ICANN. Transfers, changes of holder and disputes for .shop therefore follow the same ICANN rules as a .com domain.

When is a .shop domain the right choice?

A .shop domain tells visitors in your address that they can buy from you. The name you want is also often still available under .shop when it is already taken under .com or your country's extension.

You redirect a .shop domain to your main site as cleanly as any other domain; redirect a domain to another website explains how.

Do not expect the extension itself to give you a head start in Google. Google treats new extensions such as .shop like .com and .org, and states that a keyword in the extension gives no advantage or disadvantage in search. That is set out in Google's explanation of new top-level domains. Whether people find your store depends on your website itself: your copy, your product pages and links from other sites.

Who can register a .shop domain?

Anyone: individuals, freelancers, associations and companies, wherever they are based. You do not need an online store or a physical shop, and names are allocated on a first come, first served basis. When you register, you do agree to the registry's rules:

• Correct details. The holder's name, address and email address are correct and you keep them up to date.
• Fair use. You do not use the domain for spam, phishing, malware, fraud, counterfeiting or anything else that breaks the law. The registry also checks the extension for this itself.
• Other people's rights. The registry does not check at registration whether you have a right to a name. It is up to you to make sure your name does not infringe someone else's trademark or copyright.

If you break these rules, the registry can lock, cancel or transfer the domain. The full terms are on the .shop policies page.

What rules does a .shop name follow?

• Length. With us you register a name of 1 to 63 characters, not counting the .shop extension.
• Characters. The letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. A hyphen cannot be at the start or end, or appear twice in a row in the third and fourth positions. An underscore (_) is not allowed.
• Accented letters and other scripts. The registry also allows names in twelve languages, including Dutch, German, French and Spanish, as well as Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Russian. Such a name is registered with a language and uses the letters of that language. Not every email program or web form handles these characters well, so for your main domain a name without accents is the safer choice.
• Reserved and premium names. The registry holds back some names, for example because ICANN requires it. Others it offers as premium names at a higher price.

In the portal's order wizard you type a .shop name using the letters a to z, digits and hyphens. Want a .shop domain with accented letters? Open a support ticket and we will look into it with you. If the order wizard shows Premium domain, contact us next to a name, you also order that name through a support ticket; the button opens the ticket for you. Order a domain and hosting in the customer portal explains how that works.

How much does a .shop domain cost at LJPc?

A .shop domain costs €34.99 a year at LJPc hosting, excluding VAT. You pay the same amount when you transfer an existing .shop domain to us: a transfer adds a year to the domain's term. Prices differ between providers; when you compare them, also look at the renewal price. The order wizard shows the price before you order, and our domain names page lists current prices for every extension.

You add hosting for your store and email as you need it. You can also take DNS management only or redirect the domain to another website. Our plans are on the web hosting page.

How to register a .shop domain at LJPc

1. Log in at portal.ljpc.nl and click Add a website on the dashboard, or open the order wizard directly. No account yet? Create one first.
2. Choose I am looking for one or want to register one and type the name with .shop, for example yourcompany.shop. You see straight away whether it is available and what it costs per year, with other extensions alongside.
3. Select the .shop domain and then what it should do: a hosting plan, DNS management only, a redirect plan, or a server or hosting space you already have with us.
4. In the cart, check the Registration contact: the details the domain is registered under. For .shop your regular contact details are enough: the cart asks for nothing extra.
5. Accept the terms and conditions and complete your order. We then handle the registration with the registry.

Every option in the order wizard is covered in register a domain and link it to your hosting. Your .shop domain then appears in the portal under Services > Domain names. If the name you want is taken, domain backorders explains how to claim it for the moment it becomes available.

Running your online store on a .shop domain

If you run an online store on your .shop domain, these three things help your customers and your orders:

• A secure connection. With a hosting plan at LJPc we request a free Let's Encrypt certificate for you automatically as soon as your domain points to the plan, so your store opens over HTTPS. Let's Encrypt explains how that works.
• Order emails that arrive. If your store sends order confirmations from WordPress, send that mail through your own mailbox. Set up SMTP in WordPress shows how.
• Test first, then go live. Try an update or a new design on a copy of your site first, so your store keeps running. See create a WordPress staging site.

What LJPc takes care of for your .shop domain

• Automatic renewal every year. Automatic renewal is on by default, so your .shop domain keeps running as long as your subscription does. To stop, see cancel a domain or hosting.
• DNS and DNSSEC. Your domain gets our nameservers ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network, and we switch DNSSEC on automatically. How that protection works is explained in what is DNSSEC.
• Your transfer code always at hand. On your domain's page in the portal, the transfer code is in the Authorization code block.
• The transfer lock under your control. With the Transfer lock switch you turn the transfer lock of your .shop domain on or off yourself.
• Your details under your control. You update the contact details of your domain yourself in the portal, as described in manage the WHOIS data of your domain. If the domain needs to move to someone else's name, see change the owner of a domain: for .shop you first approve the change through an email in your portal inbox.

Transfer your .shop domain to LJPc

You transfer a .shop domain with a transfer code, also called an authorization code or EPP code. Your current provider gives you this code.

1. Are your store and email moving too? Set them up with us first, because a domain transfer does not move your website and email for you. Migrate your website to LJPc explains how.
2. Ask your current provider for the transfer code and have the transfer lock on the domain turned off.
3. Open the order wizard, choose I already have one at another registrar, enter your .shop domain and choose Transfer to LJPc. Enter the transfer code. The portal checks straight away whether the transfer can go ahead with that code.
4. Choose your hosting or DNS management only and complete your order. We start the transfer and you follow its status in the portal.

Under ICANN's transfer rules a .shop domain moves within five days at most, as long as your current provider does not reject the transfer. That provider may block a transfer in the first 60 days after registration or after a previous transfer, and after a change of holder a 60-day transfer lock applies by default. What to check beforehand, how to follow the transfer and what to do if it gets stuck is covered in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Transfer your .shop domain from LJPc to another provider

If your .shop domain is moving to another provider, you handle the transfer code and the transfer lock yourself in the portal:

1. Open the page of your .shop domain in the portal.
2. In the Authorization code block, click Show to see the transfer code, or Copy to copy it.
3. In the Domain overview block, find Transfer lock and click the switch so it shows Off.
4. Give the code to your new provider, who uses it to request the transfer.

What else is involved, such as ending your subscription with us, is covered in get your transfer code and transfer your domain.

Keep your .shop domain at another registrar

If you want to keep your .shop domain at your current registrar and only bring your store or email to us, the domain does not need to move. You link it with our nameservers, as described in change your nameservers, or with individual DNS records, as described in point a domain at another provider to LJPc hosting. Not sure which company manages your domain? Look it up with who manages my domain.

Expired or cancelled

A .shop domain that has not been renewed is not released straight after its expiry date. Once the domain is deleted, a 30-day redemption period follows, as with every generic extension, in which only the holder can get the domain back through their registrar. After that the name becomes available to everyone. What the statuses in the portal mean and how to get a domain back is covered in expired domains and quarantine. If the portal shows Expired, Redemption period or Pending delete for your .shop domain, open a support ticket right away.

Received an invoice or renewal email for your .shop domain from a company you do not know? Hold off on paying. How to spot a fake domain invoice shows what to look for.

WHOIS, abuse and disputes

The public .shop WHOIS shows which registrar manages a domain, its status and when it was registered and expires. The holder's name, address and email address are not in it. Registrars, law enforcement and anyone with a legitimate reason can ask the registry for access to those details case by case.

If you see a .shop domain used for phishing, malware or fraud, report it to the registry at abuse@gmoregistry.com. If someone claims rights to a .shop name, for example because it is their trademark, that goes through ICANN's dispute policy (UDRP), the faster suspension procedure URS or the courts, as with .com.

Not sure whether .shop suits you, or is a transfer stuck? Open a support ticket and we will look into it with you.