When are expired domains available for sale

goervin · #1 (**permalink**) 07-17-2004, 07:41 PM

I have been recently tacking a domain that was set to expire on 7-17-04. On 7-17-04 I went to the who's who and checked the domain and it said it was not registered. I went to my registar and tryed to purchase the domain. It said that the domain was "reserved". My registar does not have a back order offering.

Does a domain that becomes expired on a date, say 7-20-04 mean that the domain will be available to purchase on that date.

Do registars hold the names for a grace period after the expiration of the site. If so how long and how will I really know if a domain becomes avalable

What does reserved mean.

Is back ordering a domain better or more effective than just trying to buy the domain on the expiration date.

imvain2 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-19-2004, 08:27 PM

When a domain name hits its expiration date you have approx. 60 days [exact number depends on the orginial registar] until you can purchase the domain name. If you check the whois on a domain name [my favorite to check JUST the domain status and expiration is whois.domainpeople.com] you will see one of the following statuses, listed below in the order of occurrence:

Active - Will show from approx. 30 days after registration to 5 days after expiration.

Registar-Hold
Redepention Period
Pending Delete - Approx. 5-7 days after pending delete starts, the domain name will be available, except domain name backordering systems can get you the domain name after 2 days but you won't see your whois ownership until after the 5-7 days.
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Backordering is much better then attempting to get the domain name yourself. Because if someone else is back ordering it you have a better chance of getting the domain name compared to if you don't use the back ordering services.

imvain2 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-19-2004, 08:30 PM

I know there is a chart floating around the Internet that gives a graphical representation, but I can't seem to find it.

I'm sure if the talented Catalyst reads this post she will be able to post a link to the chart.