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How does domain name drop services work?
Domain Drop Catching requires users to sign up with a drop catching service, the company will then try to acquire the domain when it becomes available, if the current owner fails to renew it. If you are the only bidder for the domain name then it will be offered to you, however chances are that they will be numerous offers, so the drop catching will offer the name on an auction to the highest bidder.
Dropping catching is a great idea; however reality and probability are against you.
Firstly if the drop catching service manages to capture the name, most domainers are priced out of the market by those deep pockets.
Secondly the domain drop catching services are not free. For example one the biggest domain drop catching companies will charge you $60 if you are the only person who requested the domain name. However if there are many an auction will decide the price.
Thirdly the domain name you are after may be captured by a drop catching provider that you are not registered with. So effectively you need to register with numerous providers and hope that one of them captures the name you are after.
All this makes for a very painful user experience for the budget domain dropcatcher. There is no denying that the dropcatching is a long winded process to acquire an expired domain name. Unfortunately there currently no other no other way to be assured of getting the domain name you want.
However the ultimate point is that the domain name you want must expire first so you can register it!
For a more comprehensive outline of how the dropcatching services work read Mike Davidson article titled How to snatch an expiring domain.
A list of Drop Catching Services
The domain name aftermarket is widely accepted as the place to go if you want to buy and sell domain names.
Domain name dropcatching also know as domain backordering is closely related to the domain name deletion cycle. In essence domain name drop catching is registering previously expired domain just after they become available to hand register.
“Dropcatching is the process of using automated systems to register expired domains within a fraction of a second of their being cancelled by the registry.”
This is the official definition from Nominet is;
Domain name drop catching services as a business model is dominated by major players and with deep pockets and the technology backbone to support.