Beating Namejet?

[Krane65]

Is it possible to beat a namejet backorder that only has 4 bids if you have a drop script that checks availability of a domain five times a second? If you think about it, it should be possible since namejet has to worry about literally hundreds of names people have backordered so they only have so many resources. It seems to me that a backorder with lower bids and prices wont have big priority on namejet...

 

[Kate]

Namejet and the other dropcatchers run an army of shell registrars with direct access to the registry.
Drop scripts are API-based, ie you send a request to the registrar, the registrar passes your request on to the registry, then returns the response to you... needless to say the process is much slower.

Short answer: unless you're a registrar don't even think about it.

 

[Edward Smeu]

So this means if you become a registrar, your chances of catching better names and beating them get higher?

Registrar + appropriate software= more than 0%?

 

[Kate]

Well if you own one registrar you are already in a better position. But it's still one registrar against tens, thousands of competing registrars.
More registrars = more slots (connections to the registry) available.

 

[NoTanks52]

how much does it cost to own a registrar?

 

[homebuyer]

Bo

"Any entity that wants to offer domain name registration services under gTLDs with a direct access to the gTLD registries is required to obtain an accreditation from ICANN. To that end, the interested entity must apply for accreditation and demonstrate that it meets all the technical, operational and financial criteria necessary to qualify as a registrar business. The relationship between ICANN and every accredited registrar is governed by the individual Registrar Accreditation Agreements (RAA), which set out the obligations of both parties." http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/



"What you will pay to ICANN:

US$3,500 non-refundable application fee, to be submitted with application.
US$4,000 yearly accreditation fee due upon approval and each year thereafter.
Variable fee (quarterly) billed once you begin registering domain names or, the first full quarter following your accreditation approval, whichever occurs first. This fee represents a portion of ICANN's operating costs and, because it is divided among all registrars, the amount varies from quarter to quarter.
Transaction-based gTLD fee (quarterly). This fee is a flat fee charged for each new registration, renewal or transfer. This fee can be billed by the registrar separately on its invoice to the registrant, but is paid by the registrar to ICANN.
Please refer to http://www.icann.org/general/financial.html for the most recent ICANN budget to find additional details about the quarterly variable and transaction-based fees, including possible options for relief.
Please refer to http://www.icann.org/financials/payments.htm for instructions on how to submit payments to ICANN." http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accreditation-financials.htm

Also (taken from same page)...Applicants seeking initial accreditation must demonstrate the ability to procure liquid capital immediately available in the applicant's name at the commencement of the accreditation period in an amount of US$70,000 or more before the ICANN accreditation becomes effective.

---------- Post added at 10:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------

The $70,000+ might be worth it if you can catch an expired premium domain or two. Plus, you could actually make money as a registrar, i.e., compete with the biggies.

But hey, godaddy has tons of servers and is a licensed registrar, but it cannot compete with namejet and snapnames when it comes to backorders, so what chance will you have?; unless you creat a zombie bot that infects millions of computers and use them to catch expiring domains. Just kidding on the last part.

 

[Krane65]

LOL thanks guys, i wont waste my money on a script then.