How it works
When you search for a domain we will let you know if it is available to register or, if it currently registered, when it is due to expire and the date and time the domain will become available. If no other Drop Catcher customer has booked to monitor the domain then you can book a catching slot for the domain. We will monitor your desired domain around the clock in case it is deleted before the scheduled drop time and then at the scheduled drop time our proprietary software will attempt to register the domain for you firing multiple requests to register the domain with your registration details. We charge just £29 to monitor your domain for you and this includes the Nominet registration fee for the first year.
Please note that no guarantee can be provided that a specific domain will be caught as competition is often heavy. If we fail to catch a domain for you we will provide you with a credit to enable you to book another domain. Refunds for registration fees are not offered.
We also offer you the ability to catch the domain with other independent public drop catchers by paying an additional ‘chase’ fee for each drop catcher. The chase fee is set by the independent drop catcher and can be from as little as 10p. The independent DropCatchers will vary the timings of their registration requests to maximise the likelihood of registering the domain for you. The more independent Drop Catchers you pay a chase fee to the more likelihood you have of catching your domain. Please note that chase fees are not refundable under any circumstances and are paid to the independent Drop Catcher for the use of their resources in attempting to catch your domain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the domain expiry process?
Nominet is the organisation that runs the .UK TLD (top-level domain). The have defined the process by which a previously registered domain that is not renewed can be made available to register.
- 30 days after the expiry of a domain it becomes ‘detagged’ and is no longer hosted on two valid name servers. This stops any services associated with the domain name, for example e-mail or a web site from working.
- 90 days after the expiry of a domain it can no longer be renewed.
- 5 days after that at a time specified by Nominet the domain will become available to register.
When can I book a catching slot with Drop Catcher?
You can book a catching slot for a domain at any time in the domain expiry process. It should be at least 1 hour before the drop time on the day when it is being dropped. You should however book your domain with us as early as possible as catching slots for a specific domain are on a first come first served basis and we only monitor a specific domain for one customer. We also monitor domains outside the drop cycle so we register domains in the event they are cancelled outside the normal drop cycle.
Can I just register the domain myself after it expires?
This is called manual registration and will only work if no one else is interested in registering the domain. We register domains within milliseconds of it dropping often firing 50 or more requests within 1 second of the drop time from a server hosted very close to the Nominet server.
I have seen other services offering to monitor my domain name, why should I use yours?
We are by far the longest established and largest service of its kind and we have secured more expired domain names for our clients than most of the other services put together. We offer the lowest price for our service than any other Nominet member and operate the only service to monitor your desired .co.uk domain name for as long as it takes to become available. Other services limit you to 1 year or 18 months of monitoring. DropCatcher.co.uk has been established for over 20 years and are proud to have a client list that includes The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank, British Telecom, Rolex, Sainsbury's, Rolls Royce, Deutsche Telekom, Sony and Columbia Tristar Pictures.
