A Flip Report

What do I do with the names I drop-catch? Once that shiny new domain shows up in your control panel, there are two basic directions to take: flip it quick or develop it.

Developing a domain is just adding value to get a better price later on, so it’s also a flip. Now, if you plan on keeping the name forever or you consider it your “life project” domain, then do yourself and favor and count any other domains you’ve put in this category… If that number is more than ONE, you need to reevaluate your business model.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do "Good" Domains Matter?

A lot of domainers will tell you that a good domain isn’t necessary to make it to the big time, but it definitely doesn’t hurt. I believe I give out some pretty good names here on GoDrops.com, but I’m definitely on the domainer-side which says that if you DO focus on quality names, you’ll be rewarded…

Anyway, it’s interesting to look at the other side. Check out the domains in the ICanHasCheezburger network… real doozies! Proves that niche-ideas can really take off and so-called “bad” domain names might actually help. You won’t often find these types of name here, but there are more of them “out there” than the statistically “good” domain names.

Happy Hunting!

P.S. For another recent rant on “bad” domains, check out the converstion on triiibe.com.

Call-to-Action Domains at Work

Yesterday, you may have noticed a lot of available names ending with “now.com”. Here’s a sample of some names currently available:

OneLifeNow.com
LockRatesNow.com
GoCampingNow.com

And here are some names that are currently being Tasted:

PaintBallNow.com
FindGodNow.com
SaveRightNow.com

These are examples of Call-to-Action names. I was inspired to write this post because I just saw a T.V. commercial for InventNow.org — check it out! One-word verbs make Strong Call-to-Action domains like this one. Also, notice the marketing preference for the .org over the .com. It seems they own both versions…

Introducing the Watcher!

As promised, here’s a picture of the “Watcher“. It’s a little HP Vectra, 128 MB RAM, headless, running Debian Sarge Linux. It’s been running non-stop without a reboot (no kidding!) for the past 6 months doing nothing but WHOIS queries 24/7. Thank you Craigslist! It was a little shy in this photo, hiding under my small IKEA table… ;)

Patience, Grasshopper

The domain I’ve been waiting for to drop in my previous post Caught By Surprise is being Kited by Vibrant Networks. They just dropped it and then purchased it again immediately. Argh! I hate that… but it increases the chance I’ll get it, I think. My patience will be rewarded, I hope :)

Drop Catching QnA

Time for a little Question and Answer… Shawn asks on this blog’s “Wall” (on the sidebar):

“How exactly does one start drop catching? I’ve been reading several drop catching blogs but not one tells how it is actually done.”

There is ONE blog you need to read beginning to end if you really want some insights into this whole mess, and that’s DotWeekly.com. Two posts really stand out thought Tips for using Redrops and Domain Name Drop Times and Partner Domains.

Catching on the Drop mean basically waiting for some names you know are deleting that day and then  trying to register them. Sounds simple, but there are two main problems:

  1. there are tens of thousands of domains dropping everyday, you need to find the good needles in the haystack
  2. the better the domain (in the eyes of all), the faster you need to be when trying to register the name

At GoDrops.com, I share my “watchlist” of domains I think are good. I can’t afford to register 99% of them so I watch them and share them on this blog… when they become available and when they’re taken.

Where do you go from here? Let me know… there are so many places to get drop lists, strategies to find good names, domain tasters to deal, regular domainer refunds to watch for, spotting trends, getting API access, etc… Let me know where you want to go!

Patterns In The Chaos

When monitoring the changes of status/nameserver/register of a large list of names basically 24/7 sometimes a change sticks out, something that makes you want to go “look things up”.

Three names, etipi.com, eneta.com and ebado.com, nameservers just changed to LightningHost.com. Doing a quick whois check reveals that they’re both owned by Zag Media. Go and check out the Zag Media site… NICE!

Great, clean-looking interface (reminds me of Ask.com). If you search for those domains, it takes you to a contact page where you can ask a question or make an offer on the name. If Zag Media doesn’t own the name, it redirects via an affiliate link to the domain’s listing on SEDO… either way, possible $$$.

I love finding these sites, they give me inspiration for my own sites. Even more interesting is finding a possible domain investment strategy. Those two names above are LLLLL.com, but the pattern is eCVCV.com. We all know that CVCV.com have achieved God-like status in the aftermarket. Maybe this will give you pause for thought, if you’re inclined to go after premium CVCV LLLL.net names…

Why talk about these name on GoDrops.com? Well, one of those dropped on May 25, picked up by Snapnames, no bidders at auction, dropped again, then picked up by at least 3 other domain tasters. The other two dropped on June 13 and the 16th, not sure of it’s history… it looks like my scanner may have been down :(

Domains I Watch

Just giving a little peek into what I look for in the daily drops… There are so many kinds of domains to chase, multiple portfolio strategies to follow, but when you’re dealing with daily drops — tens of thousands of names dropping everyday — a consistent focus on the kinds of domains that find end-users works for me.

Look at any domain sales report and take stock of what sells. Use those keywords in searching for available and dropping names. There are a few other rules I stick to that further reduce the domain haystack:

That about sums it up. Do this day-in and day-out and you’ll find gems. I don’t chase LLLL.com, because it’s still impossible to hand-register them when they do drop. Running the same criteria everyday does get a little monotonous, so once in a while I try random keywords…

Happy Hunting!

At Least They Tried #2

August 16th will see a cast of smart<first-name>.com domains dropping. Again, if you’re interested in domains of this pattern, use the contact page or make a comment here. Amazing to see so many similar names drop… what was the registrant thinking! I don’t know who it was, because the basic whois info has the former contacts removed.

Don't Warehouse My Drop!

There’s a great name I expected to drop today from Tucows, but it’s still lingering in pendingDelete status. This burns me up… Tucows has been spotted warehousing domains before and it looks like that’s what they’re doing with this little gem I’m watching. I’ll let you know the domain when its status changes (if it changes)…

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
  • Copyright © 2026 GoDrops.com