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When Can I buy a domain?

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Clint911

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Mar 15, 2022
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I am wanting to change my business name however the domain name is currently taken...well kinda.

The domain isn't being used as a business as it shows a godaddy domain for sale page. It was registered 20 years ago but expired on the 1st October and hasn't been renewed.

If they don't renew it how long will it be before its on the market for me to purchase, does anyone have any idea of the timeframe or is there a way to check when it comes on sale
 
Clint911 said:
The domain isn't being used as a business as it shows a godaddy domain for sale page. It was registered 20 years ago but expired on the 1st October and hasn't been renewed.
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Is it a .co.uk or .com domain or some other extension? Domains can still be renewed by the current owner after the expiry date; for example, .co.uk domain owners can still renew a domain up to 90 days after the expiry date.

If it has been registered for the last twenty years then the chances of it simply becoming available for you to purchase for a few quid is slim to say the least. If the current owner doesn't renew then it's highly likely a professional domainer will register it literally microseconds after it becomes available...
 
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@Nathanto - the domain has expired. It has not been renewed. Each registrar has their own rules about claiming expired domains. Who has a 90 day rule?
 
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fisicx said:
@Nathanto - the domain has expired. It has not been renewed. Each registrar has their own rules about claiming expired domains. Who has a 90 day rule?
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Practically all .co.uk registrars have the 90 day rule as the rules are set by Nominet.

You can look at the Whois for the domain naughtylist.co.uk as an example:

Lookup

This useful tool allows you to search the .UK, .cymru and .wales registers for exact and similar domain names with registration information.
www.nominet.uk www.nominet.uk

The domain expired on 30/08/24 but you can see that even 65 days later Nominet confirms "it is still possible for the current registrant to Restore/Renew the domain."
 
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fisicx said:
@Nathanto - the domain has expired. It has not been renewed. Each registrar has their own rules about claiming expired domains. Who has a 90 day rule?
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I don't know if still the same now, but it always used to be 90 days for .co.uk domains for all the registrars I have used in the past.
 
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It’s a bit more complicated than that:

registrars.nominet.uk

New domain expiry process and introduction of drop lists for .UK – Registrar Resources

We are pleased to confirm the: Testbed release: 2022-06-14 Production release: 2022-09-13 Please note that in addition to lifecycle changes, there are some changes to EPP responses themselves. DROP LIST IS NOW AVAILABLE New Lifecycle at expiry for .UK Domains will: Expiring domain periods Period...
registrars.nominet.uk registrars.nominet.uk
 
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fisicx said:
It’s a bit more complicated than that:
Click to expand...

It's actually less complicated than it used to be! :)

TL: DR I can tell you exactly, to the precise second, what time you can "buy" a particular expired UK domain.

Using the aforementioned naughtylist.co.uk as an example, the existing registrant can renew the domain up to 90 days after the expiry. If they don't renew the domain within 90 days then that domain is frozen for the next five days and will then be available for someone else to register at precisely 19:45:03 (GMT) on 3/12/24 (i.e. exactly 95 days after expiry.)

Prior to the rules changing a few years ago most domains could be renewed up to 92 days after the expiry date but then they "dropped" (were made available for someone else to register) at a random time during the 92nd day.

So previously you would have to keep checking all day long to see if a particular expired domain could yet be registered whereas now everyone knows the precise second that each expired domain will become available over the next five days.

The issue for the OP is that if the expired domain is a desirable one then a professional "dropcatcher" will use custom software to register the domain within literally microseconds, so well before the OP even realises the domain is available again.

The best chance of the OP getting the domain is to sign up with one or more dropcatchers; UK ones typically charge around £50 or less however particularly desirable domains may automatically go to an auction where the highest bid wins.
 
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I normally find it is about 70-75 days.
 
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@Clint911 why not use a variation of the name or other tld e.g. .uk
 
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Paul Kelly ICHYB said:
@Clint911 why not use a variation of the name or other tld e.g. .uk
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I agree, if this is a part-time or hobby business you want the domain for then just choose a different variant.

For a proper business though the right domain is worth its weight in gold. I'm not a big fan of .uk domains myself, the shorter extension never really took off, so for a UK business .co.uk is king.

Depending on the domain and the size of your business I'd say that if you can get it for under a grand from whoever catches it then that could be the best investment you ever make.
 
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Clint911 said:
it shows a go daddy broker page sorry.

I don't want to purchase a domain for potentially £££'s when in a couple of weeks I could get it for a couple of quid.
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Or an automated tool buys it one millisecond after it becomes available and ups the price.
 
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Clint911 said:
it shows a go daddy broker page sorry.

I don't want to purchase a domain for potentially £££'s when in a couple of weeks I could get it for a couple of quid.
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If its a good domain, then you are highly unlikely to get it when it drops - companies register 1000's of domains as soon as they drop.

If its not in demand, you may get lucky, but then, is it worth it?
 
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If it is a .co.uk or .uk domain name then if not renewed after 90 days it will drop 5 days after that at a specific time.

If it has been owned by an investor what you might find is that it is renewed at the last minute.
This is a technique I have seen used a lot to try and gain interest by buyers or other investors to see it on the lists along with stats.

Once they renew it it is at least another year from the original expiry day plus the 95 days.

You could use a backorder service which is not guaranteed that you would be the only bidder which would result in an auction.
 
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Clint911 said:
I don't want to purchase a domain for potentially £££'s when in a couple of weeks I could get it for a couple of quid.
Click to expand...

If it's a UK domain and even remotely desirable (short 3 or 4 letters or a longer brandable/keyword domain) then you will never be able to get it for a couple of quid.

It will either be renewed before the 90 days are up or caught by a professional dropcatcher before you even realise it has dropped. To give you an idea of how dropcatching works, here are some random domains the professionals caught today.

shishsidcup.co.uk
gbgb.uk
roes.co.uk
publicnews.uk
trimmings.co.uk
darkwillow.co.uk
mcab.co.uk
directcouriers.co.uk
yiannisvillage.co.uk
rustless.co.uk
flat-mate.co.uk
first-rate.co.uk

If the domain you are after is of similar or better quality than those above then there is zero chance it will become available for a normal few quid registration ; all you'll have done is waste three months putting your business name change on hold.
 
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I understand you want to have this domain (whatever it is). Why do you think the domain will be available to buy when you mentioned it was registered for 20 years? It's possible that someone forgot to renew it. I'm not pessimistic, but there's a small chance that a valuable domain won't be renewed."
 
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