question Trying to buy a name for a friend that's expiring...

[gemfinder]

A friend's company name is owned by HugeDomains, with an absurd price tag (even for us domainers), and it expired 8/31/24. The landing page of HD is still live.

What would be the easiest way to get this name at the best price? Keep in mind it's not a name that anyone would look for or likely purchase, as it's a longer name and not a popular company at all (small family biz).

Should I just wait for it to drop, or if I want to increase my chances of definitely getting it, should I use Sav.com or Dropcatch.com? It seems Sav is only $10-15, but Dropcatch is $50+, is there a difference? Do the HugeDomains domains go to a certain place before hitting auctions/drop auctions?

Thanks!

 

[pb]

If you order the name at dropcatch for the standard price ($69), HugeDomains will not participate in the auction (but they might still renew it). Sav is unlikely to catch it, but I guess it won't harm to try. Probably SnapNames is the safest option if you don't want HD to know you're interested (although they already know, since you visited the landing page...).

 

[Grilled]

Do the HugeDomains domains go to a certain place before hitting auctions/drop auctions?

Yes, depending on the registrar the domain is registered at (confirm by checking WHOIS), the domain will likely appear in a registrar expired auction (around 40 days past expiration) before it fully drops and is available to be caught at Sav/SnapNames/NameJet/etc (around 75 days past expiration)...

https://domaininvesting.com/hugedomains-expiry-on-dropcatch/

Once the domain has been expired for about 30 days, I'd recommend checking dropcatch pre-release.

 

[Unclaimed]

Yes, depending on the registrar the domain is registered at (confirm by checking WHOIS), the domain will likely appear in a registrar expired auction (around 40 days past expiration) before it fully drops and is available to be caught at Sav/SnapNames/NameJet/etc (around 75 days past expiration)...

https://domaininvesting.com/hugedomains-expiry-on-dropcatch/

Once the domain has been expired for about 30 days, I'd recommend checking dropcatch pre-release.

Was going to say the same thing. It's definitely a smart move on HugeDomains part to funnel their expiring inventory directly to DropCatch - it keeps the potential profit within their ecosystem rather than letting valuable domains drop into the open market.

While you could try Sav, SnapNames, or other services, the best odds are still with DropCatch, given the close relationship with HugeDomains.

 

[Kyle Tully]

A friend's company name is owned by HugeDomains, with an absurd price tag (even for us domainers), and it expired 8/31/24. The landing page of HD is still live.

What would be the easiest way to get this name at the best price? Keep in mind it's not a name that anyone would look for or likely purchase, as it's a longer name and not a popular company at all (small family biz).

Should I just wait for it to drop, or if I want to increase my chances of definitely getting it, should I use Sav.com or Dropcatch.com? It seems Sav is only $10-15, but Dropcatch is $50+, is there a difference? Do the HugeDomains domains go to a certain place before hitting auctions/drop auctions?

Thanks!

If HD has an "absurd" price on it then it likely has some value over and above your friend's use case and there is a good chance it'll get a backorder or two.

 

[bmugford]

A friend's company name is owned by HugeDomains, with an absurd price tag (even for us domainers), and it expired 8/31/24. The landing page of HD is still live.

What would be the easiest way to get this name at the best price? Keep in mind it's not a name that anyone would look for or likely purchase, as it's a longer name and not a popular company at all (small family biz).

Should I just wait for it to drop, or if I want to increase my chances of definitely getting it, should I use Sav.com or Dropcatch.com? It seems Sav is only $10-15, but Dropcatch is $50+, is there a difference? Do the HugeDomains domains go to a certain place before hitting auctions/drop auctions?

Thanks!

Define "absurd".

Like a couple thousand dollars or more?

Brad

 

[pb]

If HD has an "absurd" price on it then it likely has some value over and above your friend's use case and there is a good chance it'll get a backorder or two.

It's probably $1,995.

 

[alcy]

well if op Make fuss from regfee to 50 bucks dropcatch then absurd could be 500.

 

[AEProgram]

You should check the expiration date here https://lookup.icann.org/

The name should show up first on drop catch pre-release

HD offers payment plans of up to 24 months, if your friend needs it for a business and the name matters, maybe start a pay plan, you can always cancel

 

[gemfinder]

Define "absurd".

Like a couple thousand dollars or more?

Brad

Apologies for the delay! Back in action here, looking forward to being active on here.

The price on the lander was $3,495, which did seem extreme for a long tail name.

 

[gemfinder]

You should check the expiration date here (link)

The name should show up first on drop catch pre-release

HD offers payment plans of up to 24 months, if your friend needs it for a business and the name matters, maybe start a pay plan, you can always cancel

Thank you. I've done a few whois look ups, and it expired on 8-30-24. Do you think it will hit Dropcatch soon? Sorry I had to remove your link, as it wouldn't let me reply with a link in my post, due to a new account.

