This is more of a question concerning the actual domain registering process versus website development itself, but I assume most of the people in this community are somewhat familiar with getting a domain for a client or themselves so I thought I would ask here.
I am not new to purchasing and transferring domains; I have around a dozen at the moment. While the majority of my domains are the common .com, .org, or .net endings, I have a few others that are not so common. Though they seemed like good ideas at the time, my purchases have really come back to bite me.
In the past 2 years, I have registered four .nu domain names (via GoDaddy and NameCheap), and one .us domain name (via NameCheap). When I registered these domains, I had every intention of actually putting them to use. Two of the .nu domains were for very "niche" websites, and the .us name was going to be for freelance work. Unfortunately, I got hit with two heart surgeries and a minor stroke in 2008, and now am possibly facing surgery and/or radiation. Thus, I had to completely drop my ambitions for the two .nu sites and the .us site early this year.
So I was stuck with two .nu domains and a .us domain that I had no use for. The .us domain was not a "big" purchase at $8.88 from NameCheap. However, each .nu was substantially more. I bought one via NameCheap at around $59 ($28.88 x 2 years), and the other three at about $45 (two year registrations for each) using GoDaddy coupon codes. I know people sell their domains via marketplace or auction, and luckily I was able to sell the NameCheap .nu to a friend even though it was for a great loss. The GoDaddy .nu names, though, are a totally different situation.
Apparently, you cannot transfer .nu domains between any registrar (except to the official .nu register at NuNames). Another big problem is that WhoisGuard protection cannot be applied to any .nu domain name. The third issue is that GoDaddy charges a separate subscription fee to use their online marketplace/auctions for domains. I have one, maybe three maximum, names to sell; I don't really want to pay a year's worth of subscription fees for something I am only going to use in maybe only a month.
As you can see, I am in a confusing situation with all of my .nu domains. I am using two of the domains actively because the sites were established a long time ago. The other .nu is currently sitting as a redirect to another domain. However, all of them have my personal information listed publicly on their WHOIS lookups. One of the .nu domains expires in May 2010; the others do not expire until late 2011.
I don't really know what on earth to do with these names. Obviously I would prefer to sell them in some way, but it would probably be more costly in the long run with GoDaddy auction subscriptions. I originally would have redirected them to other domains, but the WHOIS information is a concern because it's still out there.
Am I stuck with these domains until they expire? Is there no other way to protect my personal information until the domains run out?
Sorry for the extremely long post! Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.