Ordering Expired Domain Names

A friend wanted to backorder a domain name that she used to have with another.com

Basically Another.com have gone bust, and now she cannot use her email.

Why can't I order a domain that is expiring or has expired?

If you look at the domain in who is (I use http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp ) it says it expired on 16th November 2006, this is 2 months ago at time of writing the article. 

Under Registrtation status it says *** This registration has been SUSPENDED. ***

What? How long for? Who by? etc none if this is available. 

In fact "Suspended" is a particular nightmare, as there is no help on this at all - probably the same as Registrar Hold ?!?

This article is handy: http://domainsmagazine.com/Domains_2/Domain_504.shtml it also points to here:

http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2832.txt?number=2832 Search for "6.1 Domain Status Code Description"

It basically explains that if the domain has status "pending delete", it will be available for registering in 5 days...

This is what you need to look for.

What can I do to order an expiring domain?

Basically you have to watch out for the domain to be changed to "Pending delete" then, wait 5 days and when it disappears from the whois, get in and order it.

Problems:

The domain might become available when you ar enot checking and there are lots of companies that run automatic scripts. some companies buy domain names that have existing traffic so they can milk the traffic with adverts.

Where do I find out whether or not it is expiring?

Go to the horse's mouth: for uk domains try: http://www.nominet.org.uk/

For .com .net domains try the registrar it self or uset http://www.netsol.com 's who is service.

Services to do this automatically

http://www.pool.com has a free service that emails you when a domain moves into Pending Delete, they can order the domain for you but will charge $60. If more than one person wants the domain then they hold an auction. They have been doing this for a while so probably your best bet.

http://www.snapnames.com is another one, they are tied up with http://.www.Netsol.com and so are usually successful. You have to pay $49 for the domain on registration. There is an auction element to this one as well.

http://www.enom.com and http://www.clubdrop.com are others  I know nothing about.

A uk company: http://www.mtgsy.net also do it for £25, but if they do not get the domain you have to spend £25 on there other services, which sounds bad to me, so I don't recommend them.

Where do I order the domain names?

My favourite sites are http://www.hostway.com and http://www.ukreg.com for uk domains, or adam can do it for you.