Once a domain expires the registrar then deletes the domain if the owner doesn’t renew. After the domain is deleted it then goes into this Redemption Grace Period status for 30 days. A status that was just added a few months ago to give domain owners a final last chance to get the domain back.
The registrar wholesale price originally started at $85.00 per RESTORE command. The reasoning was to recoup costs on the development of the new status code and the lost money the registry loses by tying the domain up for 30 days with no paying customer. The good news is that Verisign announced they have recovered the development cost and effective June 1st 2003 they will lower the price to $40.00 per RESTORE command.
Thanks Michael