When does a .com actually drop?

After expiry there is a grace period (usually up to 45 days), then a 30-day redemption period, then 5 days of pendingDelete. Verisign deletes the day's pendingDelete names in one batch around 18:00 UTC; catches land in the minutes after.

A standing instruction at a drop-catch registrar to attempt registration the instant the name is deleted, using their registrar connections. You usually pay only if they succeed.

Can I just register it after the drop?

If nobody caught it, yes — at any registrar at the normal price. Most names in a daily drop are not caught; the quickly caught ones are the ones with breadth, brand-like names, or for-sale siblings.

Catch an expiring .com domain

The .com lifecycle from expiry through redemption to the 18:00 UTC delete, where the competition is, and how to place backorders that actually fire — or hand-register what the catchers ignore.

Time: Watch window 30–75 days · the drop itself is one minute
Cost: Backorders $10–$70 each (charged only on success at most services); auctions vary
Reviewed: 5 Sept 2026; 6 steps · 15 checks

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A dropping .com goes through a public, timed lifecycle, and the delete itself happens at one moment each day. Winning is about being registered to try at that moment through several channels — or, for the majority of names nobody fights over, simply being the first to hand-register in the hours after.

Find the expiry and the state

Query the registry (RDAP for .com) for the name: registration date, expiry date and the status list.
Read the status: clientTransferProhibited alone means a normal active name; redemptionPeriod means the owner can still restore it for a fee; pendingDelete means the registry will delete it in about five days.
Note the expiry date; expect the drop roughly 70–80 days after it if the owner does nothing.

Decide what it is worth to you

Check what else exists on the name: other extensions, developed sibling sites, a brand, backlinks, previous content on the Wayback Machine.
Set a maximum price for a backorder auction before you place anything; the auction is where discipline goes to die.

Place backorders at more than one service

Backorder at two or three drop-catch services (DropCatch and SnapNames/NameJet are the largest; Dynadot and GoDaddy also run them). Most charge only on success.
Verify the payment method on each; a failed charge at catch time forfeits the name.
Record the backorder confirmations and the expected drop date.

Watch the status daily in the last week

When RDAP shows pendingDelete, the delete is about five days out, at roughly 18:00 UTC.
If the status returns to active with a new expiry, the owner restored or renewed it; cancel the backorders and move on.

Drop day

Check RDAP at 18:05 UTC: a 404 means available; a fresh registration date with a new registrar means caught.
If caught at a service where you backordered and others did too, the service emails auction details; bid to your maximum and no further.
If nobody caught it, register it immediately at any registrar — availability at 18:05 UTC does not mean availability at 19:00.

After

On success: lock the domain, set auto-renew, and point DNS somewhere before you forget.
On loss: note who caught it and when. The catcher's registrar tells you which service won; the timestamp (seconds after 18:00 versus hours) tells you whether it was a backorder or a hand-registration.

Questions

When does a .com actually drop?: After expiry there is a grace period (usually up to 45 days), then a 30-day redemption period, then 5 days of pendingDelete. Verisign deletes the day's pendingDelete names in one batch around 18:00 UTC; catches land in the minutes after.
What is a backorder?: A standing instruction at a drop-catch registrar to attempt registration the instant the name is deleted, using their registrar connections. You usually pay only if they succeed.
Can I just register it after the drop?: If nobody caught it, yes — at any registrar at the normal price. Most names in a daily drop are not caught; the quickly caught ones are the ones with breadth, brand-like names, or for-sale siblings.

Sources

The numbers above come from these pages. If a fee or date here disagrees with the source, the source wins.

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1Find the expiry and the state

2Decide what it is worth to you

3Place backorders at more than one service

4Watch the status daily in the last week

5Drop day

6After