February 24, 2004

Domain Name Expiration? Curious, George: What time do domain names expire?

I want to camp out a domain name slotted to expire in the near future, and am wondering when I should start hitting reload at my registrar's webpage. Midnight UTC? EST? The day after? The day of? Given that the domain is a common dictionary word, should I just forget it as someone with more resources than me is already going to snatch it up? Further, has anyone had experience with such a service as godaddy.com's backorder service (where they will automatically camp out the domain for you) for a nonrefundable $20 (though you can transfer the $20 to camp other domains for up to a year). Is this service worth the gamble?

posted by rafter 20 years ago
  • Right now, I'm letting a couple domains I registered at godaddy expire (mybigfatgeekweblog.com, muttcuisine.com and presidentsanalyst.com) and I got an e-mail from them saying they'll hold them for me an extra 40 days... When my oneswellfoop.com expired in August 2001, the cybersquatter didn't grab it until September. So, don't expect to get the name right after it expires. I'd guess the backorder service will save you from 'camping out' for what might be weeks, but I haven't tried it myself.
  • What would happen if you paid the $20 and someone had already put a backorder on the domain? Would godaddy turn you down?
  • i've seen some registrars hold on to expired domains for over a year. took me at least that long to get geekgoddess.org, it sat for an eternity past it's expiry date. i've watched several domains that i've wanted to buy just sit there unused, wrote the registrars and received absolutely no response whatsoever. i've often thought that they hang on to them in the hopes that they can sell them for huge sums of money to some business that comes along and needs a specific name. that would be cyber squatting, if a regular person did that, but i guess they could get away with it, no...? (whoa! tracicle, i previewed and then posted this comment but it disappeared. if there ends up being a double post that's why...)
  • tracicle, I didn't see that addressed in godaddy's literature (but I'd need to read all the fine print). Presumably they would have to turn me down were godaddy to have other backorders in place on the domain, but I'm sure other registrars offer the same service so in that case I'd just have to hope that godaddy's code is the most swift. Thanks, all, for your help -- I had no idea that the domain might not actually become available on its expiration date. I had only been holding out for this puppy after seeing that it's expiration was due about a month ago -- if I'm going to have to wait a year to get things rolling, I may as well just work with a lesser domain name.
  • It's all explained here. Click on the 'Learn More' link for a graphical explanation. The bottom line is that it depends. Snapnames won't sell you a backorder if someone else has ordered through them. It's my understanding that GoDaddy has no such 'protection' for overselling.
  • Wow, thanks for that link and info, IgnorantSlut. Look at all those waiting periods -- it's likely I'd have to wait another 10 weeks! I may just have to abandon my aspirations of domain-name glory and opt for something a bit more obscure. Thanks again, all.
  • I've never used GoDaddy's backorder service, but if it helps, I've been pretty happy with GoDaddy as a registrar.
  • rafter, on a slightly related note: While searching for a photo related domain name I was able to snatch flashie.com by using deleteddomains.com. Good luck.
  • and thank you rafter for posting this in the first place, 'cause you reminded me that i had an expired domain that needed renewing...! it's a really important one to me (my late father's) so i would have freaked if i'd lost it...!