Pay attention! This is an urban legend, but I have heard this one a lot.
Word on the street is that when you’re going to buy a domain, you make a LIST before you go to your favorite registrar. And if you find the domain you want -your first choice- BUY IT IMMEDIATLY.
Lots of people go first to check if a domain is available, then take some days to “think about it.”
Well, except that according to some people (I include myself, by the way, even if I have no way to confirm this is actually a fact) there are bots checking out what domains are wanted by people, and if you don’t buy them right away, they will snatch it from your hands and then try to sell the domain to you for an obscene amount of money. You have probably heard of this people… they are called domain squatters. They have no use for the domain but they will buy it so they can resell.
So next time you search for the domain of your dreams, be sure you hit the enter button with the right hand while your left one nurses your credit card.
Happy Domain Buying! (Thanks a lot to ziRta of http://www.oseano.net for reminding me of this)
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Thanks for the mention, Maritza
I don’t think it’s an urban legend, because this was told to me by a domainer friend who works in the field along SEO specialists, web designers and such. That’s how I lost http://controlzetacomics.com, because I didn’t register it right away- luckily, I asked for it to the domainer politely, and he gave it back with no charge! This was one in a million, so don’t push your luck for it!
I also lost another domain because I searched it at some Spanish registrar -can’t remember the name, sorry. If some client uses ther whois search to look up for some interesting domain and doesn’t register it, they’ll go for it, and that’s what happened!
Oh, funny fact: In Spanish, these people who snatch domains are called ciber okupas xD
Comment by Zirta — April 10, 2010 @ 6:25 pm