What Is The Process Of Catching A Domain

amerscoop · Apr 22, 2015

Hey,

So I am really getting into drop catching now. I was wondering how to go about it. I have seen people selling a drop catching service where they catch the domain for roughly £50. I was wondering how they do it. I have read about a DAC with Nominet. Can I catch domains myself, what resources/tools do I need?

PoshTiger · Apr 22, 2015

Search the drop catching domain names section dude - all the info is there.

amerscoop · Apr 22, 2015

Hey man,the only threads in there are about drop catching slots available

ian · Apr 22, 2015

Welcome to the forum.

There have been hundreds, if not thousands of discussions on the same subject, to try searching the forum.

Here are a few found by simply searching "drop catching"

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/new-domainers/126666-drop-catching.html
http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/drop-catching-domain-names/129191-hosted-drop-catching.html
http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/general-board/130673-drop-catching.html

Skinner · Apr 22, 2015

Sean said:
1 x Nominet membership cost £400
1 x Annual membership fee £100
1 x Annual DAC subscription £25

+VAT if applicable.

Admin · Apr 22, 2015

Have you tried hosted catching services already? there are plenty of forum members who can offer you this and I would recommend you try it out before you invest any serious money into your own systems unless you figured a way to monetise what you catch through sales or development.

Admin

monaghan · Apr 22, 2015

amerscoop said:
Hey,

So I am really getting into drop catching now. I was wondering how to go about it. I have seen people selling a drop catching service where they catch the domain for roughly £50. I was wondering how they do it. I have read about a DAC with Nominet. Can I catch domains myself, what resources/tools do I need?

All the technical details can be read freely on the Nominet registrar's resources site, however, as you are here asking the questions rather than building a system, I'm guessing you may be better off booking names with public catchers or renting a dedicated catch host.

Basically you open 2 network IO ports, down one you stuff requests into the DAC and when you get a not registered response you stuff an EPP requests to create the domain - simple really (except for all the others doing exactly the same as you all trying to get the same domain as you!)

amerscoop · Apr 22, 2015

So it seems to be pretty expensive if I was to go about doing it myself. There is a member here that owns http://www.dropsystem.co.uk/. Basically what happened is I was going through some old drop lists and saw that a domain I wanted border.co.uk he won. After going on the site seems like they have a lot of members. My question is say I want a domain on occasion and its a really good domain like borders.co.uk, will I pay just the catch fee £50 or if the member catches it he then turns around and says fair market is £400 etc. I only need domains on occasion so the cost outlined above is too much for me

Murray · Apr 23, 2015

amerscoop said:
My question is say I want a domain on occasion and its a really good domain like borders.co.uk, will I pay just the catch fee £50 or if the member catches it he then turns around and says fair market is £400 etc.

Public catchers treat all domains the same; First come, first served, fixed fee

Usually around £50/60/70 - not too sure now, haven't booked with a public catcher in ages

You have to be the first to book a domain though, any decent domains like borders will be booked with public catchers the minute they're available to be booked

Realistically, even if you do get to book with a public catcher or two your chances aren't great if it's a contested domain.

ian · Apr 23, 2015

amerscoop said:
So it seems to be pretty expensive if I was to go about doing it myself. There is a member here that owns http://www.dropsystem.co.uk/. Basically what happened is I was going through some old drop lists and saw that a domain I wanted border.co.uk he won. After going on the site seems like they have a lot of members. My question is say I want a domain on occasion and its a really good domain like borders.co.uk, will I pay just the catch fee £50 or if the member catches it he then turns around and says fair market is £400 etc. I only need domains on occasion so the cost outlined above is too much for me

That isn't the process with dropsystem; they offer a hosted script service which requires you to have a Nominet membership, tag, dac and epp, costing upwards of £600. They then set you up for chasing as many domains as you like, but that cost is in the region of £4k per year, though they do offer a guarantee of sorts. You'd need to speak to Dale (very helpful) for the finer details of it all.

Alternatively, and given the current 'lottery' of catching, I'd suggest you book with the public catchers as soon as possible and hope for the best.

PoshTiger · Apr 23, 2015

Or just save up your money and buy at pretty much trade prices on DomainLore.

monaghan · Apr 23, 2015

No option is going to make you rich quick, you really need to look at what you want to achieve out of catching. As mentioned earlier, there will always be big competition for the "good" domains, the "outstanding" will probably be captured by other means and never get to be dropped.

You can cover costs and make a small profit without too much effort, to give up your day job takes much more effort.

amerscoop · Apr 23, 2015

With dropsystem on the site it does allow you to buy credits. I really don't need the monthly service since I wont catch enough for it to be worthwhile. I sent an email to dropsystem asking for the Skype details. I hope Dale gets back

ian · Apr 23, 2015

amerscoop said:
With dropsystem on the site it does allow you to buy credits. I really don't need the monthly service since I wont catch enough for it to be worthwhile. I sent an email to dropsystem asking for the Skype details. I hope Dale gets back

They stopped that service last year, but suggested starting it again recently. I think that may be old information on their website.

amerscoop · Apr 23, 2015

So I've done more research. I found a few companies but it seems like I have to buy expired domain lists and then book with public catchers. I was wondering is there anyone on the forum or a company you can recommend to me for catching domains as they drop. My budget is around £50 per domain. This isn't for the purpose of reselling, it's for personal websites

ian · Apr 23, 2015

amerscoop said:
So I've done more research. I found a few companies but it seems like I have to buy expired domain lists and then book with public catchers. I was wondering is there anyone on the forum or a company you can recommend to me for catching domains as they drop. My budget is around £50 per domain. This isn't for the purpose of reselling, it's for personal websites

You can use https://domainlore.uk/droplist to pick up lists of domains due to drop over the next 7 days, free of charge, just don't expect to be able to catch domains like borders, as these are classed as premium so competition is high.

There are plenty of public catchers you can use, domainview, drop.co.uk, domainjunky, Pfukcatching, domainmonster etc - most charge between £30-£50 per successful catch with no requirement for payment up front. With one or two, you can select to pay more to prioritise a domain for the public catcher that day.

Alternatively, if there is a domain you want that might be more obscure, you can use https://domainlore.uk/#tabs-2 to place a pre-bid, but note this domain, should the successful catcher decide to, will go to auction so you might not get it for as little as you want, and it will raise awareness of the domain to others that might have missed it.