can you keep the domain name you buy for $5.00

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  jmorris1955 · Member · Sep 19, 2011 at 11:31 am

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  If I buy a domain name from you for $5, is that my property that I can use elsewhere on a website that I set up through a hosting company like Go Daddy or Network Solutions?

  Also, the “private” domain name, does that shield you from “WhoIs” searches? I guess I’m not understanding the value of this.

  Thanks – Jay
  Blog url: http://waywardjourney.wordpress.com/

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  evarlese · Member · Sep 19, 2011 at 11:43 am

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  Hi Jay,

  Yes, you can use your domain name that you purchased through WordPress with a different hosting company. To do so, you would just need to update your domain name servers:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/domain-management/#update-nameservers

  On our Support page, we liken a private domain registration to being listed or unlisted in the phone book. With a private domain registration, your email address, phone number, and name remain private — meaning that no one, especially spammers and marketers, can see your contact information. Otherwise, without the private registration, your information becomes public and is searchable, i.e. in Whois.

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  jmorris1955 · Member · Sep 19, 2011 at 12:58 pm

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  Evarlese, thanks!

  So maybe I missed it, but is the $5 charge for a domain name a one-time charge? Are there any other fees to keep it up?

  Jay

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  evarlese · Member · Sep 19, 2011 at 1:07 pm

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  Hi Jay,

  You will have to renew your domain ownership each year. You can set up our “Auto Renew” feature by going to your Dashboard -> Store -> Domains and clicking on “Enable Auto Renew.”

  Should you choose to auto renew each year, you will receive a couple of emails prior to the renewal to warn you that we will be deducting money from your account. Otherwise, you can manually renew your domain each year by going to your Domains page and simply clicking on “Renew.”

  If you host your site outside of WordPress.com, your host server will most likely ask you to renew your hosting each year as well, depending on the plan you’ve purchased.