SO MAD. Lost my .com

[lolage]

I had the domain <<<Removed by Mod>>> and <<<Removed by Mod>>> - apparently I fudged up and didn't renew the .com and now some company in america has bought it and it's on godaddy for sale for something stupid like $900.

Can't believe this has happened, do people literally buy domains which have just expired hoping people will buy them back for an over inflated price?

Feel so stupid, and now I'm contemplating changing my business name so I can own .co.uk + .com.

 

[lolage]

Just rang GoDaddy, apparently this guy had the domain on backorder and stole it once it expired.

He's suggested I make an offer of around £700. Am I going to be laughed at if I message the new domain owner asking for it back for say £100? There's no way that domain is worth £800, but to me perhaps it is which is what he's counting on... So annoying.

 

[arnydnxluk]

Ouch, you must have ignored various emails (even after the expiration date) before losing the domain. There's not much point in talking about that now but yes this can and does frequently happen, even for domains which aren't particularly valuable to anyone else. Check your WHOIS details are correct for all domains you own, update the contact details held by your domain registrar and turn on auto renew for any important domains. At least you won't be making the same mistake again!

Nope, you won't be laughed at if you put in a bid at £100 but they won't accept it because at this point they know you're interested and will definitely try to bargain for more. I'd take no notice of GoDaddy's suggested offer of £700, it's in their interest to put the price up. Personally I'd go in at the £100 (or less if you wish, they can only say no) and expect to have to pay somewhere between £250 and £500.

Do you conduct business primarily through the .co.uk? If so, I would think carefully before becoming too concerned about the .com. Yes it would be nice to have but not having it may not be the end of the world? Sleep on it, set a budget you're prepared to pay and then begin the negotiation process. If you were using the .com (e.g. it was used for email accounts), then you should be more worried and prepare to shell out more cash.

I hope you can get this resolved, all the best.

 

[lolage]

Ouch, you must have ignored various emails (even after the expiration date) before losing the domain. There's not much point in talking about that now but yes this can and does frequently happen, even for domains which aren't particularly valuable to anyone else. Check your WHOIS details are correct for all domains you own, update the contact details held by your domain registrar and turn on auto renew for any important domains. At least you won't be making the same mistake again!

I know, I really can't believe I've made such a stupid mistake - complete worst timing too just as I have started renting a studio!

Nope, you won't be laughed at if you put in a bid at £100 but they won't accept it because at this point they know you're interested and will definitely try to bargain for more. I'd take no notice of GoDaddy's suggested offer of £700, it's in their interest to put the price up. Personally I'd go in at the £100 (or less if you wish, they can only say no) and expect to have to pay somewhere between £250 and £500.

Hmm, see GoDaddy recommended I go through them and offer £700 - but as you say they're only probably suggesting this as they'll get a cut - and the more it sells for the more they get? I'm going to try to email - but I can't see any email info on the whois? Do you know how I can get the new domain name owners email?

Do you conduct business primarily through the .co.uk? If so, I would think carefully before becoming too concerned about the .com. Yes it would be nice to have but not having it may not be the end of the world? Sleep on it, set a budget you're prepared to pay and then begin the negotiation process. If you were using the .com (e.g. it was used for email accounts), then you should be more worried and prepare to shell out more cash.

I hope you can get this resolved, all the best.

Nope, the .com just redirected to the .co.uk but I've always been anal with this sort of thing and never bought a domain unless I can buy both .co.uk+.com.


Thanks for your reply dude, it's appreciated! Glad I'm not just going ahead with GoDaddy's advice.

 

[fisicx]

Or just use the .co.uk. You really don't need the .com. It might be an ice to have but its not necessary. I've never bothered and it's not caused any issues. People googling your business name will find the .co.uk

Paying £700 for a domain name you don't need is daft.

 

[benb]

Just rang GoDaddy, apparently this guy had the domain on backorder and stole it once it expired.

Just to confirm, he didn't steal it. You forgot to renew it and he registered it (using godaddy backorder) once it had become available again.

 

[Clinton]

Er, if nobody else is likely to buy the domain from the squatter, what's stopping you from putting the domain on backorder and getting on with your life?