 

[gemfinder]

well if op Make fuss from regfee to 50 bucks dropcatch then absurd could be 500.

Ha, happy to pay $50 to help him. He's using CompanyName LLC in his current name, brutal lol

 

[gemfinder]

If HD has an "absurd" price on it then it likely has some value over and above your friend's use case and there is a good chance it'll get a backorder or two.

Does visits to the page (5-10 max over a few weeks), have any impact on the price?

 

[bmugford]

Apologies for the delay! Back in action here, looking forward to being active on here.

The price on the lander was $3,495, which did seem extreme for a long tail name.

Ha, happy to pay $50 to help him. He's using CompanyName LLC in his current name, brutal lol

I have a company that uses LLC in the domain. It's not web based, so it was not really a core asset.

Still, I also offered over $10K to buy the exact .COM but the owner didn't want to sell it.

That was for a domain that might have sold for $500 or less at public auction.

$3,495 is a very reasonable end user price for almost any .COM which is an upgrade.

Brad

 

[gemfinder]

Well it looks like it was registered again lol, on the ICANN WHOIS it's showing expiring 8/30/25, ha until next year I guess..weird other WHOIS searches are still showing 8/30/24, but I guess they aren't as updated as ICANN WHOIS.

Appreciate everyone's insight

 

[pb]

Well it looks like it was registered again lol, on the ICANN WHOIS it's showing expiring 8/30/25, ha until next year I guess..weird other WHOIS searches are still showing 8/30/24, but I guess they aren't as updated as ICANN WHOIS.

Appreciate everyone's insight

.com whois is a mess, don't judge by the date alone. What is the status of the domain shown in whois? What is the "Registrar Registration Expiration Date"? If it shows 2024, the domain is still expiring, even if "Registry Expiry Date" shows 2025.

BTW lookup.icann.org uses RDAP so it works and looks a bit different. Best if you scroll all the way down, click on "Raw Registrar RDAP Response" and check for the "expiration" event there. It will be the real date.

 

[gemfinder]

.com whois is a mess, don't judge by the date alone. What is the status of the domain shown in whois? What is the "Registrar Registration Expiration Date"? If it shows 2024, the domain is still expiring, even if "Registry Expiry Date" shows 2025.

BTW lookup.icann.org uses RDAP so it works and looks a bit different. Best if you scroll all the way down, click on "Raw Registrar RDAP Response" and check for the "expiration" event there. It will be the real date.

This is super helpful. I've never gone into this RDAP section.

It shows:
"eventAction": "registrar expiration",
"eventDate": "2024-08-30T13:24:43Z"

Still not seeing it come up on Dropcatch though when searching...

 

[Grilled]

Still not seeing it come up on Dropcatch though when searching...

Not all domains listed on HugeDomains will go to DropCatch pre-release. Some will go to GoDaddy expired auctions, depending on where the domain is registered at.

Check WHOIS.

If the registrar is NameBright, then it will go to DropCatch preRelease.

If the registrar is GoDaddy, then I think it skips DropCatch and goes to GoDaddy....

 

[gemfinder]

Not all domains listed on HugeDomains will go to DropCatch pre-release. Some will go to GoDaddy expired auctions, depending on where the domain is registered at.

Check WHOIS.

If the registrar is NameBright, then it will go to DropCatch preRelease.

If the registrar is GoDaddy, then I think it skips DropCatch and goes to GoDaddy....

Thanks, confirmed NameBright.

 

[Grilled]

Thanks, confirmed NameBright.

Ok, well in that case the biggest indicator as to whether or not it was renewed is the landing page.

If renewed, the domain should redirect to the HugeDomains for sale landing page.

If not renewed, the domain should redirect to the DropCatch preRelease auction.

Example: 676787.com

676787.com redirects to: https://www.dropcatch.com/domain/676787.com



It was previously a HugeDomains landing page, but now that it's in auction, the listing can be found on DropCatch pre-release auctions when sorting by newest added:



DomainTools WHOIS
Updated: 2024-10-08*
Expired: 2024-09-08**



*WHOIS update dates can help reveal the status of a domain. It can indicate the date a domain was renewed, or in the case of 676787.com, the WHOIS update dates likely reflects the WHOIS contacts changing to registrant/email to DropCatch auctions. [See below domain IQ screenshot]

**Expiration dates can be unreliable, as others have mentioned. Registrar's can renew the domain, and essentially receive a full refund if the receive a full refund if they rescind the renewal by I think around 45 days past expiration. Notice [the below screenshot from domainIQ] shows 676787.com expires in 2025... If the domain doesn't get any DropCatch bids, NameBright will likely rescind the renewal and the domain will go through the full deletion process becoming available to catch at Sav/NameJet/DropCatch/etc approx 75 days past expiration. If not caught, it'll be available for manual registration in the same 75 day timeframe.



(or so is my understanding... others encouraged to correct or confirm)