Question about SnapNames & NameJet

[mrjohn]

I understand that using the firms like Snapnames and Namejet is generally considered the best way to drop catch expired domains from the registrars that go through them.

But, I assume they still have to show up at the moment a name is dropped and compete with everyone else for that dropped domain, right? Placing a bid with them only guarantees they will make their best effort, correct?

In theory (if not so much in practice), someone else could beat them to it, right?

 

[the_poet]

In theory (if not so much in practice), someone else could beat them to it, right?

Correct. That's why it's recommended to place a bid at all the major dropcatching companies if you really are after a particular domain.

 

[mrjohn]

Thanks.

I was looking at all the data I've accumulated, and it was surprising to me that there appear to be no clear cut winners on a drop day for any given set of domains. Practically every domain I was studying went off somewhere different.

Like looking at yesterday, eatfresh.com went to deutchdomains.de, actiontv.com went to cottonwater.com and so on. Then there seems to be a second wave of buyers who completely avoid the feeding frenzy and pick the remaining domains with value later in the day. Mostly those folks are picking over PR3 domains it looks like. I'm assuming that a lot of those early pick ups are registrars that are working with NameJet and SnapNames.

What confuses me now is that a lot of those domains just seem to be sitting there.

Are these domains awaiting payment, or is there something I'm missing?

One of my guesses is that some of the bigger domaining operations are setting up as registrars to get an inside edge. Does anyone know if that's the case?

I gotta say this: since I decided to get serious about domaining, it's been an eye-opener. No easy solution (such as bidding with SnapNames) is the sure-fire solution.

 

[Ms Domainer]

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A lot of those domains went into private three-day auctions among the people who backordered them.

If the domain had just one backorder, it goes to that person for $59 - $129.

Some with no backorders go into public auction.

Others are simply deleted and picked up via hand regs.

Some are warehoused by the registrars and their partners.

*

 

[mrjohn]

Good info.

The whole auction process is what threw me off when I started looking hard at domaining. I thought the auction was resolved before the domain expired, then the company bid on it on behalf of the winner and then the winner assumed control.

I think that is how it works in many cases, right? It's just that you have all these other cases where the domain is acquired and then auction . . . right?

I wish the life cycle of a domain were a bit more uniform. Of course, no one stands to profit from a more uniform cycle (fear and doubt generate bids, I suspect). Sigh.