Dreamweaver - general web question

Author

general web question

BullocksTroy

2006-02-12, 6:32 pm

how can you tell who owns a particular domain name? would it be visible in the
home page's source code somewhere?

there's a domain name i'd like to buy - when i type it in a browser, it goes
to kind of a generic search page with some links. as long as it doesn't return
a "not found" message, does that mean someone owns it?
if so, how can i figure out who owns it or who to buy it from, and when it
expires?

Joe Makowiec

2006-02-12, 6:32 pm

On 08 Feb 2006 in macromedia.dreamweaver, BullocksTroy wrote:

> how can you tell who owns a particular domain name? would it be
> visible in the home page's source code somewhere?

http://www.google.com/search?q=whois
http://samspade.org/

> there's a domain name i'd like to buy - when i type it in a
> browser, it goes to kind of a generic search page with some links.
> as long as it doesn't return a "not found" message, does that mean
> someone owns it?

Pretty generally.

> if so, how can i figure out who owns it or who to buy it from, and
> when it expires?

Usually when you hit that kind of page, there will be something
somewhere on the page which indicates who you can write to make an
offer for the domain.

Otherwise, many registrars offer one or both of two services:
- a 'reserve domain' function. For a few bucks, they'll keep a watch
on a domain name, and when it becomes free, they will grab it, hold it,
and notify you.
- a 'make an offer' service. You tell them what the domain is worth to
you, and they will approach the current owner of the domain (see
'whois' above) with that offer.

Or you can keep a watch on it yourself, and buy it when it becomes
free. Details of when that is come along with other whois information.

--
Joe Makowiec
http://makowiec.net/
Email: http://makowiec.net/email.php

wadup

2006-02-12, 6:32 pm

http://www.whois.sc/

go tot he site above, type in the url and you should get the info you
need.......some pople have the info lock so you will not be able to access
their personal info....

hope this help...

Gary White

2006-02-12, 6:32 pm

On Wed, 8 Feb 2006 18:12:23 +0000 (UTC), "BullocksTroy"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

>how can you tell who owns a particular domain name? would it be visible in the
>home page's source code somewhere?

Might, or might not be in the source code. That's up to whoever
developed the page. You can find information about the domain name at
http://dnsstuff.com

Gary

BullocksTroy

2006-02-12, 6:34 pm

ok, i found the info i need. but i'm not entirely sure how this usually works...

would i just email the current registrant directly and make an offer? how do i
know what's reasonable? one site (www.moniker.com) had a service where you
could make an offer, and it said it had to be at least $400 - is this the
standard?

and it says the domain expires in a few months - so what happens then? if i
want to reserve it after the expiration date, should i make an offer beforehand
to guarantee i will get it?
b/c i suppose i can't really know whether they plan to renew it, although i
wouldn't think so since there's nothing really up on the site now...

Gary White

2006-02-12, 6:34 pm

On Wed, 8 Feb 2006 21:19:54 +0000 (UTC), "BullocksTroy"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

> b/c i suppose i can't really know whether they plan to renew it, although i
>wouldn't think so since there's nothing really up on the site now...

You can't know. Maybe they're just using it for e-mail. The first thing
to do would be to contact them and ask what their intentions are.

Gary

Joe Makowiec

2006-02-12, 6:35 pm

On 08 Feb 2006 in macromedia.dreamweaver, BullocksTroy wrote:

> ok, i found the info i need. but i'm not entirely sure how this
> usually works...
>
> would i just email the current registrant directly and make an
> offer? how do i know what's reasonable? one site (www.moniker.com)
> had a service where you could make an offer, and it said it had to
> be at least $400 - is this the standard?
>
> and it says the domain expires in a few months - so what happens
> then? if i want to reserve it after the expiration date, should i
> make an offer beforehand to guarantee i will get it?

I just went to register.com and did a search for a domain which I know
is already taken. It came up with two options - one was make an
anonymous offer ($200, I assume US$, minimum); the other was to click
for whois information. Along with that information, they gave you the
same option of making an anonymous offer, or backordering.
Backordering was free, but registering the domain would set you back
$60. Other registrars may vary; that's the one I happened to try.
Check the procedure at a few to find out. I have a couple of domains
with register.com, but I neither recommend nor not-recommend them.

> b/c i suppose i can't really know whether they plan to renew it,
> although i wouldn't think so since there's nothing really up on the
> site now...

It depends on what the domain is worth to you, and what the other party
figures it's worth.

- If you want it right away and badly, by all means make an offer.
Just remember that this lets the party who owns it know that you're
interested (or at least that somebody is), and the price could go up.
- Remember that a direct offer is worth more to the selling party (I
assume that the registrar grabs a few bucks on the way through), but at
least if the deal doesn't go through and you're dealing with a
registrar rather than a third party you probably have some recourse to
get your money back.
- If you don't want it immediately, and you figure that it will, in due
course, expire, then by all means wait it out. However, it may not be
available on the expiration date; many registrars lock the registration
and offer the original owner X days/weeks/months to redeem the domain
before they toss it back into the ether.
- If you don't mind waiting, and want a reasonable assurance of getting
the domain, shop around a few registrars and find out who's cheapest
for a 'backorder'.

For what it's worth, there was one domain which I wanted. I waited
several months past when it expired, but was unable to register it. I
got an email at one point telling me that it was finally available and
offering to register it for me for some fairly substantial sum. Before
I did that, I went to a registrar, plugged it in, and picked it up for
$10/year.

--
Joe Makowiec
http://makowiec.net/
Email: http://makowiec.net/email.php