Domain drop list and deleted domains list scored for buyers

What a domain drop list should show you

A name appears on a drop list when it has passed the renewal and redemption stages and entered pending delete, roughly five days before it is deleted. At that point nobody can renew or restore it, so the drop date is firm. That is why the drop date matters more than the expiry date, which only tells you when the owner stopped paying. The domain lifecycle from expiry to drop article shows every stage in order, and ICANN describes the owner recovery rights in its expired registration recovery policy.

Five columns do most of the work: the full name, the drop date, the extension, the length and the value score. Age and backlink signals help for SEO buyers. Everything else, such as pretty tables of traffic numbers from a previous owner, is decoration. A site that disappeared brings its traffic down with it.

Worked example, eight names from one day of a list

The table below is an illustration, not live drop data. It shows how an investor with a $150 ceiling per name and a Starter plan could read one day of a scored list. The names are made up to show the method.

Three of eight names get a backorder, one waits for a trademark check and four are skipped in seconds. That ratio, not the exact scores, is what a scored list buys you. Across a real list of several hundred names a day the same filter turns a morning of reading into ten minutes.

How a price cap decides what you backorder

Set the cap before you look at the list. A simple version: take the price you could realistically resell the name for, multiply by how likely you think a sale is within a year, and cap your spend below that. If you expect to sell a name for $600 and think the chance is one in three, the expected value is $200, so a cap of $100 to $150 leaves a margin for renewal fees. When several members backorder the same name it goes to a private auction, and the cap keeps you from bidding past the number you decided on.

This is the reason backorder rules exist. A rule such as ".com, score 60 or more, drops this week, up to $150" applies the same discipline to every row without you reading it. A won catch costs only the registration fee on top of your plan, and the whole job is described on the domain sniping service page.

Free lists against a scored list

Raw lists are easy to find and cost nothing, and they are fine if you have the time to filter them yourself and a separate tool to place the backorder. The weakness is the gap between finding a name and catching it. Names on a raw list are not scored, the registrar of each one is a separate lookup, and the backorder happens somewhere else. A scored list that also places the backorder removes both gaps. Compare the routes in best place to buy expired domains and read the Domaining pricing before you decide.

Questions about drop lists

What is a domain drop list?

A domain drop list is a daily list of domain names that are about to be deleted and become available for registration again. Each row normally shows the name, the drop date and the registrar. A useful drop list also adds a value score, so you can rank hundreds of names in minutes.

Where can I find a deleted domains list?

Deleted domains lists come from registry and registrar expiry data, published by drop catchers, auction houses and list tools. Pick one that shows the drop date, extension, length and a value score for each name, and that lets you backorder from the list itself so the data does not go stale.

How often is a drop list updated?

Daily. Names enter pending delete every day and leave it about five days later on their drop date, so a list from last week is mostly names that are already gone. Work from the current list and sort by drop date.