advice Retaining or getting back my expired domain

[Firas]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice as someone who doesn't know much about the domains business/processes.

I had a domain registered with "Mad Dog Domains" which expired on November 20. Mad Dog seems to be a GoDaddy reseller. Was wondering what policies are practices by GoDaddy in terms of how long I have to renew the domain, and whether that would apply to resellers?

I got an email on January 1 saying the domain was "cancelled". A couple days after that it seems like it went from a generic parked domain page to a WordPress blog posting generic spam articles. I guess that may mean it's gone from the registrar holding period for sure?

WHOIS shows:

WHOIS Server:
Updated Date: 2016-01-01T12:36:12Z
Creation Date: 2003-11-20T04:47:08Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2016-11-20T04:47:08Z
Sponsoring Registrar: Wild West Domains, LLC
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 440

I've reached out to Mad Dog customer support to see what the status is. Meanwhile if it turns out the domain is no longer renewable by me, what would I do to see if the current owner will sell it back? It's a somewhat random domain name, not an english word or anything like that.

 

[alinask]

Try to contact the new owner and see if he is interested to sell you back. You can also check a more detailed advice from Eliot Silver, a well known domainer:

http://www.domaininvesting.com/how-to-buy-back-a-domain-name/

 

[Firas]

Yeah I guess if there's a spam blog on there it's definitely out of the registrar's processes and in new hands...

The only info I have on the current owner is the whois email address of <domain.tld>@domainsbyproxy.com . Should I try that? The phone number is the generic domains by proxy phone number.

The other alternative is that there are apparently "agent" type services (like domainagent.com) that get in touch with the owner and handle the negotiation. Would that be better to go through?

 

[alinask]

The only info I have on the current owner is the whois email address of <domain.tld>@domainsbyproxy.com . Should I try that? The phone number is the generic domains by proxy phone number.

Yes, i highly recommend you to contact the owner at that address.

Also, i advice you to search on sedo.com, afternic.com and see if the domain got listed over these marketplaces (you can find the user and get to him thought this methods if he is not responding to the email); if is listed, also try to make an offer.

Try anything you can, you don't have that much to lose