--- title: Ask HN: My domain registrar (Hover) rug-pulled me for $3000 description: A developer shares how their domain registrar Hover charged them $3,000 instead of the expected $38 renewal fee for the domain onlyfans.sexy. The price hike... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ask-hn-my-domain-registrar-hover-rug-pulled-me-for-3000-dliagmloo twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Ask HN: My domain registrar (Hover) rug-pulled me for $3000 | daily.dev og:description: A developer shares how their domain registrar Hover charged them $3,000 instead of the expected $38 renewal fee for the domain onlyfans.sexy. The price hike... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ask-hn-my-domain-registrar-hover-rug-pulled-me-for-3000-dliagmloo og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/dLiagMlOo.png og:image:alt: Ask HN: My domain registrar (Hover) rug-pulled me for $3000 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Ask HN: My domain registrar (Hover) rug-pulled me for $3000 **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A developer shares how their domain registrar Hover charged them $3,000 instead of the expected $38 renewal fee for the domain onlyfans.sexy. The price hike was set by the .sexy registry (Uniregistry) and was mentioned in follow-up renewal emails, but the initial email quoted $38. Hover's support refused a refund, citing a no-refund policy and claiming the registry sets prices and charges are non-refundable once processed. Commenters suggest threatening a chargeback as a potential remedy. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Can a domain registry change the renewal price of a premium domain without much warning? Yes, registries that control premium top-level domains can adjust renewal pricing over time, and registrars like Hover pass those costs directly to customers. In one case, a .sexy domain that had renewed for $38 annually for years jumped to $3,000 for the next renewal, with notice only appearing in the three-day and one-day renewal reminder emails. The registrar said it has no ability to override registry-set pricing and does not refund once the registry has charged the fee. _Anyone relying on a registrar for renewals should watch for pricing changes discussed by other domain owners on daily.dev._ ### What can I do if my domain registrar charges me an unexpected premium renewal fee and refuses a refund? Threatening a chargeback with your credit card company can pressure the registrar's support team to escalate or reconsider the case. If the registrar still refuses to refund after that, proceeding with the chargeback and transferring the domain to another registrar is a viable next step, since registrars typically cannot reverse fees already charged by the registry. _Developers managing their own domains can compare registrar horror stories and fixes on daily.dev before it happens to them._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Vercel Upsell Game · An investigation](https://daily.dev/posts/the-vercel-upsell-game-an-investigation-pj9y7rjt6) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Reduced prices for TLDs .site, .space, .website, .fun, .online, .store, .tech](https://daily.dev/posts/reduced-prices-for-tlds-site-space-website-fun-online-store-tech-tfmstxi4u) · Vercel · 46 upvotes · 3 comments - [co.za domain fees to rise well above inflation](https://daily.dev/posts/co-za-domain-fees-to-rise-well-above-inflation-b2kzikwp2) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Regulators take six years and pay you $51. This takes three seconds.](https://daily.dev/posts/regulators-take-six-years-and-pay-you-51-this-takes-three-seconds--q5j1vkweu) · Medium · 1 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#dns](https://daily.dev/tags/dns) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ask-hn-my-domain-registrar-hover-rug-pulled-me-for-3000-dliagmloo) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Ask HN: My domain registrar (Hover) rug-pulled me for $3000","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ask-hn-my-domain-registrar-hover-rug-pulled-me-for-3000-dliagmloo","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ask-hn-my-domain-registrar-hover-rug-pulled-me-for-3000-dliagmloo"},"datePublished":"2026-07-29T17:02:33.399Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:53:34.052Z","description":"A developer shares how their domain registrar Hover charged them $3,000 instead of the expected $38 renewal fee for the domain onlyfans.sexy. 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In one case, a .sexy domain that had renewed for $38 annually for years jumped to $3,000 for the next renewal, with notice only appearing in the three-day and one-day renewal reminder emails. The registrar said it has no ability to override registry-set pricing and does not refund once the registry has charged the fee. Anyone relying on a registrar for renewals should watch for pricing changes discussed by other domain owners on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What can I do if my domain registrar charges me an unexpected premium renewal fee and refuses a refund?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Threatening a chargeback with your credit card company can pressure the registrar's support team to escalate or reconsider the case. If the registrar still refuses to refund after that, proceeding with the chargeback and transferring the domain to another registrar is a viable next step, since registrars typically cannot reverse fees already charged by the registry. 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