Drop Catching For Newbies

[gazoakley]

:hi:

I apologise to mods in advance if you feel this is in the wrong section. I couldn't decide between keeping it here or in Expiring Domains (though I feel thats more for lists)... Its a long post so you may want to put the kettle on

If you're reading this thread then I'd like to welcome you to the wonderful world of Drop Catching - the process of procuring expired domains. I'm going to take you through my first experience of the process and show you the pitfalls I fell for.

This story starts with a name

This story starts with a name - HaloForge.com. I was looking to start a site about a game (Halo 3) and more specifically the tools you can use to play about with the maps (Forge). I used to be an avid GoDaddy user, so off I went to search for domain names. The .net and .info variants were available, and I noticed the .com was about to expire. Perfect I thought - so I ordered the .net and .info and put the .com on backorder. I also checked SnapNames and kept looking at domains starting with the word Halo not wanting SnapNames to catch on to what I was looking for. Since SnapNames was somewhat more expensive I moved on thinking not many people would be bothered about it.

Snap! (names)

A couple of weeks later I'd started to play about with the site. GoDaddy sent me an email to inform me they were about to try and capture the .com variant. Great I thought - surely no-one else will be wanting the name. And then a few hours later I checked whois. Snapnames had won the name afterall - and jacked the price up by 30$

I was a little upset, but still I couldn't be bothered paying $99 for a hobby domain. So I left SnapNames to their own devices. Since they return domains if no-one wants them I thought there'd be an easy oppurtunity to pick it up again soon.

I kept watching the auction and no one bid. SnapNames would drop the domain and GoDaddy would pick it up. Right?

Nope

Stake your claim

It'd been picked up by a company called iTimeMarketing / ClaimThisDomain.com - I'm willing to bet someone on here knows them. Two days later they emailed me after seeing my details against the .net registration. They told me they'd won the domain at auction (not true - the registrar was different and the registration date was after SnapNames picked it up) and gave me the opportunity to purchase the name. Not wanting to let on I was interested I ignored their mail and started Googling them. I fell upon another site they'd claimed to have picked up at auction (this appears to be standard practice for them) and found out they were being selling that for $207.

Aghhh...

I was a bit cheesed off at this point. GoDaddy's service had failed me again. And now the domain I wanted was in the hands of someone who appeared to be trying to scam me. But I also thought they probably wouldnt keep the domain if I kept quiet. I left it a few days - hoping it'd drop again and GoDaddy would finally pick it up. On the 5th November it dropped. Did GoDaddy catch it?

You should have got the pattern by now. They didn't. Aghhh...

So tasty I'll have another taste

Now I was really angry. ClaimThisDomain.com had dropped the domain and then re-registered it in order to get around paying for the domain (they tasted and re-tasted). I figured I was in for a bumpy ride. It didnt matter the domain wasn't worth much - this was personal. They'd tried to scam me and they were taking the p*** with tasting (I'm not a fan of tasting - but I only really get upset when people do it over and over again with the same name in order to skip the fees). I needed my own arsenal.

Revenge is sweet

So I got an account here at NamePros and got an Enom account through it. I built a Python script to try domain catching. It dropped again and my script didnt have success. But I kept going - and after adapting it to work with another registrar someone on here who is now a good friend caught it for me through their registrar!

So its now mine. My precious...

Lessons learnt

If you're an experienced domainer you probably saw a whole boatload of mistakes in there. I've sure learnt a lot about how drop catching works from this episode. What could I have done better?

GoDaddy backorders suck

They're a great registrar in my opinion for available domains, but their backorder service seems to leave a lot to be desired. Google around and you'll see most people have very little success.

I think the main problem GoDaddy have is a lack of resources for grabbing domains. Pool.com and SnapNames have lots of different registrars - whilst GoDaddy are pretty much just GoDaddy. The other problem is buying at GoDaddy advertises the name you want is in demand - once a GoDaddy customer has backordered no one else can. And I'll bet someone scrapes against GoDaddy to find prospective domains...

Don't go it alone

If you really want a domain you have to go to SnapNames, Pool and NameJet. No ifs or buts. If you have an order there and theres little interested you're extremely likely to win the domain. And its probably cheaper and certainly easier than screwing around with other companies who pick up their left behinds.

Order all the domains you want in one go

I think another big mistake I made was ordering the .net when .com wasn't available - it appears to be one of the reasons ClaimThisDomain went after the .com. If you want an online presence go all out at the same time. You'll arouse less interest and you'll have an easier time

Use a reputable WHOIS site

You might have heard about ISPs and other companies selling lists of unanswerable DNS queries as well as fake WHOIS sites that capture data to use for prospective registrations. Never type in a domain name to see if its available, and only use a reputable WHOIS. DomainTools seem to be trusted by a lot. Alternatively use your own WHOIS client to bypass the possible viewing of what you're after.

There are other lessons to be learnt as well, but I think that should get people started...

 

[Fka200]

Congrats!

 

[gazoakley]

Cheers dude Anyone got any more suggestions?

 

[VisionQuest]

I found your post extremely helpful, thanks for sharing.

 

[DylanButler]

Helpful post. I thought there would be a bit more details on the drop process and specific quirks for each TLD, but that's not quite suited for a noobie guide anyway.

One question though - snapnames is a type of "auction", isn't it? Similar to pool in that if they manage to catch a name, the name then goes up for auction to the highest bidder? That said, the inquiring company (scandalous or not) did in fact win the name through auction, essentially?

