Question About Buying An Expired Domain

by Dave
8 replies
Hello Warriors,

I have a question about what the smartest way to buy an expiring domain. It's a domain that I've wanted for years and I've sort of followed it just checking periodically to see if it has ever expired and available to register.

The good news for me is that the domain is about to expire in the next couple of weeks (providing the owner doesn't re-register).

So my questions. What's the best way to register an expiring domain? Should I use a back ordering service (if so, any recommendations) or should I just wait in it to expire and be available register it as a new domain?

It's a domain that I really want. While I don't want to make a large offer to buy it... I do want to make sure that I'm first in line to register it if it does actually expire.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Dave
#buying #domain #expired #question
  • Profile picture of the author JimMichael
    I've only done this once - but I'd suggest back-ordering.

    You never know when there's a carbon copy of yourself sat somewhere else on the web who also wants it.

    Also, make sure you're going to be well palced to use the domain. For the one I bought - the business I ran from the domain was very different from it's previous owner, and I spent a lot of time handling calls from confused customers saying 'Hey - last time I visited your site it was selling xyz'.

    Personally, I am still waiting for Google.com to come up for renewal....I hear it gets some pretty good traffic :p
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave
      Originally Posted by JimMichael View Post

      I've only done this once - but I'd suggest back-ordering.
      Thanks Jim, I appreciate the response. Do you (or anyone) have a recommended back-ordering service or are the pretty much all created equally?

      Thanks again, Dave
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      • Profile picture of the author davezan
        Hehe, this has been asked a few times here. But I'll summarize it.

        How and where to get that domain name will depend on what "state" it's in. You
        talk to the registrar if it's expired and still within their "grace period", then make
        a backorder with as many companies who specialize in this as you can afford if
        that domain name isn't in the registrar's control anymore.
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        David

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  • Profile picture of the author JimMichael
    I wish I could help further buddy - but I just used FreshDrop.com as the domain was expiring something like 9 days from the time I was looking to order it.

    Best of luck. I hope you get it.
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  • Profile picture of the author alexmobile
    What you need is called "drop catching" service. If you really want that domain, and if you expect that there are other people watching the same domain, I would recommend using drop catching services from Namejet and Snapnames. They are considered the best in the industry. If catched successfully, it will cost you about $70 or so.
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by alexmobile View Post

      What you need is called "drop catching" service. If you really want that domain, and if you expect that there are other people watching the same domain, I would recommend using drop catching services from Namejet and Snapnames. They are considered the best in the industry. If catched successfully, it will cost you about $70 or so.
      A catch with NameJet or SnapNames, though, is they can't acquire the domain
      name if it's still expired and with the registrar they're not partnered with. They
      can't catch Go Daddy expired names since Go Daddy will 1st try to auction them
      on their own, although NameJet does so for both eNom and Network Solutions.
      (can't remember who SnapNames does for what registrar, though...)

      Just to expand a bit on what I said, OP, you ask the registrar if they will auction
      the expired domain name themselves or their partner. If the domain name is not
      expired and within the registrar's control anymore, then that's the time to make
      a backorder with the likes of SnapNames. (who's arguably the market leader...)

      HTH.
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      David

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  • Profile picture of the author Dave
    Thanks guys, I appreciate all the suggestions. I just had a closer look and the domain is registered here.

    Registrar: TIERRANET INC. D/B/A DOMAINDISCOVER

    They don't seem to have a back-order feature but with any luck all the options above should get me fixed up. I just hope the owner doesn't re-register.

    Thanks again for all the advice!

    Dave
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