I've found a dropped domain that I'm interested in. It's still not available for purchase...but the WHOIS says that it had expired on Sept. 1, 2009. I'm not understanding why this hasn't gone back into the public? How long do domains last after they're not renewed?
There is a grace period I think which is I guess 45 days or so after the date of expiry of the domain. Then the original owner can still reclaim it by paying some fine or premium or something like that. Once that period is over then the domain will become available again for sale.
Great read about the process here: http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/03/how-to-snatch-an-expiring-domain Mike Davidson was trying to pick up a domain (which was later revealed to be Newsvine).
It can sometimes be longer than 3 months, it depends on the registrar as some don't always follow the 5 day deletion rule at the end of the redemption period. Thats also not discounting the possibility that a drop service like pool will grab the name and try to auction it first, if they do and the name doesn't sell you may have an even longer wait.
After domain expiry, grace period starts. Usually grace period is 45 to 90 days as per company policy, after that expired domain is available for public.
If you don't want someone catch the domain, it's better to spend a few dollars to backorder the name first.