Creation Date reset after catching dropped domain.

[Jeroen]

Yesterday I bought an aged (+9 yrs) domain via Snapnames.
When I just checked the WHOIS records it says 'Creation Date: 20-Mar-2012'

To say I'm mad right now would be an understatement, it's age was one reason I bought the domain.

DomainTools is still mentioning "NS History: 19 changes on 10 unique name servers over 9 years. "

Is it normal that the creation date is reset after catching a dropped name?

 

[varlov]

Is it normal that the creation date is reset after catching a dropped name?

Yes, thats why we call it dropped.
If you want to buy domain that will keep its age, try Expiring auction list, not Dropped one ...

Good luck!

 

[draggar]

It dropped thus making it available to register - therefore the creation date is the date it was "caught".

This is normal with dropped names.

 

[Jeroen]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I backordered this name via Snapnames so I don't understand if or why it was really dropped. They transferred the domain from Moniker to another registrar. It's weird because I received another domain I bought at the same time in my Moniker account.

Anyway, I contacted them, will let you know what happened.

ps. Something that I don't understand is that whenever I buy aged domains via the same route as described above, the original creation date remains. I'm just puzzled what this case sets apart.

 

[katherine]

Dropped names: they get deleted after going through redemption then pending-delete.
The creation date is reset since technically it's a new registration.

Prerelease names: they do not expire at registry level, because the registrar renews them, then they go to auction within a month or so.
Many large registrars like Enom Netsol Godaddy etc make their expiring domains available as prerelease (not every TLD).
What happens behind the scenes is nothing more than an internal push (from the previous owner to your account).

In fact, the registrars normally always renew the expired names provisionally, so as to offer a grace period to their customers. Otherwise the name would go in redemption from day one and it's expensive to redeem. They have up to 45 days to cancel the provisional renew, then the name enters redemption period, the registrar gets the renewal fee back from Verisign... nothing to lose... just try to milk some money by auctioning expired domains that are abandoned. Nice isn't it ?

You should always check the registry whois.
registrar.verisign-grs.com/whois/
If you see redemption period, pending-delete, the name is going to be deleted.

 

[BostonDomainer]

Is it normal that the creation date is reset after catching a dropped name?

It sounds like you backordered a "Pending Delete" domain rather then a 'Pre-Release" domain at Snapnames.

 

[Jeroen]

I just ordered another name via Snapnames.
It has the following details:
--------------------------
Snapnames

Registrar Info:whois

Status: pendingDelete

(Updated Date: 15-mar-2012
Creation Date: 14-feb-2001
Expiration Date: 14-feb-2012)

Source: Drop
Numbers: None
Hyphens: None
--------------------------
So, if I understand correctly, because it says 'Source: Drop' and 'Pending Delete' it means the Creation Date is going to be reset when the domain is going to end up in my account?

 

[varlov]

Yes, it will start from 0.
Instead of "Drop" it should be the "name of the Registrar" (or Private seller) and it will keep the age.

I just ordered another name via Snapnames.
It has the following details:
--------------------------
Snapnames

Registrar Info:whois

Status: pendingDelete

(Updated Date: 15-mar-2012
Creation Date: 14-feb-2001
Expiration Date: 14-feb-2012)

Source: Drop
Numbers: None
Hyphens: None
--------------------------
So, if I understand correctly, because it says 'Source: Drop' and 'Pending Delete' it means the Creation Date is going to be reset when the domain is going to end up in my account?

 

[Jeroen]

It's still a bit confusing to me because when I bought domains in Godaddy Closeout (pending delete) they kept their original Creation Date.

 

[varlov]

Godaddy is diferent.
They do not sell domains that will drop after winning the auction. They auction only domains registered at Godaddy.

Snapnames and Namejet has two auction types:
Pre-release/Expiring domains and Delete/Drop domains.
Keep age - Lose age.

at Snapnames you need to be careful about - Registrar Info:
if the Source: Drop - will start from 0 age.

at Namejet when you click on domain it is written: Pre-release or Pending delete auction type.

