Ick... I think I'd rather just pick something no one would want (google.com, or yahoo.com, say) and build the brand.
He seemed to have done alright with Newsvine...
How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
11–20 of 51 posts
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#12When shopping for domains it's best to start at a small WHOIS provider that you trust to give you a yes/no answer. If you shop at NSI or GoDaddy you will find that the domains you were searching might be registered a few days later. Only hit up GD if you're ready to buy (avoid NSI at all costs)
Just never use GoDaddy. NameCheap is way better. GoDaddy is the AOL of registrars.
I use both pretty regularly but I would agree that NameCheap is probably the way to go. GoDaddy, with each passing day, has more of a sleazy and cheap feel to it.
Having said that, no matter how dirty GoDaddy makes you feel it won't be nearly as bad as any interaction you'll have with Network Solutions. Stay away from that at all costs.
It's been a few years since I got into a backorder struggle but at the time it was incredibly difficult and ended up dragging out for months and months.
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#13When shopping for domains it's best to start at a small WHOIS provider that you trust to give you a yes/no answer. If you shop at NSI or GoDaddy you will find that the domains you were searching might be registered a few days later. Only hit up GD if you're ready to buy (avoid NSI at all costs)
I've ran into losing domain names before when searching on GoDaddy, what are some small WHOIS providers that you trust?
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#14Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#15When shopping for domains it's best to start at a small WHOIS provider that you trust to give you a yes/no answer. If you shop at NSI or GoDaddy you will find that the domains you were searching might be registered a few days later. Only hit up GD if you're ready to buy (avoid NSI at all costs)
I've ran into losing domain names before when searching on GoDaddy, what are some small WHOIS providers that you trust?
GKG - http://gkg.net/whois
They've had great customer service in the past and have solved a number of domain name issues for me.
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#16As a sole developer and at this point making no money from my ventures, i can't afford to throw down the big bucks for normal domain buying services. This seems like a good alternative.
Are there any good services that will either list expiration dates en-mass or send you some kind of a notification if a domain you are interested in is going to expire?
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#17This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?
I'm not sure, but I recently snatched the domain adfeeling.com via Godaddy's domain backorder system. I probably was pretty ignorant on the whole thing now I read this story, but in the end, it all went pretty smooth and the costs were predictable.
I got back a friend's domain through GoDaddy's backorder system. He'd let it expire and someone else held it for a year. I tried to buy it from them for $100 but they wanted more. In the end, I got it for a $20 backorder fee.
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#18Are things better these days? The way pool.com operates seems extremely seedy.
The name is/was newsvine.com they got acquired by MSNBC a year later, so I guess the name was worth it.
Still, I feel picking an uncontested two word name might be cheaper, less nerve wracking than going through the process described in the article.
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#19This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?
Yes and no. Here's how it works:
If you buy a domain and don't renew, theres a ~45 day "redemption period", during which you can pay a fee to get it back (GoDaddy charges $80 for this). If you don't, the domain is released back into the wild by Verisign, and all registrars get an equal crack at it. The reason Pool has such a good chance is that they own 80 registrars, so they have 80 horses in the race. That's what the original article discusses.
However, in the last few years drop-catching has become largely irrelevant. Here's why, using GoDaddy and TDNAM as an example:
During that 45 day redemption period, GoDaddy auctions off the right to buy the domain via the TDNAM. If someone pays the fee, they'll renew it themselves to sell it, it never hits the wild again, and the drop catchers never get a shot.
This is how I got GeorgeWBushLibrary.com for $15 (paid TDNAM fee), which I then sold for $35,000 less than a year later.
Network Solutions has NameJet, enom has one too (forget the name). Between those 3, most domains are covered, making drop catching a dying art.
Edit: Its important to note that each aftermarket can only sell domains currently registered at their registrar. So TDNAM only sells domains regged @ GoDaddy, NameJet only sells domains regged @ NetSol, etc.
Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain
#20This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?
I've spent some time studying domain names as I found the topic interesting and I have seen the value in a good domain name. Several of my software programs and websites target the agriculture industry. The whole web 2.0/misspelling/non-.com extension/drop-the-vowels doesn't work well there as it just confuses people.
As far as the players, SnapNames, Godaddy, and Pool still are still around. Enom's Club Drop is now NameJet. As mentioned in the article, Network Solutions had an exclusive agreement with Snap (now they are using NameJet). In the past few years, many more registrars have adopted this strategy where they partner with an auction service and make money when the domains are sold.
Most names with these partner agreements become available around 35 days after expiration. These names do keep their original creation date so it's as if the original owner transferred it to you rather than it actually deleting and being re-registered.
If the name is with a registrar who does not have a partner agreement or a name that is not backordered during the auctions, it eventually deletes around 75 days later where the actual dropcatching referenced in the article picks up.