I, like anyone else, am a cheapskate. The thought of paying $20–$25 per domain to the previous owner plus a $7.49 transfer fee on each to Go Daddy makes me cringe a little, because it would be only about $22 to just register the domains from scratch (if they weren't already registered).
Sure, Go Daddy provides a free one-year renewal on each transfer, so there's some value there, but I'm still wondering if there's a way to transfer the domains to my control without paying any transfer fees.
As long as the whois records haven't changed in the past 60 days, and the previous owner has paid up, there is no reason you can't move the domain to a new domain register. You'll need the EPP key, and he'll have to "unlock" the domain so it can be transferred.
Next, you'll request the transfer and enter the EPP key on your domain register of choice, and when he approves the transfer, it will go through.
As direct00 said, you have to paid the former registrar, there's no way ot work around this. They now you have to paid them, so they take advantage of you and charge you as if you were renewing or even more sometimes....
