Did the vultures come in and take my meal without me looking?

[thevoyager]

Currently in the middle of setting up a new business, big intentions, world changing ideas etc.

I check the usual registrars for the .com - I checked yesterday and amazingly the .com was available and I think ranged from $3 to $5 or so.

Today I checked again and the .com had suddenly been pumped up to $1000! WTH!?

I feel sick to the core on many levels knowing that their are either

1. Domain suppliers who behave like this, maybe using insider information or cookies
2. Or people who somehow actively monitor what domains are being searchd and then snap them up for a penny and sell for thousands...

Can someone explain what has happened here? I am honestly so pissed off, it could have been the difference between a multi-million pound company, and not.

 

[A1EX]

It has been registered since 2018... That's why you cant get it... Maybe when you searched your registrar had a hiccup? Some registrars try to trick there customers also... I have seen it before where you search for example.com and it says "Your domain is available! Example.io"...

 

[thevoyager]

What is the best site to use away from these corporate canibals?

 

[AEProgram]

What is the best site to use away from these corporate canibals?

I think To****la is a real nice name also just use icann whois

 

[A1EX]

What is the best site to use away from these corporate canibals?

By cannibals do you mean the registrar where you search for the name? Or the company's that buy the name to resell? If its the registrar, buy the name immediately, problem solved. If it is someone that owns the name already, work to see if you can come to an agreement... if you are saying they are asking $1000 for a name you can make way more then that with then it's a slam dunk to purchase the name... I am sure if you offer a few hundred less they would accept it as well. Good luck!

 

[thevoyager]

I think To****la is a real nice name also just use icann whois

What is TOOLA?? HA

 

[thevoyager]

By cannibals do you mean the registrar where you search for the name? Or the company's that buy the name to resell? If its the registrar, buy the name immediately, problem solved. If it is someone that owns the name already, work to see if you can come to an agreement... if you are saying they are asking $1000 for a name you can make way more then that with then it's a slam dunk to purchase the name... I am sure if you offer a few hundred less they would accept it as well. Good luck!

Agreed on both point... When i said a million dollar idea I was just exagerating, close to tho

 

[AEProgram]

What is TOOLA?? HA

Tonganla

 

[pb]

OK all I think we got to the bottom of it, I misread something.
No conspiracy here

Or mistyped. You could have done a typo when searching and *that* domain may have been free and may still be free.

 

[pb]

Better yet, you can search for any .com here:

https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup

and it will show the precise time - to the exact second - of its registration.

Do you know if using this lookup, it queries the registrar's whois server or just verisign's?

nvm I've read the terms "The results displayed come directly from registry operators and/or registrars in real-time.", so registrars can still collect data on the number of queries etc., no way around it.

 

[branding]

Do you know if using this lookup, it queries the registrar's whois server or just verisign's?

nvm I've read the terms "The results displayed come directly from registry operators and/or registrars in real-time.", so registrars can still collect data on the number of queries etc., no way around it.

You can. With a thin whois lookup. This data comes from the registry, not the registrar.

 

[pb]

You can. With a thin whois lookup. This data comes from the registry, not the registrar.

Well, I know I can do --no-recursion in whois commandline and the rdap client (https://github.com/openrdap/rdap) also seems to query only the registry by default, but https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup shows registrant data, which probably comes from the registrar rdap server. But you're right of course, there is a way around it. Just not through a web interface (that I know of).

 

[branding]

Well, I know I can do --no-recursion in whois commandline and the rdap client (https://github.com/openrdap/rdap) also seems to query only the registry by default, but https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup shows registrant data, which probably comes from the registrar rdap server. But you're right of course, there is a way around it. Just not through a web interface (that I know of).

I don't know of a web interface but I'm sure they're out there of you search for it.

Best to run lookups from a Command Line Interface. Faster as well.

Stop providing registrars with free data.

Trust no-one

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

I check the usual registrars for the .com - I checked yesterday and amazingly the .com was available and I think ranged from $3 to $5 or so.

As mentioned in other postings, lookup.icann.org can be a simple way to check whether a .com, .net, and .org domain name is registered. It's fast, reliable, and it eliminates any concern that doing the search might lead to someone buying the unregistered domain to sell it to you for a higher price.
As others have also said, if you see a domain you really want, after a search on registrar or marketplace, it is prudent to purchase it immediately if the price is right.

 

[Futurewizard]

Automation is instantaneous. It's insane what a few Python scripts can do. Some folks/companies monitor traffic/search terms, etc. Not sure how it all works, but they could have an automatic API that immediately hikes the price. It's a tad despicable but it's likely not a single Mr. Burns-type person with ulterior motives.

That's my take at least. I've found that automation plays a big role in this business. Especially when it comes to expired domains. You can camp out and view the DataDog txt file the second the new expired domains hit... but somehow the hidden treasures are always "registered in 2022". The eternal battle against the robots. I'm sure AI will start predicting value and snatch things before they even make sense to us.

So give 'em Hell and I hope you work the situation out without spending too much.

 

[pb]

I don't know of a web interface but I'm sure they're out there of you search for it.

Best to run lookups from a Command Line Interface. Faster as well.

Stop providing registrars with free data.

Trust no-one

Yeah, I'm using CLI whois all the time, I just kinda hoped ICANN's lookup tool would be the one to cut out the lurking registrars so that it could be recommended for everyone. It's still better for checking for free domains, that's for sure. Because if you actually find a free domain, you will only have yourself to blame if someone else registers it before you.

