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question People offering a 'taken' domain

This is a general or domain name related question.

Oddball

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Hi All,

I've just found this forum and hoping someone can help me.

I've started getting contacted by multiple companies saying 'would you like to buy the .com' version of a co.uk domain that I have owned for several years.
My question is, how are 4 different companies saying they have access to the domain? When I look on GoDaddy it says it's taken.

Is it just a scam? none of the companies look very professional and one of them emailed from a domain that is completely unregistered.

Thank you in advance :)
 

Biggie

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Hi

they are most likely other domainers, trying to sell you the .com version of the .co.uk domain name.

they may own it or they may be trying to solicit as a broker.

most newbies do this and it's basically spam, but they call it 'outbounding",
where they send emails to various people, hoping to get a sale.

the non-professional look you speak of.... is the result of their inexperience and perhaps poor writing skills.

BTW: Welcome to DNForum.com

imo...
 
Domain summit 2024

amplify

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Have you ever searched for the .com domain?

With four different people, presumably in a short period of time, I'm wondering if it's for sale and has a BIN somewhere.

Welcome to DNF!
 

Oddball

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Thanks for the answers!

I've owned the .co.uk for a few years and in all that time, the .com has been 'under maintenance' and is now unreachable.
As Amplify says, it's weird to get 4 all within a week. So I am wondering if it's listed for sale somewhere.

It's just a side hustle for me, so not worth the $2000+ these people are asking for. sounds like I should just ignore it
 

amplify

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It's just a side hustle for me, so not worth the $2000+ these people are asking for. sounds like I should just ignore it
With that ballpark, I would check BuyDomains.com, HugeDomains.com, and DomainMarket.com for a BIN.

I would be interested in knowing if it's listed on a marketplace of some kind and for less than they are willing to sell it for.
 

GeorgeK

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The .com domain name has likely expired, and would probably get deleted:


One needs a bit of sophistication at reading the WHOIS details, to detect this (since even after the name has expired, 1 year is added to the expiry date, making it look like it might have been renewed).

Some registrars will auction an expiring name before it gets deleted. Others will delete the domain name and various drop catching companies will compete to try to register desirable domains first immediately after they're deleted, and often they too will try to auction the domain name (depending on their business model).

So, you should check various marketplaces to see whether it's an expiring domain name at auction:

e.g.

sedo.com
tdnam.com (i.e. GoDaddy)
dropcatch.com
namejet.com
snapnames.com

You need to check all the marketplaces, since there isn't a central clearinghouse for expired domains.

Sometimes less ethical people try to find buyers for deleting domain names before they've even acquired them, to try to get a "sure thing", without disclosing that they're not even the current owner. Those are perhaps the folks who've been contacting you.
 

Oddball

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I've checked those suggestions and it's listed on a couple as a pending deletion!

So as George suggests, it sounds like these people don't actually have access to it but are hoping they will be able to bid on it for less than they charge me.

I'll put a backorder bid in a see if I get it.

Thanks for everyone's info - very helpful :)
 

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