I recently tried to purchase a domain name. It came back as unavailable, yet the whois indicated that the registrar let it expire. I contacted the guy who had it before, and he said he had registered it rhough NZ Web IT, a New Zealand based hosting and domain registration service. Anyway, he said he hadn't renewed the domain. So I called the company, and they told me it has been sitting in a hold area or something, and that it will cost me $29 to register it - $20 to transfer ownership, and $9 for the year. Furthermore, they told me that if I don't register it within the next 24 hours, there is a good chance it will go to [insert wierd aussie phrase here that i couldn't get the guy to clarify] and that I won't be able to get it for at least 90 days, and that I will have to pay at least $60. Sounds like BS to me, although I am willing to pay the $29 just so I won't have to wait the 90 days. Anyone else have an experience with these guys, or like this? Thoughts? Should I just preregister it at godaddy or someplace, and wait for it to become available?
He was telling the truth. 1. It's getting dropped. 2. Real backorder services cost $60+ 3. Registrar cannot be changed for 90 days when a domain is newly registered. 4. $29 is damned cheap to get it back. Some registrar charges $80 to $200+
This article describes the process in layman's terms http://domainsmagazine.com/Domains_2/Domain_400.shtml Well, you can do a backorder, there is no guarantee that you will get it. I guess the only way would be do to the $29 if you really want the domain name. It sure is cheap.