Namecheap no longer 'safe'

[lzy]

I'm probaby the only one but prior to registering I'll check the availability at Namecheap.com. I read about doing searches at Godaddy and being snapped up and I was pretty happy that none of that was happening over here at Namecheap.

But just last night, I ran a search via Namecheap and found a name I kinda like was available but didn't get.

And I just checked few minutes ago, *POOF* regged on 05-aug-2007. Blah.

Just a warning to those who care.

 

[Smiler]

l used Whois.ws and 1and1.com for a couple of weeks and all the good domain names that I wanted to register disappeared after 2 days of checking their availability. I had like 10 the names I wanted but it got registered within 2 days when I finally decided to register them. Its very frustrating because I spent hours on finding a good name and It gets registered buy someone in less than a minute. I'm glad I read this tread. So Namecheap is one of the safe place to check names without worrying about getting snapped up by domain tasters? Does anyone else have any suggestions how to prevent your "potential domain" from being reg by another domainer? Thanks.

 

[NameCharger]

Does anyone else have any suggestions how to prevent your "potential domain" from being reg by another domainer? Thanks.

Write it down on a piece of paper and only type it in when you're logged in to your registrar account and ready to purchase it.

 

[DomainMagnate]

heh, don't worry namecheap won't risk their reputation to steal some crappy (no disrespect intended but if it wasn't regged before.) name you wanted to register

 

[Name Trader]

Really? So where is the best place to check domains?

www.iwhois.com

 

[lzy]

heh, don't worry namecheap won't risk their reputation to steal some crappy (no disrespect intended but if it wasn't regged before.) name you wanted to register

It was registered before a couple of times.

Then how come Godaddy does that?

 

[sanne]

Yes, it happened to me in early 2006 at Namecheap too, just before the domain-kiting trend started to become widely publicized. Needless to say I haven't searched there since.

 

[HBK216]

heh, don't worry namecheap won't risk their reputation to steal some crappy (no disrespect intended but if it wasn't regged before.) name you wanted to register

You have no proof to make such an assumption. :td:

 

[floatingworld]

moniker is best for secure domain name searches.

 

[Kate]

You have no proof to make such an assumption. :td:

Hmmm guilty until proven innocent then ?

A few things to consider:
1. such complaints occur from time to time but it's not with one registrar in particular
2. recently expired domain names are tasted over and over, they could be grabbed again at any time
3. some registrars like godaddy don't provide real-time check therefore the results are not reliable... Just because it says domain is available doesn't mean it actually is. Even Moniker has some bugs
From my experience status check at Namecheap/Enom seems to be accurate, Dynadot too.
Anyway the best is to keep an eye on the whois and watch, the domain may still drop.

 

[cef]

I highly doubt that namecheap front-runs domain searches; it's just not their style. That said, I always LOG IN to my enom reseller account and do my checking there.

I have never, ever had a domain search swiped there in over three years of heavy-duty use.

 

[competentdomains]

It can be by random occasion.

Look here all.. this is quite strange...

2 days ago I looked at a very very very long list with hundreds of domainnames I found available early this year. I was new to this then so looking at it now was with another perspective, but some was very good and valuable since I regged them then.

I also had the www.estibot.com up at the same time and I checked many of these old names i had found. Among all I looked at, the one that estibot rated highest was americabulletin.com, over $4000. So I thought... oh is it still available (nearly all names on my list was still available).
Now to the point, It hade been regged just some hours before I looked at the list, that was 4 -6 months old . The second most "worthy" name i could see on my list was seafall.com, at some $2500. It hade been regged ca 1½ day before I now looked.

So weird things happen. However, I know one site that "steals" the user´s ideas sometimes within days, and I have found that countless times.
This "guilty" one is eyeondomain.com .

 

[NameCharger]

If it's been registered before and on a list for the world to see, don't be surprised if someone beats you to the punch.

Conversely, I hand regged one awhile back, decided to let it drop, was picked up by what turned out to be tasters, and several months later made its way back in my portfolio and gets daily traffic.

Maybe taster wants it again.

 

[Dave_Z]

I still find it bizarre some people around here expect an available domain name
to remain that way by the time they get around to it. I guess they're used to
it, which unfortunately is no longer a realistic expectation.

As to whoever asked what's the best place to search, why not use the source
everyone else checks?

Personally, I use iwhois.com and haven't seen any search swiped. Dang.

 

[lzy]

I'm just sharing what I've experienced with you guys, if you feel what I'm saying is utter bs, please feel free to ignore what I've said.

 

[Silhouette]

That said, I always LOG IN to my enom reseller account and do my checking there.

Have you been "name-king'ed" before??

 

[cef]

Have you been "name-king'ed" before??

If by that you mean done a whois and then had it regged right from under me, then yes, once, back in 2003 or so before I had a reseller account or knew anything about domaining.

I honestly can't remember what site I used for the whois check, and I think the domain had something to do with online interactive fiction (something like writeastory.com or somesuch), but after I saw it came up as available I immediately went to register it at register.com (yes, that's what I was using at the time) and suddenly the name was taken. Less than a minute had elapsed.

Has never happened since.

 

[Silhouette]

Has never happened since.

Hi cef,
Glad to hear that you are "safe" from "sabotage" by N**e K i n g

The reason that I am asking this, is:
being heavily dependent on e N * m 's API for my domain availability searches, I have been encountering quite a number of occasions whereby available names tends to be regg'ed by the same "culprit" after a couple of days when I checked back.

The part it makes me feel better is , some are dropped after been "tasted" for a couple of days, I grabbed them back quickly.

at the same time, the part that it makes me feel p i s s e d is: obviously, those that rev. traffic were gone forever...

thank you for lending your ears....

 

[cef]

Ah, I gotcha now. Maybe I've been lucky? More likely, though, now that I think about it, is that I usually search for brandable names, offbeat stuff, quirky combinations, not always stuff that makes for good "domaining" (keyword rich, typos, etc.), so the names I usually check probably aren't in demand for being snatched up.

 

[Silhouette]

Ah, I gotcha now. Maybe I've been lucky? More likely, though, now that I think about it, is that I usually search for brandable names, offbeat stuff, quirky combinations, not always stuff that makes for good "domaining" (keyword rich, typos, etc.), so the names I usually check probably aren't in demand for being snatched up.

i am also checking names like yours.
(Those hungry-desperate domain tasters grab all sorts of names)

I am doing bulk checking.

 

[Aesthetic]

I highly doubt that namecheap front-runs domain searches; it's just not their style. That said, I always LOG IN to my enom reseller account and do my checking there.

That's the best advice, I don't think someone like Namecheap would risk their reputation for a few bucks...