[tether]

not sure if i'm posting in the right section here, but..
i didnt get my finger out to renew my domain, and its now in the redemption period. hosting company said it would cost me 150euro to renew at this stage, which is a lot on my wage. they said if i wait til the redemption period is up, it'd cost the ordinary 8.50, but anybody can buy it at that stage - obviously. my question is: are there people who trawl the web looking for domain names that have expired in order to snap them up and sell them back to the people who really want them? if so, would they have access to a database of domains in redemption periods so they could find any and all expiring domains immediately? or do they simply keep an eye out and do it in a less automated way? my domain is not an obvious name type thing that people might spot as a valuable url, so i'm thinking if there's no extensive trawling, then i might get it back fairly easily. my other question is, how do i know exactly when the redemption period will end and it'll become available again? if for example the hosting company sent me an email a while back saying "your domain is due to expire on Thursday 23th of February 2006 11:33:24 AM" Then would it be exactly 30 days from then that the redemption period would end and it'd be available? (and would that time given be my/the hosting company's local time, or would it be a time in california or wherever the Central End of Redemption Period Offices are?)
(that's not the exact time/date the email said)
thanks.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by tether

not sure if i'm posting in the right section here, but..
i didnt get my finger out to renew my domain, and its now in the redemption period. hosting company said it would cost me 150euro to renew at this stage, which is a lot on my wage. they said if i wait til the redemption period is up, it'd cost the ordinary 8.50, but anybody can buy it at that stage - obviously. my question is: are there people who trawl the web looking for domain names that have expired in order to snap them up and sell them back to the people who really want them? if so, would they have access to a database of domains in redemption periods so they could find any and all expiring domains immediately? or do they simply keep an eye out and do it in a less automated way? my domain is not an obvious name type thing that people might spot as a valuable url, so i'm thinking if there's no extensive trawling, then i might get it back fairly easily. my other question is, how do i know exactly when the redemption period will end and it'll become available again? if for example the hosting company sent me an email a while back saying "your domain is due to expire on Thursday 23th of February 2006 11:33:24 AM" Then would it be exactly 30 days from then that the redemption period would end and it'd be available? (and would that time given be my/the hosting company's local time, or would it be a time in california or wherever the Central End of Redemption Period Offices are?)
(that's not the exact time/date the email said)
thanks.

That 150 euro thing is outrageous. They shouldn't be allowed to charge you a fine that big for being a bit late with your registration fee.

That said, yes, there are people who keep an eye out for expired domains just so they can snap them up and sell them to people who really want them at much higher cost. But they do them in the less-automated way you suggested. You can ask your hosting company when the "redemption" period ends, and then try to reregister IMMEDIATELY once the period expires.

[Big Mac]

Person Man explains it well. My opinion is that if the domain is really valuable to you, it's best to pay the fee. I tried to get back a friend's domain that had recently expired and was picked up by an after market domain reseller. He wanted something like $700 for it. I have also attempted to pick up a domain after expiration using Godaddy's domain alert and preregistration service, but it was taken by someone else before Godaddy could get to it. And this was not a popular name. If I try to get an expiring domain in the future, I'll probably go with snapnames.com (even though I despise Network Solutions), since they seem to have partnered with a lot of registrars. If you don't want to ensure you'll retain ownership by paying the host now, you may want to call them and ask which registrar, if any, gets first crack at their expiring domains.

[tether]

thanks for that.
couple of q's:
they told me that they have to pay more - and that's why they have a higher fee. would anybody know how much more they would have to pay? - so i can say it to them on the phone.
also, Big Mac, you said i should ask them what registrar if any gets first crack - once i know that, what should i do?, buy through that registrar? through a snap-up-domains-company who is partnered with the registrar? (sorry, i'm not too au fait on the workings of the system)

[tether]

just bringing her to the top..

[volcano]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Person Man explains it well. My opinion is that if the domain is really valuable to you, it's best to pay the fee.

Agreed. There are two domain names of mine that expired well over 2 years ago - both with obscure and unusual names - and they were snatched up by those villains that buy recently-expired domains in an attempt to re-sell them for top dollar. Luckily, I still have no need for either domain - so as far as I'm concerned, they can sit there as long as they like.

[itai195]

Pay the fee! My wife's domain for her business lapsed, she didn't pay the fee, had to backorder it, and then some jerk snapped it up before she could. She had to change all her business cards and brochures.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by tether

Big Mac, you said i should ask them what registrar if any gets first crack - once i know that, what should i do?, buy through that registrar? through a snap-up-domains-company who is partnered with the registrar? (sorry, i'm not too au fait on the workings of the system)

If they tell you that a particular registrar (which may be the hosting company itself) gets first right to acquire the hosting company's expiring domains on behalf of those who backorder, you should backorder with that registrar. It could be a registrar that is dedicated to registering expired domains, like snapnames, or it may just be some random company. But again, allowing the domain to expire means there's a strong probability that someone else will get it; you have to make the determination of whether you're prepared to take that risk.

[tether]

thanks for that. i would just pay, but i'm on a really really crap wage at the mo and 150 is a lot to me - so want to see what my chances would be otherways:
i have more questions if you or anyone has time:
once i've backordered with the apt registrar, am i guaranteed to get the domain? or is there also bidding?
i read at godaddy that in backordering I place a bid, and then anyone else interested can also place a bid, then I can bid again if I want – is there a way i can get it without the bidding aspect or is there always a bidding aspect. and if so would I have to be sat at the computer at that time ready to bid?
And, say if someone else has already registered to try and snap the name up, will I become aware of that once I register to do it, or (i'm guessing its this one), i won't find out til the redemption has expired, and bidding/buying has begun?

[Big Mac]

Whether or not there's a bidding process depends on which registrar has the right to sell the domain once it expires. Bidding isn't the usual process, however. And tether, just so that it's absolutely clear, there are no guarantees whatsoever that you'll get the domain back once it expires, no matter which registrar you go with. I thought I had a really good chance of getting that expiring domain that I back ordered through godaddy, since I did it a while before the expiration and it was an uncommon name. But someone still beat godaddy to it.

[tether]

ok, thanks. i'll start counting my pennies..