[Big Mac]

I was trying to acquire a domain name that Bulk Register had let sit in Redemption Period for two months. It finally was set to be released on yesterday, the 26th. I had set up my backorder request through Godaddy for a number of weeks, and more recently I had found
SnapNames, which a number of high profile registrars allegedly have exclusive contracts with (including Bulk Register). SnapNames supposedly obtains expired names from participating registrars and either releases them to the individuals who have backordered or puts them up in an auction in the event that there are multiple backorders. So, with Godaddy and SnapNames I thought I was pretty well covered. Of Bulk Register SnapNames claims on its home page:

"SnapNames customers get priority selection of the most valuable domain names at Bulk Register. We can get them for you before they are available anywhere else."

That simply is not the case, however. I got notification around 12 noon on the 26th that SnapNames failed to acquire the domain name. It claimed it had been released to the registry but SnapNames was unable to procure it. The thing is, with these exclusive registrar agreements that SnapNames claims to have, the domains are supposed to be released to SnapNames before being released to the registry. Godaddy later sent me notification that their attempt had also failed. So who got the domain? A Canadian registrar named domains2go.ca. Yup, the Canadians ate my lunch! I don't know who to blame more, SnapNames or BulkRegister, but it seems that BulkRegister did not abide by the commitment it made to SnapNames. This was my first attempt to backorder an expiring domain, so I'm still learning the ropes. This domain was for a client of mine, but it was not a high priority, so it is not too disappointing. Nonetheless, it's bothersome because I thought at the very least that it would be released to SnapNames. On the bright side, at least it shows that people do not have to be too fearful that SnapNames will suddenly have a monopoly on expiring domains, and now I know to bet on that Canadian company in the future.

[spacefreak]

4 months ago, I used SnapNames for a domain that was expiring that week. About a month or two later, I received an email from SnapNames letting me know it was now registered in my name. So my experience was good.

One thing you have to remember is that there is the possibility that someone else used a SnapNames-type serive and put in their request before you did. Hence, they would get the domain because they put in for it first.

[Big Mac]

Good point spacefreak, that's probably what happened. But the way they promote the service, it makes it seem as if participating registrars will turn over the names to SnapNames first, before they go back to the registry pool, which does not seem to have happened in this case. If a particular registrar takes out agreements with third party services like SnapNames, that fact should be made clearer by SnapNames. Otherwise, I believe it's a case of false advertising.