How to transfer COM domain FROM China to USA

General Discussion
1

This is probably a long shot for here, but I’ve been trying to get this done for two months. Godaddy support is worse than stupid, they’ve been downright rude. When I eventually asked to get the support manager’s email (or have him email me), within two hours, I got a reply from them saying they (godaddy) couldn’t help me and they considered the case closed. No manager email either.

ICANN says the new registrar initiates the transfer from the old registrar. The old registrar should issue an authorization code to allow the transfer. This is called an "EPP authorization code". (Technical name).

No one I’ve contacted in China (Registrar or central registration authority in Beijing) has heard of this, and, they tell me, in China, the current holder/registrar transfers the domain. (I’m going through translators for this so I don’t know how much of all this is actually correct).

So, we got the DNS record unlocked, and “released” for a transfer (that required a week and a lot of paperwork here to prove who was requesting it). Then, they issued a transfer password (that’s the best translation I can get out of it).

That password doesn’t work with Godaddy. Godaddy support doesn’t know (or won’t tell) if Godaddy has ever done a successful transfer from China before).

We then turned all account information (passwords, godaddy account, etc) over to a Chinese ISP employee (who happens to work for the registrar this domain is using). He tried three times, using all the information, and he insists that the problem is with Godaddy.

So, both sides claim it’s not their problem.

Sorry for long story, but, hey, once in a while we all have these things happen.

  1. Does anyone know how to do this.
  2. Does anyone know how to SAY this in Chinese
  3. Does anyone know anyone else who has done this, or who might be able to help me?

I know Joe has a guy in China that’s done some of the Virtualmin translations… Would he be able to help?

2

I have transferred a .com domain name from one US registrar to another US registrar, so here are a few things I am certain of.

  1. You do need the get the authorization code from the existing registrar, and submit it to the new registrar.

  2. The new registrar will then contact the existing registrar to transfer the domain name.

  3. Most, if not all, US registrars will automatically approve requests to transfer domains from them, as long as the authorization code is correct.

Since you have gotten a “transfer password” from the Chinese registrar, you should submit it to GoDaddy for them to initiate the domain transfer. If they are hopeless or downright rude, then move on to another registrar. They don’t deserve your business. Try another registrar instead… like domaincontender.com

If the transfer stalls, get the 2 parties to talk to each other.

3

AH is right on this one…but there is the complication of dealing with Chinese folks on one side and American folks on the other. We Americans are probably wholly ignorant of the policies of Chinese registrars–every nation gets to set their own rules, pricing, everything else. Some refuse to allow foreign individuals or companies to hold domains within their zone (China is definitely not one of those, though they might have other hoops you have to jump through).

I’d be happy to get you in touch with our translator, though he’s not particularly cheap, he is very technically savvy and has good written English (I don’t know about his Chinese, but I’ll assume it is at least as good as his English!). I’m not sure I have his email address (we went through eLance), but I’m sure I can round it up.

4

I already knew how to do the transfer, what the "correct" steps were, how the two parties handle the exchange, etc. At least, I knew the public parts…

After my fun time with Godaddy support, I managed to contact the "Advanced Domain Transfer Concierge" at Godaddy, and they actually looked at my transfer requests. They told me that the code I had been given was bad.

The good news is that they told me how to get it fixed. They said I had to contact the original registrar and say that the code was bad, and that they (registrar) should CHANGE the code with Verisign (the .COM authority) and then tell me the new code.

I did this, and got a good code withing a half hour, which I submitted. Three hours later, I had not gotten a “failure” message, which was good, but the domain didn’t transfer either, so back to the concierge…

Just a little while ago, they replied that the transfer authorization code was accepted, but the registrar (original) has up to 5 days to actually accept / allow the transfer. Most places in the world, this is done automatically withing a few minutes of the request.

Here… I suspect they’ve never done this before, since we had to tell them how to do things so far.

But, after 5 days, the transfer will happen, which is OK by me. I’ve been trying for over two months.

The people I’ve been working with STILL don’t know how to say “registrar” in Chinese, however. haha.

Thanks for the help.

The Transfer Concierge
Advanced Domain Support
concierge@secureserver.net
Transfer Concierge: 480-505-8866
General Support: 480-505-8877
Billing: 480-505-8855

5
The people I've been working with STILL don't know how to say "registrar" in Chinese, however. haha.

Domain Registrar (in chinese): Yu4 Ming2 Zhu4 Che4 Shang1

6

Don’t get me started on the way things are done in China especially for hosting, domain names, etc.

A lot of the practices which are typically considered "not ethical" are just how things are done.

After years of bangs and knocks trying to get things done our way, we decided to do it ourselves.

If anyone need help dealing with how things get done in China, I’m happy to help.

7

Hi 59Box,
I have "trouble" with buy domain name from Guy from Chine. We agreed on price, but nobody Know how to do it. Transfer domain name on my account in Canada and pay the guy, so everybody will be happy. If you can help me that will be great. Can you contact me on my email address or through the forum?
Thank you.
Cerberuska