Helpful Information

Category: Web Hosting

Domain Sniping

There is a domain name out there that I have been keeping an eye on for some time now. It is about to expire at the end of this month. What is the best way for me to go about acquiring this domain?

Unless the domain is not being used anymore, or the site appears to be dead (hasn't changed in 6 months or more), I wouldn't expect to "snipe" the domain. If you believe that the domain will be released to the public, you can try a registrar such as Dotster that offers domain watching services which will attempt to register the domain as soon as it is available. Do note that although the domain has expired that the registrars will generally put the domain on Registrar-Hold or Redemption Period status in order to give the original owner time to pay for their domain name without potentially losing it.

How long is that "Redemption period" usually? I guess it depends on the registrar, but is it a matter of days, weeks, months...?

Just curious...

From what I understand, it is dependant on the registrar, although the ones I have seen appear to have this as a 30 day period. Not all registrars will use the Redemption Period label, but will instead use Registrar-Hold, so determining the actual status of the domain can be difficult. To determine a particular registrars policies for domains, check their policies on their website, or give them a call and ask.