It's still a bit confusing to me because when I bought domains in Godaddy Closeout (pending delete) they kept their original Creation Date.

 

[Jeroen]

Godaddy is diferent.
They do not sell domains that will drop after winning the auction. They auction only domains registered at Godaddy.
......at Namejet when you click on domain it is written: Pre-release or Pending delete auction type.

Thanks, that clarifies it much better.

 

[katherine]

The whois record from the registrar can be misleading.
In fact, the output varies a lot from one registrar to another.

For example, you have a domain created in 2001 and originally registered with Netsol. Then on 01-Sep-2003 you decide to transfer the domain to Enom.
Enom will indicate a creation date of 01-Sep-2003, that is the date the domain name entered their own records (the effective transfer date). Nothing to do with the real birth date. A few other registrars have the same behavior but most will match the registry date.

The true creation date is that shown at registry level.

The registrars also use confusing terms.
For example, pending deletion or renewal at Netsol simply means the domain is in grace period and available on prerelease auction soon. It's not even in redemption, nor pending delete.
'Deleting' might simply mean expired at some registrar etc.


One example to further explain (or confuse you):
The domain name ku40.com is available on prerelease at Namejet.

Registry whois:

  Domain Name: KU40.COM
   Registrar: ENOM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.enom.com
   Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
   Name Server: DNS1.NAME-SERVICES.COM
   Name Server: DNS2.NAME-SERVICES.COM
   Name Server: DNS3.NAME-SERVICES.COM
   Name Server: DNS4.NAME-SERVICES.COM
   Name Server: DNS5.NAME-SERVICES.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 17-feb-2012
   Creation Date: 16-feb-2011
[B]   Expiration Date: 16-feb-2013[/B]

Registrar whois:

Domain name: ku40.com 

Administrative Contact: 
....

Technical Contact: 
...

Registrant Contact: 
...

Status: Locked 

Name Servers: 
   dns1.name-services.com 
   dns2.name-services.com 
   dns3.name-services.com 
   dns4.name-services.com 
   dns5.name-services.com 
   
Creation date: 17 Feb 2011 10:01:00 
Expiration date: [B]16 Feb 2012[/B] 11:35:00

As you can see the name is 'expired' from the POV of the registrar (because renewal has not been paid) but it's been renewed with the registry. If nobody bids on the name, Enom will send it to redemption and get the renewal fee back (within 45 days).
Then the expiry date in registry whois will switch back to 2012.
That's how it works.

 

[Jeroen]

Thanks again guys.

Just serving as a reference, this is the (insightful) answer I received from Snapnames.

There are two processes by which we obtain domain names for our customers. The first is by working directly with a registrar to acquire their expired domain names. We refer to these registrars as Preferred Partners. When we confirm a purchase, the registrar simply moves a domain name from one account to another within their system. These registrations retain their original creation date. They can be identified by the current registrar (Register.com, Moniker, DirectI, are the most common) and the status (The current status must not yet be "RedemptionPeriod".) This refers only to .com and .net domain names.

Since we do not have preferred partnerships with all registrars, we must acquire the remaining domain names that our customers order as they delete and become available for re-registration. We manage a separate large network of registrar relationships to accomplish this. This method of acquisition is highly competitive, with all of our partners—and our competitors—racing to re-register a targeted domain. Using this technique, we cannot directly control where a domain is registered, and the new registration will have a new creation date.

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer a choice of registrars for the domains that we acquire. We work with over 350 different registrar partners and, in order to be successful in acquiring names, we must use the resources of all of our registrar partners. The domain name is registered with the registrar who helped us to get the domain name. The domain can be managed at that registrar's website and, in accordance with registry/registrar rules, may be transferred to a different registrar if you wish after 60 days have passed.

Cheers,

Jeroen