A while back a friend squatted a domain name for me because I was broke at the time. Time passes, I want to transfer it to me, but it’s expired. But . . . when I go to buy it, it says it’s not available. I assume that’s because it’s still in that grace period they give you to renew an expired domain before they toss it out into the open market again.
What’s the best way to deal with this situation? Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks in advance.
There are usually ways to “pre-order” or “reserve” it, so the second it goes up for grabs it’s yours. Just check with your registrar, the function is probably there, but it may not be as blindingly obvious as the “Register Now!” button.
ETA: Also, if it has remained in your friend’s name all this time, he/she can renew it and then you can request a transfer. It may mean losing some $ to the original registrar though.
I’ll second this recommendation. The domain can remain unavailable for general purchase for months or even a year if you try to wait it out. Just pay the fees to get it reactivated under your friend’s name, then do the transfer of ownership and transfer to a new registrar.
Thirded. This removes all possibility that it can be grabbed by someone that may already have a backorder on it.
As others have said, the sure way is let the person that it’s registered to renew it, but it’s gonna cost you. After a domain expires it’s almost in a sort of limbo. The registrars tend to charge a large fee ($75+ IIRC) to renew an expired domain. Why it costs $10 to renew before expiration and $75 the day after expiration is beyond me. It’s almost like they’re holding it hostage.
Otherwise you can monitor the domain name and keep trying to register it, hoping nobody has backordered it and you get it before someone else does.