A domain name that I want finally expired today. So you might think– well, why didn’t you buy it?
Apparently domains don’t really expire when they say they will. In fact, it could take up to 75 days until the URL is released to the public. And that’s not the worst of it. Depending on the value of the domain name, there might be domain snatching firms (such as snapnames.com, enom.com, and pool.com) that try to grab the domain the very second the name is released into the ecosystem, and if there is interest by more than one party for the name, these domain snatchers put the names up for auction! Pool and Snapnames have a fee of $60 (which you pay only if you get the domain name). Enom has a lower base fee, but their pricing methodology is slightly more complicated.
Godaddy has a backorder system for 1/3 the cost of the their competitors, but you pay upfront regardless of whether you get the name or not, and based on the many blogs and threads I’ve read, Godaddy isn’t a very good option for drop catching names because their don’t have dedicated resources like their competitors do (they aren’t even good at catching expired domains from their own registry!)
So I am left with the dilemma of whether I want the name enough to pay $60+ for it (Yeah, I think I do). I suppose I could also attempt to get the name myself the old fashioned way– check the whois database periodically to see if the domain is officially deleted. However I am not sure if that effort would be worth it given that I am hopelessly bad with timing, and it would be way easier to go with a professional domain snatcher.
It looks like I have some time to decide whether I go with a professional service, or try my luck. I am leaning toward a professional service. If you have tried using snapnames or any companies like them, please let me know.
I learned a lot this week about expired domain registration. I hope you learned something too!
Happy Thanksgiving!
If it’s an even remotely attractive name (e.g. any English word, or relatively short and sensible combination of English words), I think you have virtually no chance of getting it on your own. I’ve made the mistake of trying for that a couple of times in the past, even for what I thought were fairly obscure names, and I’ve always failed. Squatters grab them immediately and put up advertising pages on them. And if they make any amount of money at all, they then keep them forever (in my experience). So if it falls into the hands of one of those guys, you’ll probably never get it. As much as I hate how sleazy this whole thing is, I strongly recommend using a professional service if you really want the name. I’ve never used one successfully (I’ve used Snapnames to try to get back names that squatters got, but they’ve never let any of them fully expire — they usually let it go to the last day and then renew). Maybe the economy will push some of those scumbags out of business, but I wouldn’t hold my breath…
Yeah, turns out the people who owned the domain renewed it 1 day after expiration. Damn grace period. All this research for nuthin’!