question First time drop catching - need help from the experts

[irl]

I have absolutely no experience with drop catching. There is a domain that will be expiring in May of next year that I am highly interested in. As all its alternative extensions (org, net, co) are still available, I doubt that anybody else has their eyes on it. Plus, nothing has ever come of the domain so I do not believe the owner will keep it. Before proceeding, I just need some help and support from some of the experts here on NamePros. All questions I need answered are in BOLD.

I tried reading up on how drop catching works from dropcatch.com, but I'm still a bit confused on this entire process. I'll provide an image for the domain life cycle that was on dropcatch.com below. With the image in mind, let's say that a domain expires on May 1st. Does this mean that I should wait until July 15th (75 days) to enter my backorder? Should I enter my backorder as early as possible, perhaps even today? Dropcatch.com says that they will only attempt to register the domain on my behalf after it enters the 5 day pending delete period. I just want to ensure I enter my backorder in a timely fashion that increases my odds of getting the domain for a reasonable price and not having it enter an auction.

I also do not want the registrar to register this domain for themselves. I assume me entering a backorder may trigger some kind of alert for the registrar, especially if I chose to use GoDaddy's backorder service since the domain I want is currently registered with them. Is this assumption accurate? Is GoDaddy notorious for auto-renewing expired domains?

Furthermore, would you recommend I use GoDaddy's drop catch service over that of dropcatch.com? Is there a higher chance of the domain going to auction if I choose GoDaddy? Should I stick with dropcatch.com just for the sake of the domain not entering an auction? I want to prevent other people from gaining an interest in this domain as much as possible. I do not want to enter an auction battle. I've been in plenty and they are not fun.

Thanks for any help!

 

[VadimK]

If I like the name and it seems to me that it's not very attractive for others I'd simply backorder it with your registrar.
Dynadot (where I have most of my names) has this option (Domain Monitoring - Watchlist). Name just rolls there until dropped and cathed, whenever it is. It also says you what stage of ''dropping'' name at (you can also always check status at who.is)

 

[bmugford]

I would probably not bank on the domain being dropped.

When was the domain first registered?

If the domain is registered @GoDaddy it will be listed as an expiring auction before it is allowed to delete. Therefore services like DropCatch are not really that relevant.

You can either try to win it at expired auction, or if there are no bids you can try to scoop it up on closeouts.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Placing a backorder at GoDaddy is about the worst possible option.

All it will do is place an opening bid in the public auction, which will just generate more interest as many people look at domains with bids.

https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-happens-after-i-backorder-a-domain-597

"If you placed the first backorder, we submit an opening bid of $10 on your behalf, and we email you about the auction. If someone outbids you, you can place a higher bid, apply the backorder credit to another domain name or keep the backorder on the same domain to try again the next time it expires."

The best options are bidding last second at the expired auction and hoping no one else sees it or buying it on closeouts, if there are no bids.

Both come with risks as the first option could start a bidding war, and the second option might get sniped by another party.

Brad

 

[irl]

I would probably not bank on the domain being dropped.

Why is that?

When was the domain first registered?

It was first registered in 2007, but has been dropped a whopping 9 times since then.

If the domain is registered @GoDaddy it will be listed as an expiring auction before it is allowed to delete. Therefore services like DropCatch are not really that relevant.

Really? Well then. So, you suppose I am more than likely going to have to go to battle with someone?

You can either try to win it at expired auction, or if there are no bids you can try to scoop it up on closeouts.

Could you explain what closeouts are?


And thank you for your responses. Very helpful. This is all entirely new to me.

 

[irl]

Placing a backorder at GoDaddy is about the worst possible option.

All it will do is place an opening bid in the public auction, which will just generate more interest as many people look at domains with bids.

Okay, so I should steer clear of backordering with GoDaddy and just wait for the expired auction to take place?

 

[bmugford]

It was first registered in 2007, but has been dropped a whopping 9 times since then.

Well, that indicates there have been many parties over the years that have been interested in it.

So, even if it does drop it might have more competition than you expect.

Could you explain what closeouts are?

If the expired domain auction ends without bids, it goes to GoDaddy Closeouts.

There it is first-come first-served at a buy it now price.

The price starts at $50 on day one, then drops each day it has not sold.

Day 1: $50
Day 2: $40
Day 3: $30
Day 4: $11
Day 5: $5

It is that price + renewal fee.

Brad

 

[irl]

There it is first-come first-served at a buy it now price.

Got it. Thank you for explaining. While I don't want it to go to auctions, it looks like that is the route I will have to take considering it is registered at GoDaddy. I'll most likely make a bid on the very last day and hope for the best.

Will the domain enter auctions immediately after it expires? Is there a timeframe? I found an article here: https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-happens-when-my-domain-expires-609 , it looks like GoDaddy puts the domain into auction after 26 days of it expiring. So, by my calculations, if a domain I want expires on May 1st, then the auction for it will begin on May 27th. Is that correct?

 

[bmugford]

Got it. Thank you for explaining. While I don't want it to go to auctions, it looks like that is the route I will have to take considering it is registered at GoDaddy. I'll most likely make a bid on the very last day and hope for the best.

Will the domain enter auctions immediately after it expires? Is there a timeframe? I found an article here: https://www.godaddy.com/help/what-happens-when-my-domain-expires-609 , it looks like GoDaddy puts the domain into auction after 26 days of it expiring. So, by my calculations, if a domain I want expires on May 1st, then the auction for it will begin on May 27th. Is that correct?

Expiration timeline​

Days after domain expiration	What happens and what you can do
+1 day	We'll try to auto-renew it, or you can manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+5 days	We'll try to auto-renew again - but if that doesn't work, your domain gets parked: your site and email stop working. But you can still manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+12 days	We'll try to auto-renew your domain one more time. You can still manually renew for the standard renewal price.
+19 days	Domain goes on hold: it's still in your account but inactive. Manually renew with applicable redemption fee.
+26 days	Domain goes to auction. You can still manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee. If there's an active bid at auction, the domain can't be renewed.
+30 days	If no active bids in the auction, the domain stays in your account but now it's expired. You can manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee. Once there's a bid, the domain is removed from your account and you can't renew it any more.
+36 days	Domain goes to a final closeout auction. Unless there's a pending purchase of the domain, you can still manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee. You can't renew the domain if a purchase is pending.
+41 days	Final closeout auction ends. You can still manually renew for the standard price plus the applicable redemption fee.
+72 days	Domain is removed from your account and you can't renew it any more. You may be able to register the domain after the registry has released it, but GoDaddy can't advise when the registry will release a domain for registration.