 

[Michelle Harris]

Yeah I'd not worry about the .com and keep going with the .co.uk - and put it on back order as Clinton suggests, you'll get it back eventually.

They must earn a lot of money with that game. sigh.

 

[Digital Wales]

I've been in the domain business for over 10 years and have seen this happen many times.

Why not register <<<Removed by Mod>>>.media ?

Thousands of media companies all over the globe are using .media already, have a look, type in google search: site:.media

Good luck.

 

[fisicx]

One good reason not to use the new tlds is because Google still prefers the traditional set. Don't know why but .co.uk and .com are easier to rank than all the others.

In any case, .photo might be a better option considering the subject matter.

 

[Digital Wales]

One good reason not to use the new tlds is because Google still prefers the traditional set.

I think you have been misled, google was asked this question, their reply was, they do not prefer any particular gtld, new gtld or cctld, its ALL about unique content and how much relevant content is on your site.

Google quote:

Q: How will new gTLDs affect search? Is Google changing the search algorithm to favor these TLDs? How important are they really in search?
A: Overall, our systems treat new gTLDs like other gTLDs (like .com & .org). Keywords in a TLD do not give any advantage or disadvantage in search.


See the post here: webmasters.googleblog (dot) com/2015/07/googles-handling-of-new-top-level.html

I can't link yet, so replace (dot) with .

Hope that helps.

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

What Google says and what actually happens are often two completely different things.

 

[fisicx]

Read between the lines. Google said keywords in a tld have no adavantage. That's not the same as saying the new tlds are equal to the standard tlds.

 

[Bradley Holmes]

Auctioning off domains like this is a big business, sometimes people pay really ridiculous amounts of money for something that cost £10.
I vote for just forgetting about the .com too, you could try and backorder it but by the time it comes available next year all your customers will know you via the .co.uk domain anyway.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

A similar thing happened with a customer of ours but with a domain he registered elsewhere. For whatever reason he ignored his Registrar/Reseller's renewal emails and lost the domain as a result. A company then had it on back-order and wanted £500 for it. When he approached offering £500 they came back wanting more. Basically, once they knew someone wanted it they hiked the price even more. He left it a year but kept an eye on it and saw that it was in pending delete. He tried to register it on the day of release but another company beat him to it and put it up for sale at £2,000 !

As a Registrar, alongside the required expiry notice email from the Registry, we also send our own expiry notice email. Then, when a domain reaches the expiry if they haven't renewed we send a follow-up advising it is due to be suspended/deleted. In addition, we send a manual courtesy email in case the system sent one gets junked for some reason.

 

[Paul Norman]

Auto-renew is your friend.

 

[SamLH]

People buy expired domains for the value, probably in this case the SEO properties. What are the backlinks like, how many years did you have it registered, etc. If there's nothing valueable like that and its just the redirect from the co.uk which is giving it an SEO boost it will probably decrease in price.

You got any trademarks, copyrights legal claims to the name?

 

[TODonnell]

Lolage! You just linked from this forum to the domain you're trying to get back! The new owners can see our discussion about what price to offer if they check referrals!

 

[MikeJ]

Auto-renew is your friend.

^ This. I've about a dozen domain names, all on auto renew. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't do this for a business domain.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Can't believe this has happened, do people literally buy domains which have just expired hoping people will buy them back for an over inflated price?

Hi lolage, this is exactly what a lot of companies do - it's called domain drop catching:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_drop_catching

Unfortunately this is the case:

By law there are no perpetual rights to domain names after payment of registration fees lapses, aside from trademark rights granted by common law or statute.

So the only way to get it back without paying the exorbitant price is to wait for it hopefully lapse (and perhaps use a drop catching service yourself - although this won't guarantee you get the domain), or filing for trademark infringement.

Unfortunately once these companies have registered a domain, they typically hold on it to for a long time and will only accept a high price.

If your business targets the UK then it's not really an issue, although obviously not ideal.
The .com will likely never have a site on it, at least for quite some time.

So you can keep the expiry date in your diary and check to see if it isn't renewed then, and try not to worry about it.