 

[nu-money]

Great read Rep added

Congratulations on finally snaring your domain..

 

[r72gs]

Cheers dude Anyone got any more suggestions?

I like the Tdnam auctions, you can score some great deals in the $5 close outs. Freshdrop.net (not my site) has a great tool for sorting all the names. Godaddy code gdbb776 will take a couple of bucks off the price.

These are in the $5 closeout right now.....

PensionRegulations.com
ClinicalScientists.com

 

[evilopinions]

Use a reputable WHOIS site[/b]

You might have heard about ISPs and other companies selling lists of unanswerable DNS queries as well as fake WHOIS sites that capture data to use for prospective registrations. Never type in a domain name to see if its available, and only use a reputable WHOIS. DomainTools seem to be trusted by a lot. Alternatively use your own WHOIS client to bypass the possible viewing of what you're after.

There are other lessons to be learnt as well, but I think that should get people started...

This bit was quite humorous. There is nothing like domain spying. It is just that the registry does not update on real time basis. So when you order a domain and see it is available there is a chance that the domain has been taken. Just that you have never come across an instance like that...

I think there is a normal lag of 6 hours if i am not wrong...caused by the xone files... !

 

[Aceredbaron]

This bit was quite humorous. There is nothing like domain spying. It is just that the registry does not update on real time basis. So when you order a domain and see it is available there is a chance that the domain has been taken. Just that you have never come across an instance like that...

I think there is a normal lag of 6 hours if i am not wrong...caused by the xone files... !

I am not convinced there is no spying on domain whois enquiries. OP is lucky he got a good friend(BTW can't you name him :hehe: ) or otherwise it could
be an endless cycle of agony.

Check out this article for more info

http://www.dailydomainer.com/2007173-who-is-monitoring-your-domain-searches-update.html

 

[PowerUp]

Congratulations.
Just curious, now that you've got the .com, why do you redirect it to the .net? Why don't you move your site to .com?

 

[moby]

Hi gazoakley

Thanks for the your post. Very helpful, Best of luck with your Haloforge... etc.

 

[domainco.us]

Great post, congrats!

 

[tinsel]

GoDaddy backorders suck

I wouldn't be surprised if GoDaddy actually own or are affiliated to ClaimThisDomain.com If you buy a domain from CTD, it automatically gets deposited with GoDaddy. Call me cynical, but wouldn't it make sense for one of the world's largest domain name registrar to try and profit from people letting their domain names expire? You ask them to get the domain name for you when it expires, they claim to have failed, then swindle you out of $200 under a different name...

 

[gazoakley]

You ask them to get the domain name for you when it expires, they claim to have failed, then swindle you out of $200 under a different name...

As for GoDaddy owning CTD - I'm disinclined to believe that. Bob Parsons (they guy who owns GoDaddy) hates tasters and is strongly of the opinion something needs to be done to combat the problem (he mentions it a lot on his blog). CTD are serial tasters - they register domains for just under 5 days, drop them and then re-register. Under this method it looks to casual observers as if they've always had the domain, but if you check whois you'll notice the creation date of any of the domains they've captured doesn't ever seem to more than 5 days old.

When I was dealing with ClaimThisDomain it looked like they were using some smallish registrar in India. To push the domain to you it would be an intra-registrar push - and you can only do that 60 days after the original registration.

Welcome to NamePros btw You're a first time poster - have you come here after having problems with CTD?

 

[SimpleDomaining]

one more advice from me: Not every drop worth to catch! Research first, why exactly it was dropped. Was it a lazy owner, forgot to renew a good domain, or may be it was a headache domain, and you don't want to be the one who deal with it.

 

[Bernie77]

thanks for the tips!

 

[connections]

iTimeMarketing has sent me a email about a domain in the past, I own this .info they were trying to sell me a .com

lol..I didnt even reply.

 

[bricio]

I am not convinced there is no spying on domain whois enquiries. OP is lucky he got a good friend(BTW can't you name him :hehe: ) or otherwise it could
be an endless cycle of agony.

Check out this article for more info

http://www.dailydomainer.com/2007173-who-is-monitoring-your-domain-searches-update.html

besides spying whois, what many people believe and you can read many posts here about it, there might be the sale of the information (whois)

thats why when i check the availability of a name if it is available i reg it immediately... but you can trust in moniker as when i began domaining i checked the availability of the names and i reg'd some just some days later and i have never had problems and their whois is live

 

[nielsencl]

ClaimThisDomain.com - iTime Marketing, Inc.

In the past two days I have received 3 sets of two emails from ClaimThisDomain.com or as their main company seems to be known,

iTime Marketing, Inc.
332 N. Harrison St. Suite 100
Davenport IA 52801
P: 563-323-4609 * F: 866-316-5278
itimemarketing.com

I called them after receiving their first two emails, made to look like personal emails. They are in Iowa and I am in Minnesota, so I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were just being stupid about sending spam. Then I got two more emails, but they had not returned my call. So I reported the spams to their hosting providers AND their domain registrar(Some registrars WILL suspend a domain used in spam, and this can be more effective then just reporting to the hosting company.).

Thanks for creating this thread about drop-catching and I hope it can encourage others to just say "no" to anyone that uses spam to advertise their products or services.

 

[simon johnson]

Interesting post....

I built a Python script to try domain catching. It dropped again and my script didnt have success.

Why did you think that your own dropscript would catch it? Has this method ever worked for you? I'm guessing you used eNom for this?