How many times have you had the perfect domain name in mind, only to find that someone else had it registered? Or did you try and get your name as your domain and that's when you discovered that someone else had already registered it?
Or do you want to see if you can tap in on the traffic and popularity that someone else has built up for a domain? Perhaps you want a domain name which has already been listed in Yahoo or DMOZ so you can get that traffic for your own?
Perhaps you've had your eye on a juicy domain name for a while, but didn't want to pay some scum, uh, domain name reseller, hundreds, thousands or even more for it?
So what is an expired domain name anyway?
First, you purchase a domain name for a period of time, from one year to ten years.
As the domain name nears expiration, the registrar will usually send you one or more email (and possibly postal mail) notices.
If you have not included the correct mailing and/or email address, then you may not receive these notifications. Also, spam filters may automatically delete them, or the messages do not reach you for some other reason.
When the renewal date arrives, the domain is expired.
The domain is placed "on-hold" for anywhere from 30 days to a period of years. The time period is only supposed to be 30 to 90 days, but it is not very well regulated and can last longer. During this time the owner cannot use the domain name but can renew it.
Once the hold period is reached, a delete command is sent out and the domain name is deleted all over the internet. This can require as much as five days.
The domain name can now be purchased.
Why would a perfectly good domain name be allowed to expire? There are lots of reasons:
A company ceases to do business - Perhaps a company had a great idea, but was not well funded or went out of business for other reasons. Domain names are usually the last thing on everyone's mind as they walk out the door of a failing business.
The domain name owner dies - This does happen upon occasion. When it does, the heirs may not have access to the domain names (if they even know of their existence) or the owner's old email account (often needed to transfer a domain). In these instances, the domain just waits until it expires.
Domain name speculation didn't work - Domain name speculators often purchase large numbers of domain names which look promising (like someone might want to purchase them). In many cases, especially in these days of internet contraction, many domain names are simply allowed to lapse.
The domain name owner just loses interest - Sometimes someone had a great idea or some motivation, and just stops working on that web site or idea. In those cases, the web site may decay slowly over time, then become unreachable entirely when the domain name expires.
You can tap into the expired domain lists to take advantage of the situation where, for whatever reason, someone has allowed their domain name to become available. You can also, if you want, sign up for a service which "watches" domain names and quickly registers them in your name when they become available.
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Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.