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I posted this story on my Blog, but thought it needed a bit more discussion.
Earlier this year the domain name BlowDryers.com had popped up on my Radar. It was a big domain to me for several reasons, but with my family closely tied to the professional beauty industry, it had even more significance. Instantly it was on my “got to have” domain name list.
The domain had expired on 2/9/08 and was earmarked for hitting NameJet auction last week. I was very disappointed to find a few weeks ago the domain had been renewed by its original registrant and wasn’t resolving to any site anymore (specifically, not the Network Solutions parked page). I decided to give the original registrant a call (A beauty supply company in New York). They very rudely declined to sell it to me, without even hearing an offer. At this point I had resigned to give up entirely.
Yesterday I recieved a notification from NameJet with the following line:
“We are happy to inform you that a domain name you Backordered as a Wish List item is about to become available and is now entering a Pre-Release status.
Domain Name: blowdryers.com”
I was completely surprised. I immediately went to my Backorder section at NameJet and found that the domain was sitting there with “pending auction” next to it. This usually means the next day it will begin its auction.
I decided to do some homework, as none of this made much sense. I went back and checked the historial whois data (thanks to Domaintools). Unfortunately Domaintools did not capture the whois data from when the domain was showing the usual Network Solutions pending renewal /delete whois info. However, it does show that on 3/7 , 3/10, and 3/12 the domain was in an active status, with the original registrant listed as the owner.
When I checked at the time of the email, I was shown the pending renewal delete data from Network Solutions.
What happened? How did a domain that was seemingly renewed, end up expired again and back at auction? I sent NameJet a ticket, asking for verification that infact the domain was going to auction the following day.
I recieved the following generic response from Shane at NameJet this morning:
Hello,
Once the deadline to delete a domain from your backorder list has lapsed, there is a short timeframe where the domain is being converted to your list of “my auctions”. During this time, the domain is frozen and no changes to the bid amount can take place, nor can you delete it. It will show as “pending auction” on your backorder list and the delete box will be grayed out.
Once the domain has been converted to an auction status, you will find it on your list of MY AUCTIONS where you can then enter your proxy bid and participate in the auction.
So, I waited this morning to see what would happen. At approximately Noon I started to receive my NameJet notifications about auctions that were starting, but none for BlowDryers.com - I went to my backorder section to see if it was still pending auction, low and behold, it wasn’t. It was now back to my Wish List. I checked the whois on the domain name and it was once again back to the original registrant.
Ive inquired to NameJet once more, asking for explanation of what had occurred. I will post more as I find out. My fear is that the domain name will soon have private registration and a suspicious new owner.
Justin
Earlier this year the domain name BlowDryers.com had popped up on my Radar. It was a big domain to me for several reasons, but with my family closely tied to the professional beauty industry, it had even more significance. Instantly it was on my “got to have” domain name list.
The domain had expired on 2/9/08 and was earmarked for hitting NameJet auction last week. I was very disappointed to find a few weeks ago the domain had been renewed by its original registrant and wasn’t resolving to any site anymore (specifically, not the Network Solutions parked page). I decided to give the original registrant a call (A beauty supply company in New York). They very rudely declined to sell it to me, without even hearing an offer. At this point I had resigned to give up entirely.
Yesterday I recieved a notification from NameJet with the following line:
“We are happy to inform you that a domain name you Backordered as a Wish List item is about to become available and is now entering a Pre-Release status.
Domain Name: blowdryers.com”
I was completely surprised. I immediately went to my Backorder section at NameJet and found that the domain was sitting there with “pending auction” next to it. This usually means the next day it will begin its auction.
I decided to do some homework, as none of this made much sense. I went back and checked the historial whois data (thanks to Domaintools). Unfortunately Domaintools did not capture the whois data from when the domain was showing the usual Network Solutions pending renewal /delete whois info. However, it does show that on 3/7 , 3/10, and 3/12 the domain was in an active status, with the original registrant listed as the owner.
When I checked at the time of the email, I was shown the pending renewal delete data from Network Solutions.
What happened? How did a domain that was seemingly renewed, end up expired again and back at auction? I sent NameJet a ticket, asking for verification that infact the domain was going to auction the following day.
I recieved the following generic response from Shane at NameJet this morning:
Hello,
Once the deadline to delete a domain from your backorder list has lapsed, there is a short timeframe where the domain is being converted to your list of “my auctions”. During this time, the domain is frozen and no changes to the bid amount can take place, nor can you delete it. It will show as “pending auction” on your backorder list and the delete box will be grayed out.
Once the domain has been converted to an auction status, you will find it on your list of MY AUCTIONS where you can then enter your proxy bid and participate in the auction.
So, I waited this morning to see what would happen. At approximately Noon I started to receive my NameJet notifications about auctions that were starting, but none for BlowDryers.com - I went to my backorder section to see if it was still pending auction, low and behold, it wasn’t. It was now back to my Wish List. I checked the whois on the domain name and it was once again back to the original registrant.
Ive inquired to NameJet once more, asking for explanation of what had occurred. I will post more as I find out. My fear is that the domain name will soon have private registration and a suspicious new owner.
Justin
