# 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. - **Section:** Launch & marketing · **Region:** Global · **Difficulty:** medium - **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 - **You end up with:** The domain in your account, or a clear record of who caught it and when - **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-05 · **Canonical:** https://for.do/p/catch-an-expiring-com-domain/ ## Before you start - Accounts at one or two drop-catch services (DropCatch, SnapNames/NameJet, Dynadot, GoDaddy) with payment methods verified - A way to check the registry live: RDAP for .com (rdap.verisign.com) or a WHOIS tool 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. ## 1. 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. ## 2. 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. ## 3. 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. ## 4. 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. ## 5. 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. ## 6. 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. ## Where people get this wrong - Trusting a cached WHOIS. Our own measurements found cached status wrong exactly on names in redemption — a live name reading as dropping. Check the registry (RDAP) on the day. - Backordering at only one service. If that service does not win the race, you get nothing; the same name can be backordered at several services, and you pay only where it succeeds. - Missing the auction. If several people backorder at the same service and it catches the name, it goes to a private auction among them; you may still lose it. - Assuming everything worth having gets caught. On one measured day, 81% of a 13,000-name drop list was still unregistered twelve hours after the drop; the catchers concentrate on a thin top slice. ## 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. ## Tools used - [Verisign RDAP (.com/.net)](https://find.do/t/verisign-rdap/) (official) — The registry's live, machine-readable record for any .com — status, dates, registrar. - [ICANN Lookup](https://find.do/t/icann-lookup/) (official) — ICANN's RDAP lookup for any gTLD, with the bootstrap done for you. - [DropCatch](https://find.do/t/dropcatch/) — Backorders on expiring domains, charged only on a successful catch. - [SnapNames / NameJet](https://find.do/t/snapnames/) — Backorders and expiring-domain auctions with registrar partnerships. - [Dynadot](https://find.do/t/dynadot/) — Registrar with backorders, an aftermarket and an API. - [Openprovider](https://find.do/t/openprovider/) — Wholesale-style registrar with an API and unusual ccTLDs, including .do. - [Wayback Machine](https://find.do/t/wayback-machine/) — What a domain looked like at any point in the past. ## Sources - [Verisign — .com registry RDAP](https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/help) - [ICANN — Expired Registration Recovery Policy](https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/errp-2013-02-28-en)