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How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

mikeindustries.com

21–30 of 51 posts

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#21
post #2

This article is from 2005. Are its precepts still valid?

i used info in this article to buy digitalnomad.com in april. it ended up going to an auction on pool.com with one other bidder, which i won for $170. i had emailed the original owner about a year before and he wanted a couple grand for it.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#22
I'm so glad I don't have to be in this game anymore. I bought my domain 5 years ago; my name. It was free, clear, and a .com. I was surprised it even happened at all because my name is a pretty common chinese name. Unfortunately, when facebook was handing out aliases last year I was unable to secure my name or any variation of my name that I liked.

I've been trying to secure the .com domain of a friend for the last few years. They are currently using the .biz, .net TLDs. Just when it expires it is snatched from my grasps and the owner hasn't responded to my emails. I believe this is because they are in the same business in the same geographic area so are competitors.

I actually had a scare where I was on vacation when the domain expired, blog, and all emails were stopped. I finally got it back after 2 weeks of wrestling with my registrar. After that I pay in 5 year blocks. Cheers, until 2013!

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#23
post #19
post #2

This 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 t…

So, to get involved in this "TDNAM," all you have to do is pay GoDaddy's $20 backorder fee and wait for the expiration date to hit?

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#24

When 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)

Eurodns

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#25
Another method to snatch a good/great name is to actually contact the owner (if possible). You might get lucky and reach a person who is not a domain pro and is willing to do a fair deal. I'm currently buying a very brandable adjective word domain from an individual. When I did a bit of research before contacting, I found out the business was no longer a going concern. From a superficial glance, most people wouldn't have bothered contacting. Hell, on another day, I might have stopped as soon as I saw a live website.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#26
post #23
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

So, to get involved in this "TDNAM," all you have to do is pay GoDaddy's $20 backorder fee and wait for the expiration date to hit?

Just go to Godaddy.com and click on Domain Auctions. Their dropcatching of deleting names isn't that good, however, it's the place to go to get a name that was registered at Godaddy/WildWest.

For expired names that were registered at Godaddy/Wildest, the name goes into a 10 day auction around 25 days after expiration. At the end of the 10 days, it goes to the highest bidder. Then the winning bidder has to wait another 7 days before the domain is in their possession.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#28
post #23
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

So, to get involved in this "TDNAM," all you have to do is pay GoDaddy's $20 backorder fee and wait for the expiration date to hit?

No, GoDaddy backorders is a drop catching service. For it to work, the domain has to hit the wild, so if someone bought the domain in TDNAM you wouldn't get it.

Basically:

If the domain you want was regged with GoDaddy, Network Solutions, or eNom, buy it out of their aftermarket (much cheaper, better chance).

Otherwise hire drop catchers. You can hire several, because you only pay the winner. However, be careful what you're getting yourself into here - for that the original article is still very relevant.

Re: How to Snatch an Expiring Domain

#29
post #18

Are 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.

I think he also had a pretty good concept overall. So it not just the name.
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