Advice on securing a recently suspended domain

[Tartanj]

Hi! New user here (please be kind!!)

There is a co.uk domain that I have had my eye on for a while, which finally got suspended a few days ago (the .uk domain is held by Sedo, who want ££££ and I'd rather have the co.uk domain anyway). Other than placing backorders with all the sites recommended in here (ukbackorder, domainjunky etc) is there anything else I can do?

And is it worth specifying a high opening bid on the sites that don't have a fixed fee, or should I just go with the minimum for now, and increase if they are successful and it goes to auction?

I've seen some private catchers in here offer their services. How long before domain is due to drop should I be approaching them (maybe you?!) to ask for help securing the domain, and what is a suitable amount to offer to make it worth their while? Is there a risk that some will also place backorders with the more popular sites and I will effectively end up in a bidding war with myself, or am I completely misunderstanding the system?

And yes, I've tried tracking down the current registrant. The domain is listed with one of the large cheap mass-market sites and has never been attached to a working website though, so not had any luck there, hence why I'm hoping to secure it via backorder...

Anything obvious that I'm missing?

 

[impact]

Hi! New user here (please be kind!!)

There is a co.uk domain that I have had my eye on for a while, which finally got suspended a few days ago (the .uk domain is held by Sedo, who want ££££ and I'd rather have the co.uk domain anyway). Other than placing backorders with all the sites recommended in here (ukbackorder, domainjunky etc) is there anything else I can do?

And is it worth specifying a high opening bid on the sites that don't have a fixed fee, or should I just go with the minimum for now, and increase if they are successful and it goes to auction?

I've seen some private catchers in here offer their services. How long before domain is due to drop should I be approaching them (maybe you?!) to ask for help securing the domain, and what is a suitable amount to offer to make it worth their while? Is there a risk that some will also place backorders with the more popular sites and I will effectively end up in a bidding war with myself, or am I completely misunderstanding the system?

And yes, I've tried tracking down the current registrant. The domain is listed with one of the large cheap mass-market sites and has never been attached to a working website though, so not had any luck there, hence why I'm hoping to secure it via backorder...

Anything obvious that I'm missing?

if it’s a good domain then place a good bounty for the domain back order for catch etc most decent domains will be caught all depends on the name

 

[monaghan]

If it's going to drop, then book in as many places as you can, it's all about getting the reg request in first, so getting as many catchers as possible working on your behalf instead of someone else gives you the best shot. As you appear to have appreciated, not all catchers restrict a catch request to a single customer, but if you want it badly, then that's part of the risk. Nobody can guarantee you the domain if it goes via the drop process, but some do seem to be more successful than others and it often goes in cycles.

BUT... there's no harm in trying to track down the current owner and seeing if you can do a deal, however, this does have the disadvantage of potentially alerting them that the domain has value to someone else, it's a bit more difficult with GDPR changes to whois these days though.

 

[Tartanj]

if it’s a good domain then place a good bounty for the domain back order for catch etc most decent domains will be caught all depends on the name

At the risk of asking how long a piece of string is, what’s a good bounty? The domain is valuable to me and probably not to a lot of other people (zero DA etc, no traffic etc), but does have the advantage of being very short (only 4 characters).

 

[monaghan]

A domain is only worth what someone will pay for it, if it's brandable or a nice word, then possibly worth a lot, if not, it could be worth less than your catch fee.

Do you want the domain for your own project or to sell on? If it's for your own project, then the value depends very much on what the value to you is and how much of an issue is it if someone else gets it.

 

[DJ]

At the risk of asking how long a piece of string is, what’s a good bounty? The domain is valuable to me and probably not to a lot of other people (zero DA etc, no traffic etc), but does have the advantage of being very short (only 4 characters).

It really depends on the name, doesn't need traffic to have substantial value. You need to figure out what you are prepared to pay for it and maybe reach out to a couple of private catchers also. If it is a dictionary word that is only 4 characters long the likelihood is that it will have value.

 

[Tartanj]

It really depends on the name, doesn't need traffic to have substantial value. You need to figure out what you are prepared to pay for it and maybe reach out to a couple of private catchers also. If it is a dictionary word that is only 4 characters long the likelihood is that it will have value.

Thank you. It’s not a dictionary word (or even close to one!) but is linked to a trademark I own (with plans to use as a product name).

I guess my question isn’t so much how much the domain is worth (which I wouldn’t expect anyone to know without knowing the name!!)
But rather, how much would a private domain catcher be looking to earn in order for them to actually try to secure it for me. Or in other words, what’s a typical fee people typically offer when asking for private catchers that would get the attention of the more successful ones?! Hope this makes sense!

 

[monaghan]

It very much depends on what's dropping on that day, if there are good domains on the cards, then it's unlikely that anyone will want to give over a cheap catch slot when they could go for a domain with good value. Best bet is to approach those who have offered service in the past.

Book it everywhere that offers no fee unless caught and then make your decision on how much you can afford to spend on other sources.

 

[keys]

From what you say, there will probably be little or no competition for the domain. In which case regular rates should be enough, £30-50. A good bounty for private catchers may be £100. On the other hand if you tell catchers that it is worth £500 to you, they will happily take your money

 

[Tartanj]

Thanks so much for everyone's help and advice. Denys from Domainlore has just been in touch to say my private bid was successful... woohoo!