Please Help the Noob Catch a Drop!

[Noobio]

I am not a domainer and don’t plan to become one, but there is one domain (a .com) that I’m really interested in getting my hands on for a business venture I’d like to launch. The more googling I do on the topic, the more confused I become about the best way to go about this. I’m hoping you guys might be willing to give me a little direction.

The domain is registered to some outfit that appears to be sitting on hundreds of domains, none of which are being actively used, as far as I can tell. I tried to contact them about a direct purchase, but all of the WhoIs information led to dead ends.

The domain registration expired in late April. Since then, the WhoIs information has changed to the following:

“Status: RENEWAL HOLD. This Domain Name has expired. In this status the domain name is inactive. This domain name will be activated once it is renewed. If this domain name is not renewed by May 6, 2010, it will be permanently deleted.”

Ok, so I get that this is in the grace period right now, and if the outfit that registered it wants to renew, they can until May 6. But what really happens on May 6? I assume that it does not “drop” that day, and that it goes into some new grace period phase? Everything I read suggests that it is 30 to 75 days from initial expiration to actual drop, so this would be pretty fast right? So how do I figure out when it is going to drop?

I’d like to confirm with you guys that my best bet at this point is to register with Pool, SnapNames, and NameJet to try to get a hold of this domain when it drops. Are those three sufficient, or do I need to register with others as well? Do I need to place a GoDaddy order as well? I have not been able to determine if the registrar has relationship with any particular domain catching company.

Also, should I go ahead and register with all three (or four) of those right away? I remember reading somewhere that with NameJet at least, I’d want to wait until the last possible moment to sign up so as not to generate competitive interest in the name. Is that sound advice? If so, how on earth do I determine when “the last possible moment” is? Is this a concern with all of these companies?

I do not have enough experience to gauge the value of this domain. It seems a solid enough two word combination – the words don’t naturally go together, and it maybe a little long for most people’s taste, but it suits my business idea well. I very much hope that it is not considered valuable and that it generates little interest. I’ve got a price limit in mind, and I’ll have the nerve to stick to it if I end up in an auction process. But if I can sneak under the radar and pick this up without too much of a fight, I’d be delighted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Erdy]

It is a small registrar and is not one of the partner registrars of any dropcatcher that I know. It is more likely that you will have to wait until pending delete, that is if the registrar doesn't decide to keep the domain for themselves.

Whether pending delete or redemption period, it doesn't matter, in both cases you will see a last backorder date on snapnames.com or namejet.com when you search for the domain. In other words all pending delete domains and all partner registrar domains have a last backorder date next to them both on snapnames and namejet.

Therefore if you don't see a date, don't backorder the domain. The backordering system is designed to allow you to backorder any domain. For instance you can backorder yahoo.com or google.com on snapnames. Therefore if you don't see a date next to the domain, don't backorder.

I had a closer look to the nameservers. This was a good tip by the way. These two snapnames partner registrars have their redemption period expiring domains set to the nameserver DNS.PARKPAGE.FOUNDATIONAPI.COM:

DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD
FBS INC.

The registrar you mentioned looks like an independent registrar. Maybe they used to be a directi reseller. What I can tell is, if the domain will be auctioned during redemption period, it is more likely that it will be on snapnames. And if that happens you should see a date on snapnames on 7 or 8 June according my calculation.

It is safe not to do anything unless you see a date on snapnames or namejet for that particular domain.

 

[Kate]

Use this to find out the true registrar of the domain:
VeriSign WHOIS - Domain Name Lookup from VeriSign, Inc.

 

[Noobio]

Thank you!

Thanks so much Erdinc for clearly and directly addressing my questions and concerns -- I'm going to rest a bit easier now and will watch carefully for my opportunity to grab this domain. I just hope nobody else is interested in it!

Thanks also to Ms Domainer, and everyone else in the thread that took the time to try and help.

I'll check back in and let you know how it went.

Noobio!

 

[Noobio]

One More Question...

Ok, one more question before I take the plunge, about when to place my bids:

The domain I am after has shown up as a pending delete on the lists of Namejet, Pool, and Snapnames.

On Namejet, it says "Order By" 6/11/2010 9:00 am (PST). That is perfectly clear, and I know to wait until the last possible moment to try to avoid creating interest in the domain because they show domains by bidder. Fine and well.

On Pool, it says "Deletion Date" is 2010-6-11. Well, that is a bit ambiguous, as I does not tell me a specific deadline to order by. This is not a big deal -- I'll order a day early just to be safe and because there is no risk or cost for doing so (that is, they do not display your bid to generate interest among others). Fine and well.

On SnapNames, it says "Order By" 11-Jun-2010 AND IT LISTS THE NUMBER OF BIDDERS. This is not fine and well. Because it lists the number of bidders, I assume I want to treat this the same way as NameJet and order at the last minute to avoid creating competition for the domain. Is that right? I thought I read that NameJet was the only one that put you through that hassle. And if I want to wait until the last minute on SnapNames too, what exactly is the last minute? Last minute for "order by June 11" could mean midnight on the 10th, midnight on the 11th, or any time in between, right?

Anyone know what I should do for SnapNames?

Thanks again!

Noobio!

 

[Erdy]

Hi Noobio,

Pasific Time: PT
PST: Pacific Standard Time  (USA & Canada). What's the time now?

Pending deletes:
1. namejet : 9am PT
2. snapnames: 10 am PT
3. pool.com 10.30 am PT

At snapnames.com, in search results when you click on the domain the domain details page will open and there you can see the time.

Yesterday I contacted pool.com about the same issue. I was going to backorder a domain there as well. This is their answer:
Hello;

Thank you for contacting Pool.com, we are pleased to assist you with your inquiry.

For COM/NET backorders you should have your backorder submitted by 1:30 PM ET if the domain drops today. The COM/NET drop begins starting at 2 PM ET and your backorder should be in our system at least a half hour before the drop process begins to ensure we have it in time.
For anything else I would recommend you backorder the domain at least 24 hours in advance.
Thank you for using Pool.com

Regards,
Jamie H.
Pool.com Customer Service

13:30 Eastern Time is 10:30 am Pacific Time. So there you have it.

Btw, did you know that you can change your namepros username for a certain fee. I found this very usefull in the past. A year from now if you think you want to change your username, you can go here:
http://www.namepros.com/npshop.php

 

[Noobio]

Thanks yet again Erdinc!

So now that I know what "last minute" means at each of the services, am I correct that I need to play the last minute game at SnapNames, just like we do at NameJet? Or is the "bidders" field that they show somehow different?

And by the way -- you don't like my username

 

[Erdy]

The bidders field is the same on both sites. You don't need to wait until the last minute, imo, a few hours earlier would be fine. Also if there are already bids I wouldn't wait at all.

Number of bidders information was available only on snapnames until about 5 months ago. Then namejet added that info as well.

You username is fine. It is a brandable name. I just noticed that noobio.com was registered on 11-feb-2010.

Some forums don't let to change your username. So I was grateful when I could do this here.

 

[Ms Domainer]

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Good luck, Noobio.

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[Noobio]

Success!

Success! :tu:

Thanks again all!

So here is what happened (with a cautionary tale for any other noobs using this thread for guidance):

I had registered ahead of time on all three services (Pool, SnapNames, and NameJet), and I blocked out time on the day the domain was scheduled to drop so that I could place my backorders and monitor things.

So at around 8:00 am on drop day, I placed the backorder with Pool. No timing issues there since they do not display your orders to others in a way that would generate competition. Then I settled in to wait until the last moment to place orders at both NameJet and SnapNames (9 am and 10 am, respectively), because both of those seem to display bidding info in a way that might cause others to get interested in the domain (especially NameJet!).

So I've got the NameJet window up and I am poised to hit "Backorder Now" for my domain right before the 9 am deadline. I even have another window open showing the official clock from the gov't, with seconds, ticking away. I am thinking what a cool customer I am, deciding I will hit the button at 8:59:40 -- less than 30 seconds before the deadline, as recommended on some sites. So with 20 seconds left, I click, ... and... and.... get an error message that I cannot backorder without a credit card on file.

You see, you can create a NameJet account without a credit card, but you cannot actually place the backorder without it. I figured that it would prompt for the credit card info after, and I never thought about it again.

Until I got that error message. Then I frantically went to the right screen, entered my credit card and other information, and jumped back to try the backorder, praying that NameJet's clock was a little slow, or that they had a couple of minutes of grace period built in. No luck. It took me about 2.5 minutes to get the information entered and back to the "backorder now" screen for my domain. Too late. It was locked. Heartbroken, crestfallen, I grumbled at myself for being so stupid.

Pool and SnapNames require you to enter your credit card information just to open an account, so no such problem with either of them.

So now I had missed my chance with one of the big three companies, and feared the worst. I got my backorder placed with SnapNames just fine close to the 10 am deadline.

Fortunately for me, it looks like nobody else was interested in this particular domain, and I was spared paying too high a price for my error. A few hours later I learned that SnapNames had caught the drop on my behalf, and I was delighted to learn that nobody else had bid on it -- I got it for the $59 fee and no auction and no further hassles. A day or two after that I was all set up as the new registrant. I'll wait the required 60 days and will transfer it to my favorite registrar where I generally do my business.

So, all's well that ends well. But I did have a bit of a panic there for a moment. Perhaps all of my worry was misplaced. Maybe it is a dog of a name that I could have assumed nobody would want. Maybe I could have even taken a chance and tried to hand reg it myself later in the day. But in hindsight, I'd say I played it right. $59 for a domain that is perfect for my business venture is a bargain.

Thanks again to all the helpful folks here at NamePros!

Noobio!

 

[Erdy]

Glad you acquired the domain.

 

[namenut]

Great job Noobio,

And great job NPs members. This is what NPs is all about.
Best wishes on the venture. Don't be a stranger and do stop
in to let us know both the name and how things went....


NN

 

[Ms Domainer]

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Fantastic!

And thanks for letting us know the outcome!




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