Grab a domain that's expiring

[LAPhotoPro.com]

What's the best way to go about grabing a domain name that is about to expire. The one I'm looking at says that it will expire on April 2nd. I checked in the who is database. I know go daddy has a thing that will try to get it for you as soon as it is available. Is this a good idea? At $18.95 it would be worth it however, I tend to see these things as gimmicks. Does it really expire on April 2nd or does it give the current owner a chance to buy it again?

Thanks,

Don

[FatalException]

I've run into situations like this before, LAPhoto. I had a friend who turned on me a while ago and I tried to buy his domain name out from underneath him... it didn't work, though. See, the guy's record in the whois database said his domain expired on, let's say, June 2, 2003. I went to NSI.com - the homepage of NetworkSolutions, which is owned by Verisign - who, in turn, is in charge of the ".com" and ".net" domain registries, and tried to register his domain. No luck, even on June 2. I went back June 3. Again, no luck. One month later (July 2, 2003) - I still couldn't register it even though it CLEARLY said in his record that the domain expired June 2, 2003. I called Verisign about it and asked them what the heck was going on. They told me that they "hold" domains for customers who haven't gotten back to them with a "yes" or "no" about keeping their domain, assuming they're in the hospital, out of the country, in prison, or whatever. Now, the only registrar I've ever heard of being able to do this is NSI. I think there was some sort of legal action taken by people regarding this practice at NSI, though I don't know what ever became of it.

Similarly, I know register.com occasionally does something very close to what NSI does by registering the domain name for a month or two in the name of "Register.com" in order to preserve it for a customer until they're sure they don't want it.

So the short answer to your question - if it looks like the domain is being used by someone right now and has been kept up to date for the most part, chances are they'll renew and you won't get it. While the Godaddy's little idea is cute and might work, I would trust the NSI-approved backorder service for this type of thing. They're bound to get preference since they're affiliated with NSI. Additionally, the NSI-approved place (called SnapNames.com) doesn't charge you a penny until you get the name. That means if you don't end up getting it when it expires, you don't pay them! Sounds like a better deal than Godaddy's thing. Snapnames is more expensive, though - $60 if you get the name - but seriously, if you get it, won't it be worth that type of cost to you? You've got to weight your options, but it seems like it's a better deal to me.

Time for me to renew my own domain names, BTW - thanks for reminding me!

[LAPhotoPro.com]

Thanks for this Fatal Exception. I appreciate your elaborate response. This web site has nothing on it so I'm hoping the guy will just drop it.

[FatalException]

I forgot to mention something before... a lot depends on the domain extension - .com, .net, .org, .us, .co.uk, etc. If it's a .us domain, they FORCE termination on the date listed if it hasn't been renewed within a reasonable amount of time before the expiration date. If you go to this site: http://www.neustar.us/reports/rgp/ you can see a list of expiring ".us" domain names. The ones that are in the list are GUARANTEED to be available the day that is listed on there or after. I wish NSI and others would post a similar list, but I guess that really isn't possible with the number of .com's and .net's expiring each day. Check with each individual registrar about their domain expiration and reassignment policies for more information.