When exactly does a domain that has previously been taken become available to purchase again? T'would be cool if Winhost had a domain snagger, perhaps for a small fee. We could set it and then oneday perhaps receive a delightful email Congratulations! You now own the domain *****.com ! Should give your programmers something to ponder ian
If a domain is taken, then you have to wait until several months after the domain expired for the domain to become publicly available. As for your domain snagger idea - that is already available at most domain registrars - I typically see it called a "backorder". If the current domain owner renews the domain, then you'll need to wait at least another year. And it is possible for the domain owner to renew for multiple years. Another thing you can try is to contact the domain owner and see if you can negotiate a price to buy the domain from them.
Yes but if you had a domain snagger you could get lots of money from people, even if they never get the domain.
Thanks for the suggestion. We just have to weigh out all the different projects going on and prioritize. Since there are so many other options for the backorder tool, it won't be bubbling to the top of list for a while.
You used to be able to calculate or predict when a domain would drop (and become available to register). That's a lot more difficult these days since a lot of registrars don't drop domains after the expiration periods pass, they keep them - at least temporarily - for a lot of reasons. So the backorder plans that work - or have a chance to work - are running frequent checks for domain availability. Some of them as frequently as every few minutes. For us to build and maintain a system that does that would likely require more resources than we could ever recoup through usage fees. It only makes sense if you are tracking thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of domains, like the large registrars. In the late 90s/early 00s I caught a number of domains when they dropped, but in the past 10 years or so that number has dwindled to zero. I've found the most effective method is what @curtis suggested, which is trying to broker a deal for the domain from the current owner. You'll spend more money, but your success rate will be better.
Also keep in mind that there are many backorder services out there. So even if you subscribe to one, that doesn't mean you'll get the domain when it is released to the public. If there are others out there eying that domain and using another backorder service, then it's whoever gets there first.