 

[Sjpals]

Front running.

I do all my searches using dotdb now

 

[pb]

Front running.

Yes, yes, with all the time machines broadly available now, frontrunning is more prevalent than ever.
Soon, domains free today will be registered since 1985 tomorrow.

 

[twiki]

Yeah, I'm using CLI whois all the time, I just kinda hoped ICANN's lookup tool would be the one to cut out the lurking registrars so that it could be recommended for everyone. It's still better for checking for free domains, that's for sure. Because if you actually find a free domain, you will only have yourself to blame if someone else registers it before you.

Some registrars happen to do frontrunning, willingly or not. Let's assume willingly at first: They either register themselves OR feed the searches further to the vultures. It's a win win for them - buyer get the names, registrars make money from registration and renewals. And potentially aftermarket sales.

Even some of the big registrars do this. It is known, despite contested by those who haven't seen or tested it first hand. Although in many cases please note, it's just a coincidence (say if just one domain is involved).

But how do I know this happens? I got bitten early by this. With several of them including major registrars.

I used to register larger hand reg lists sometimes. I still do handregs from time to time and have success with some of them (e.g meta names). But those I talk about weren't on the same subject. They were different names altogether. The only connection between the names was they being on MY list and generated by my domain suggestion / discovery tech that does not go through a registrar.

10-15 minutes later, or a couple hours later, VOILA - they are suddenly taken, in bulk... At the same registrar.

I re-tested this with other (potential) names that I was willing to part with, just to re-test the theory. Again the same thing happened. At those registrars. Several, well known registrars have this problem.

It might not be the registrar itself however; but some of the employees who have access to the data and make quite some money for themselves off this thing. I believe this has a bigger chance to be the case. Whether the owners know or not about this, I don't know.

Now I won't mention where this happened.

I'm going to however to mention a few where it didn't happen for me. 3 registrars in particular, Dynadot, Namesilo, Porkbun.

This doesn't mean that all other registrars are bad. Just that you need to be aware that there is such thing among registrars and you just have to be careful.

Which means, final note, if you like a domain and it's cheap. BUY IT. On spot. That's all you need to do.

Lessons learned.

 

[thevoyager]

Just to possibly finish this very informative thread which I am graciously grateful for, I should add that I searchd for one of the .com's today, which I had seached for 3 or 4 days ago, and it was still there for £7.99 on 123reg. It was just as strong (should they have AI which reads the symantics of the Enlglish language and the Google algorythim) as the .com I was crying my eyes out about (IMO).
I had 3 .com's, the last one which was the one I made this post about may have well been undersight on my part indeed (spelling mistake or just not looking properly).

Just thought I would add this to the community as I can see there are passioante and dedicated people on this forum.

 

[UncleBrand]

it happened to me several times when registering in BULK

EXPLANATION: the domain is not available, but sometimes a registrar will tell you that it is available for reg-fee, because it is available for sale on a partner network

but if you add the domain to your cart, the real price appear
it is a bug between these resellers network partrnership, Afternic or Sedo

if you check the same domain on different registrar, you will find a similar price, to what was proposed

to be sure that it was not the registrar playing dirty trick on you,
just check the whois info at domaintools/com and you'll probably find out that the domain was registered before you searched for it

 

[poweredbyme]

Currently in the middle of setting up a new business, big intentions, world changing ideas etc.

I check the usual registrars for the .com - I checked yesterday and amazingly the .com was available and I think ranged from $3 to $5 or so.

Today I checked again and the .com had suddenly been pumped up to $1000! WTH!?

I feel sick to the core on many levels knowing that their are either

1. Domain suppliers who behave like this, maybe using insider information or cookies
2. Or people who somehow actively monitor what domains are being searchd and then snap them up for a penny and sell for thousands...

Can someone explain what has happened here? I am honestly so pissed off, it could have been the difference between a multi-million pound company, and not.

It has not happened to me. Maybe I stick to good registrars.
But I read many stories like yours. People search domains at their favorite registrars to know if available but not register. Some turns back to a few days later, some turns back only a few minutes later to register. But they see those domains haven been registered. For the last 20+ years I read this story for 500+ times.

Its solution is simple. If you notice that happens to you, search domains elsewhere, or do the better, change your favorite registrar.

 

[poweredbyme]

It might not be the registrar itself however; but some of the employees who have access to the data and make quite some money for themselves off this thing. I believe this has a bigger chance to be the case. Whether the owners know or not about this, I don't know.

Employees can't do it in a systematic way. Some employees may do such things once or twice until they are caught and fired. Those who work in a corporate environment know they can't use their job in a company for their own personal profit. Such things can't happen systematically in any company without knowledge of top management. It simply can't happen.

I'm going to however to mention a few where it didn't happen for me. 3 registrars in particular, Dynadot, Namesilo, Porkbun.

I confirm it has not happened to me at Namesilo.

 

[Joe drake]

just tell the guy you saw it first and he will have to surrender the domain,after that hit the snooze button on your alarm because this is a dream

 

[Armageddon]

Created? Does that mean bought privately in this context?

MEAN THE DOMAIN WAS REG IN 2018 NOT AS YOU SAY WAS FREE HAND REGISTRATION
MOST PROBABLY WAS A GLITCH WHEN YOU TRY TO REG.

HAVE A NICE DAY

 

[domainer111]

Is the domain you originally wanted available for $1k? That could be a very smart investment if the business succeeds. Wishing you the best for your business.