We some updates and improvements to our search page, and one of those was the addition of backorders to the search results. We thought it might be helpful to clarify how this works, in case you’re not familiar with our backorder service.
Now when you search for a domain and that domain is already registered by someone else, you will see an option to backorder that domain regardless of when it expires. The idea is that if it ever expires and becomes available to register, be it two weeks or two years from now, you will already have it backordered and you will have a good chance at getting that name. You can always try to manually register a domain once it becomes available, but using our backorder service greatly increases your chances. The best part is if you end up not getting the name, or you decide that you don’t want to wait that long (understandable), not to worry — you will receive a full refund for your order. Not a bad deal, eh?
In some instances, you may want to consider who the current registrant is and the likelihood of the domain name becoming available. If you take my example in the screenshot, lesley.com, and look at the you’ll see that Lesley University is the current registrant. Now if I had to guess, I’d bet that these guys are not going to let their domain name expire and drop..much to my dismay. So realistically it might not be the best use of my money to backorder this domain. But then again, you never know! Stranger things have happened, and since it’s no risk, what have you got to lose?
We hope this helps avoid any confusion if you see this backorder option on your next domain search. As always, we welcome your feedback and questions.