How do you purchase a domain name which is already registered but not being used?

October 5, 2006 11:43 AM

How do you purchase a domain name which is already registered but not being used?

My client would like to purchase an additional domain which is already registered. The site is currently a Network Solutions placeholder page. I have looked up the Whois and found the contact information for the owner, which appears to be forwarded through NS.

Is the best way to just contact the owner and make an offer? How to you handle the transfer?

posted by bradn to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Yes, the best way is to just contact the owner. The transfer process may vary greatly depending on the registrar.
posted by ijoshua at 11:47 AM on October 5, 2006

It's simple. Go to networksolutions.com put in the name you'd like. Then click on, "See options to get unavailable domain names" Make an offer. It doesn't matter who their registrar is. It costs 19$ to make an offer. gl

as far as changing the name over n such. networksolutions takes care of everything. You will pay networksolutions, they will send a check to the previous owner.
posted by killyb at 12:08 PM on October 5, 2006

Oh, god, never EVER deal with Network Solutions; they're the thing that domain registration nightmares are made of. I second ljoshua -- just contact the owner directly. And one recommendation I have is to make sure your offer sounds as serious as it is; as the owner of a few short, popular-word domain names, I get the random offer here and there and not a single one of them ever comes off as serious in the initial email.
posted by delfuego at 12:27 PM on October 5, 2006

Keep in mind that lack of a webpage does not mean the domain is unused. HTTP isn't the only protocol on the internet. By all means make your offer; just don't base it on a potentially bad assumption about its value to the current owner.

As for the how-to: contact the owner. Ask if they are interested in selling the domain. Go from there. If both parties can agree on an amount, go through a domain escrow service like escrow.com to make sure the transfer goes smoothly.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 12:28 PM on October 5, 2006

Have a look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Domain-Name_Dispute-Resolution_Policy or
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm or
here
http://www.nominet.org.uk/disputes/ for .uk domain names
posted by Dub at 12:41 PM on October 5, 2006

Dub, I'm curious -- what would the disupte resolution policy help with here? The OP didn't say that this was a case where they felt they were entitled to a domain name on which someone else was squatting, just that they want a domain name that's already in use. It's doubtful that the dispute resolution policy can be of any assistance with that, just as I couldn't use it to grab midisticks.com out from under you.
posted by delfuego at 1:06 PM on October 5, 2006

1) Contact the "owner" directly and see if they are interested in parting with the domain name in question.

2) If they are then make them an offer.

3) If they accept the offer then either...

4a) Pay him directly or 4b) Use an escrow service

5) Transfer domain name from his registrar to your registrar. Or do an intra-registrar transfer if you are both using the same registrar.

If it's a high-value domain name then 4b is probably the best option for payment. If it's a low-value domain name and he seems reputable then you could probably just pay him directly.
posted by dgeiser13 at 1:33 PM on October 5, 2006

Pretty much been nailed, but I want to reiterate what delfuego and nakedcodemonkey said above.

This is what I do for a living, all sides of it.

Just because there's no website doesn't mean it's not being used. My company has hundreds of domain names in our portfolio of corporate names. It's my job to know what they are for and when they expire and what's still available to be used for X, Y or Z. That speaks nothing of the portfolio that includes our customers domains - thats in the hundreds of thousands - lots of which are just used for email addresses.

Please make your offer genuine sounding. I get emails Every. Damn. Day. from people who think that just because there's nothing on Xwebaddress.com they can offer $20 for it. If someone is hanging on to a name, there's probably a reason and it's usually emotional or financial. Include a phone number in your inquiry. If it's a spendy name you should use an escrow service.

I would also try to contact them directly before using the Network Solutions method.
posted by FlamingBore at 2:42 PM on October 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

Seconding Flaming Bore's note. I have a domain I wouldn't mind selling but the unsolicited offers I get are usually laughable. A shot in the dark is fine but if it's something you genuinely want, research the market a bit and send along an "in the ballpark" offer.
posted by maxwelton at 4:02 PM on October 5, 2006

[delfuego] I just figured reading around the subject wouldn't do any harm, and that I would start with those places. Most of the preceding posts covered what was neccessary.
posted by Dub at 6:28 PM on October 5, 2006

Thanks to all for the help
posted by bradn at 7:54 AM on October 6, 2006