Have you found the perfect domain name, only to discover to your frustration that it is already registered to someone else? It's a common problem and why ICANN the industry regulator has decided to greatly increase the number of domain types available.
The fact that your domain may now be available in another form is helpful, but it you have your heart set on that perfect .com domain what can you do?
Well there are only a few real options.
You can try and buy the domain from the current owner. That might be expensive though and some domains have even sold for $ millions. Of course if you alert the current owner that you are interested in its sale, they are more likely to renew it.
A lot of domains expire and don't get renewed, the way to spot these is by looking at the domains WHOIS details, you can find this by selecting WHOIS from the main navigation on our website.
If the domain has an expiry coming up in the next 90days then there is a reasonable chance that it will drop.
You can maximise your chances of grabbing the domain by using a backordering service such as Snapnames - these guys partner with large number of Domain Registrars (Including Discount Domains) and on the day and hour of drop using what are called their batchpool connections to re-register the domain name.
The more registrar partners a service like this has then the higher the chances are of successfully grabbing your target domain name.
Snapnames typically charges around £50 to grab a domain but if it is popular and an auction is involved the price can be a lot higher.
Backordering services work well and its probably the best option to try.
If you find the perfect domain, then it is always worth backordering it as it may become available.
Adrian Lawrence is a webmaster with Discount Domains Ltd a leading UK Domain Registration Service.
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