Grabbing a Domain

[jacobwissler]

A domain that I want is set to expire in a few weeks. The current owner is not using it, but has ignored my emails, offering to buy it. If he lets it expire, is there a waiting period before I can grab it? What is the best way to do this?

[flood6]

Some registrars (GoDaddy comes to mind) offer a service where you can have them try to purchase the domain the second it expires.

Here's some relevant information on their site.

[bhartzer]

You definitely need to backorder the domain name. If the backorder service registers it for you, you'll get the domain name and usually have to pay an extra fee for their service.

Because of GoDaddy's previous history and business practices, I actually wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

Pool.com is the largest backorder service, they have agreements with more registrars than any other backorder service.

If the domain is registered with Network Solutions there's not a good chance that you'll get the domain name unless you're the first one to place a backorder on it through Snap.

Namewinner seems to be grabbing domain names also, it's good to put a backorder on the domain with them, as well.

[jacobwissler]

Please tell me about your experience with GoDaddy. I was hosting all my sites with SBC (not SBC Yahoo, corporate SBC), but moved them to GoDaddy in June, to save money. No problems yet. Is there something I need to know?

[jacobwissler]

The domain I want is registered through www.iaregistry.com

[flood6]

There was an issue a while ago where godaddy had done something to block googlebot from all thier client's web servers. Needless to say, this raised some noise. I can't remember what the resolution to this was, but I know it got fixed. Do some googling and I'm sure you can find some information about it.

There is also some kind of "godaddy sucks" site getting a lot of attention recently. It stems from some upset former client who thought he'd been shafted by godaddy.

The only personal experience I have with them is their often very cheap domain prices. No complaints in that area.

Again, I don't have an opinion either way about them, but some people seem not to like them. On the other hand do a search for "any-big-company sucks" and you're sure to find people willing to tell you about their complaints.

[jacobwissler]

Thank You Flood6

[edwinj]

Pool.com is one of the more popular catchers. Costs $60 if the catch is successful. However, if the domain is a big one you might have an auction on your hands. And prices there can reach crazy heights sometimes.