Choosing between DropCatch and SnapNames

dont trust them even if u wanna do snapname do marketsolution bc they own the snapname and jetname i think

Ok, so right now I have backorders at SnapNames, GoDaddy (worthless I know) and Epik.

I wasn't going to use DropCatch because it looked like there's some shenanigans with the multiple public auctions. Or that people had huge issues and were never able to hear back customer service. And I had a concern since they (DropCatch) is the one dropping it, that they might screw me over and send it to public auction even if I'm the only one.

Am I being stupid?

Should I do DropCatch also? Should I add NameJet also?

Obviously I'm new to this. After reading a couple hundred posts now, it's still hard to sort out what is user error (like the DropCatch Bargain Club is clearly a bad idea), what is a company screwing people over, and what is the whole system being kind of a mess.

Here's how I look at it.

DropCatch is the biggest player, and SnapNames is the second. They have grown beyond an impossible size by purchasing hundreds of registrars.

This being said, it depends on your goals:

- If you aim for less competitive domains, Epik would be great (low cost) using the NP offer
- If you aim for top value domains and are willing to pay up (deep purse), definitely go with DropCatch and prepare yourself for auction
- SnapNames is somewhere in between. You might pay less (not guaranteed) but I believe catch chances are smaller.

There is no perfect choice, make your pick.

JRobotBot said:

From what I've read so far, it looks like DropCatch might be the most effective, but lots of people have had experiences with shill bidding in public auctions.

Am I ok just using SnapNames?

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Why not using both? I don't get your logic.

golan said:

Why not using both? I don't get your logic.

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Yes you can, I was just pointing the different options out, thanks for mentioning. Some people will opt for just one and stay with that, for whatever reason.

Edit: 1.30 AM in my timezone, logic has gone (at least partially) away... time to go to sleep.

I’m very new to both but have used them both regularly in the last few months. Have enjoyed DropCatch much more.

Dont know a lot about the history of either.

Basically I just need to catch my own first and last name when it drops.

I can’t imagine there is any competition, but still DropCatch/Namebright picked it up last time it dropped, and owns it now, so it's theoretically possible someone else would pick it up again.

I’d like to get it, but if it goes to public auction and commands a high dollar amount I don’t know if it makes sense. I have the .co as a backup, which would be passable.

So, I’m just weighing if adding DropCatch to the mix is an asset or a liability. Like, if DropCatch would create a public auction that wasn’t necessary. Am I just being paranoid about that?

I'm getting the impression that I should just add it. Then I'll have DropCatch, SnapNames, Epik, and GoDaddy. And then if it goes to auction it goes to auction.

IMHO NJ and DC ask for too much PII if you're concerned about your personal information. I'm still not sure why they need Driver's License or Passport.

For Snapnames they don't ask for any of that. To the community at large: is SN really that bad? Lots of negative threads on NPs.

GD is totally ineffective. I wasted credits there. Epik is hit or miss, so far I'm 1/40. Atleast the credits can be used for other things at Epik (great service and support), but GD locks you in to just BOs.

Update: I got my domain! I used them all. SnapNames was the one that caught it.

Thanks everyone.

DoNotTrackMyIP said:

IMHO NJ and DC ask for too much PII if you're concerned about your personal information. I'm still not sure why they need Driver's License or Passport.

For Snapnames they don't ask for any of that. To the community at large: is SN really that bad? Lots of negative threads on NPs.

GD is totally ineffective. I wasted credits there. Epik is hit or miss, so far I'm 1/40. Atleast the credits can be used for other things at Epik (great service and support), but GD locks you in to just BOs.

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I just asked Snapnames to close my account that I had just opened few days earlier. I received an email asking for additional documents AND me holding those documents. Can you imagine what a nefarious person can do pretending to be you online, with your face AND government issued documents confirming its you? No thanks.

I realize the US government puts this burden on them but the same US government also does not recommend sending PII doing so due to privacy / identity theft issues. There goes a perfect example of my government speaking out of two sides of the mouth at once. Not only that, but where I live, in my state at least, it was ruled "unconstitutional" to have to show ID to vote for these same government officials yet that very government demands that I show ID to get Sudafed for my allergies or in this case email all that information to open an account to bid on domain names. Nope.

I told them nicely, my need to protect outweighs their need to know. This is an unfortunate reality of our new world.

AGAME said:

I received an email asking for additional documents AND me holding those documents.

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Dropcatch also requires that from any new accounts. For the older accounts, if you have never provided it before, they may put your account on hold anytime and request this id-photo as well.

To reduce the risk [of your photo being ab-used by a thief] somewhat, always slap a watermark text like "provided to sitename.com 01.01.2020, not valid for other purposes".

JRobotBot said:

Update: I got my domain! I used them all. SnapNames was the one that caught it.

Thanks everyone.

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Did you have to go to auction or did you just get it outright? How much did you end up paying total? Thx!

forget dropcatch. dropcatch is good for harvesting your backorder to be absorbed into their hugedomains marketplace.