My (newbie) experience: Namejet v Snapnames v Dropcatch

[seizure]

i just got a dropped domain today - literally 2 hours ago.

as i got some help by reading through Namepros, i thought i'd register to contribute.

by way of background: although i'm quite IT literate, i've never dabbled in this whole backordering process before. i'm not someone who dabbles in this domain "business" either.

i'm just a guy looking for a domain to build my (already planned and designed) app on - all the names that are available did not meet the expectations of my partner and i.

yesterday i decided to look for a dropped domain on a whim. i googled for dropped domains, hit up the first link and started looking to see what i could find.

i liked one almost immediately, and after a quick discussion with my partner, i decided to plan to register it "by hand."

so i started googling what time, etc... then i realized there was no way (that i knew how) i could register the domain the moment it got dropped. everything took time which i realized i literally cannot beat.

so i headed over to namejet - the affiliated/authorized (?) dropped domain "dealer" (not sure if the terms are right here) - got registered and waited for the next day.

seeing no one bid on the domain on namejet made me happy, and i waited until literally the last minute to place a $39 offer. deal done, i went to take a quick shower...

my thoughts over the prior 24 hours before that had made me realize that i liked the name enough, or at least, disliked the process of having to think any further on a domain name for my app, that i wondered if $39 was too optimistic a bid...

out of the shower, i looked through the namejet FAQ (and my aforementioned doubt) made me realize that the bid/order price may have something to do with how the system prioritizes their resources to capture the domain.

as i couldn't be sure how to revise my name jet bid, i decided to google for alternatives. older posts here on Namepros pointed to snapnames and i got registered there and quickly put in an offer of $100.

feeling a little more assured, and after much reading and searching on here, i found out dropcatch seems to be the most well tasked to get me my domain name, and the consensus was to hit up at least those 3 (if not a few more).

so i hit them up and placed a (minimum) $59 offer with 10 minutes on the dropcatch clock. i didn't feel a need to go beyond those 3 sites, nor did i like the idea of sharing my CC info any more than necessary...

not expecting to find out about the results... i got an email at 4.15PM (EST) congratulating me on my "successful transaction." i wasn't sure what that meant and used WHOIS - seemed like the domain i wanted is now a freshly registered one. mine... right?

an hour later, i got another email confirming my "acquisition" of the domain name. joy!

anyway, i'm not counting the chickens before they hatch. hopefully it doesn't get yanked back by the registrar and i can now sleep better at night... i'll find out over the next few days.

my point is: namejet, the site affiliated with the old registrar, didn't come through for me. neither did dropcatch, the most well resourced one. i got it through snapnames, and price may have something to do with it.

my newbie experience was: if you like the name, don't skimp on your offer. and remember to hedge your bets by using more than 1 site. i don't think there's a "sure thing" in this game of dropped domains and sometimes too good to be true is simply just that.

thank you to all the posters that have contributed to this forum in past threads/replies. some of the info surely helped guide me towards getting my domain name!

 

[seizure]

i forgot to mention that the realization that i couldn't register the domain by myself came from WHOIS'ing a list of semi-attractive/popular domain names i collected from the day before.

i interpreted the WHOIS results to mean that the domains were all snapped up by well known domain companies/non-end users, or the end user obtained it through a site that catches dropped domains.

i didn't want to run the risk of having to think about and search through the ridiculously large dropped domain list anymore and thus headed to namejet...

 

[RJ]

Welcome to NamePros and congratulations on the successful drop hunting. (Great first post!)

It's been a while since I've used Snapnames. It is good to hear they can still compete.

 

[LoneDeranger]

Yes, I really like SnapNames as they do the job quite well combining decent prices.
Good luck with the company branding, and welcome to the forum

 

[seizure]

thanks for the welcome and good wishes!

now that the dust's settled... the domain actually costs $69 - i had put $100 as my max bid with Snapnames but i think i was the only bidder and was charged only the base price (yes, you can tell i'm new at this).

now, if only our app development process was as successful as getting our domain name...

 

[dataman]

I prefer snapnames.

 

[thetruman]

thanks for the welcome and good wishes!

now that the dust's settled... the domain actually costs $69 - i had put $100 as my max bid with Snapnames but i think i was the only bidder and was charged only the base price (yes, you can tell i'm new at this).

now, if only our app development process was as successful as getting our domain name...

congratulations for acquiring the name you desired. However I think you were the only one interested, so basically you were competing against your self . If more then 1 person is interested to the domain usually you will have to fight against somebody else for it.
Worthwhile domains (and I do not mean yours is not) attract numerous potential buyers and domain can go for thousands...

 

[domaindmz.com]

Just saw this post and thought I would throw in a few details.

Snapnames has about 300 registrars that it uses to 'snap' domains off of the drop. The reason that they have so many is because they have a limited amount of connections to the Registries. All of them are being used at Verisign (COM/NET/TV/CC), they other registries (depending on the popularity of TLD) have several of the Registrars used there, maybe about 100 at PIR (ORG), Affilias, (INFO...) etc. With that said they are a powerhouse. They can grab most domains off the drop, and are hard to compete with. However, a lot of other drop catching companies are catching on an are creating more registrars to compete with Snapnames (DropCatch is an example).

Here is the current list of accredited Registrars (https://www.icann.org/registrar-reports/accredited-list.html).