The most cheap and effective way"back-order" a domain?

January 22, 2004 7:33 AM

What's the most effective and cheapest way you know of to "back-order" a domain (one that's expired, but still on hold)?
posted by luser to computers & internet (5 comments total)

snapnames.com.
posted by dobbs at 7:49 AM on January 22, 2004

related question: What's a good way to automatically snag a domain the minute it expires?
posted by mecran01 at 8:19 AM on January 22, 2004

I tried snapnames, I should have mentioned -- I was looking for someplace cheaper. $70, even if you wind up not getting the name because it gets renewed -- that seems a lot, esp since the registration itself is only about $7.

mecran01 -- "the minute it expires" is really only of interest to the owner, in most cases. That's because most registrars have a policy of holding onto the name for 60 days or so after expiration, to give the owner a chance to re-up. Because that "on-hold" period can vary, there is no set period following expiration after which the name is up for grabs. You have to either check here every day, or sign up with someone like snapnames, who purport to be able to snap up the name within milliseconds after it comes off hold, whenever that might be.

Anyone have any better strategies than paying snapnames, or checking deleteddomains every day?
posted by luser at 8:26 AM on January 22, 2004

have you tried godaddy's backorder system?
posted by danOstuporStar at 1:44 PM on January 22, 2004

I can see a basic flaw with all these back-order systems, though - what happens if two (or more) people have back-ordered the same domain? If the domain is a good one, there is likely to be a customer for every back-order service waiting for it to expire. It would only be a matter of luck whose script checks the registration first and gets the domain.

I picked up a domain yesterday for a friend who had been waiting for two years for it to expire - I just kept checking once a week or so and when it disappeared from the DNS, grabbed it. If it has already expired, it may be worth checking every day - what about setting something like http://www.coolwhois.com/?d=whatever.com as your browser's home page?
posted by dg at 2:00 PM on January 22, 2004