Grabbing a Domain Name

[web docta]

About two years ago on Nov.16, 2001 I went to register a Domain name for community that I manage a .php website for and live in also. I found out that someone had grabbed the domain name about a week before me. The name is really useless to the other person and they grabbed it to try and sell their services ( a real estate company).
To make a long story short I had to settle for a ".net" instead of the ".com" that I wanted. I have just checked, and the domain name expires on Nov. 16 ( three days from now ). Will I be able to grab this domain on Nov. 16th or is there some sort of grace period that is allowed to the existing owner of the domain?
It's of absolutely no use to the other party and I'm suspecting that they realize that and probably won't renew it for another 2 years. Please advise.

[bear]

Depends on the registrar. Typically, it enters an expired period (30-45 days), then redemption (another 30-45 days), then finally Pending delete, which is typically 5-7 working days.
On average, a domain will go for 65 days from the actual date before being released, but this can fluctuate quite a bit. Some registrars, like Network Solutions sometimes hold onto names for *years* after expiration.

[nameslave]

To answer your question: Yes, there IS some sort of grace period; 2 actually. First, there's the registrar-level grace period which is optional but endorsed by nearly all major registrars and usually last around 30 days or so. Then there's the compulsory registry-level Redemption Grace Period (RGP) which is EXACTLY 30 days in length. During these 2 periods, existing registrant (i.e. owner) will be able to renew or restore registration (though not without extra costs). If no action is being taken, the said domain will go into the actual pending delete queue (that's another 5 days).

I would recommend checking your domain's status at reasonable intervals (like every few days or so) to see if it has entered the Redemption Period. Once it's there, mark your calendar and check back again in 30 days. If everything's fine, you'll be able to register it in less than a week.

Having said that, ANY previously active website is useful for at least its residual traffic; so to play it safe, you may consider some backordering (snapping) services. Hope this helps.

[Scott]

Look into some 'snap' services, I currently use the following with some success

http://pool.com
http://godaddy.com
http://namewinner.com

[Toeki]

I have used Pool and they are really good...
They got all the domains I backordered so far :beer: