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Maintaining Auto-Renew Settings For Your Domain

Some owners of blogs purchased through Blogger, using "Buy a domain", get nervous when the yearly anniversary of their domain purchase approaches.
My bank changed my credit card number - will I be able to pay for my domain's registration?
and
Will my domain be renewed?
and
I don't want my domain any more. Can I get a refund on the rest of the year?
The Blogger / Google Apps domain setup process is so well integrated, that many domain owners never have to worry.

If you purchase a domain using "Buy a domain", your domain is probably set to auto renew, on the anniversary of initial setup - but it probably won't hurt to make sure. You will need access to the Google Apps administrative account for the domain, which you should have setup when you bought the domain.

From your Google Apps desktop, click on "Domain settings". In the "Domain names" display, you'll find the essential option
Automatically renew my domain registration every year
and below that will be the reminder when your next renewal date is scheduled.

You change and verify the credit card information in the Google Checkout wizard, for your Google Account. Just make sure that your current and active credit card is shown, in the Checkout display, when your renewal date approaches - and check your bank statement afterwards. This also probably be a good time to verify that your Blogger account is based on an active email address.

If you choose to not renew the domain, just uncheck "Automatically renew my domain registration every year", then migrate the blog back to BlogSpot before the domain expiration date. If you decide to give up on your domain during the year, you can migrate back to BlogSpot any time - but don't bother trying to get a refund on the registration fee.

Again hoping that your Blogger account is based on an active email address, a final option would be to use manual domain renewal.
(Update 2013/08): Recently, Google Apps redesigned their dashboard GUI - and greatly simplified domain registration payment and renewal.
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Comments

Manoj Jasra said…
I am using blogger via a custom domain I purchased through blogger/Google. I would like to transfer my domain to a new owner. I know how to do this from a 'whois' records perspective but how do I change the Google Checkout account which is associated with the domain from mine to the new owner?
Anjali said…
Excellent post its helpful for me and for beginners too. I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. Keep sharing.
Domain Registration


Unknown said…
I've spent at least two hours trying to respond to a Google Apps account suspension for an expired credit card. No where on the Google site is it in plain Engligh. The 877 contact number is only voice mail. No real person to help out. I was fortunate enough to find your blogger post and clicked on one of your links and it took me right to the payment area! Thank you for helping my frustration level with this and getting me to the right spot so I could renew my domain name!!

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