This is almost like reading an Agatha Christie novel, with Mike Davidson’s compelling account of the detailed steps he took to buy an expired domain that he really wanted. He never actually tells us what that domain is, but his writing style drew me in, and that’s an easy ticket to landing on my reading list. Check this out from how to snatch an expiring domain:

So if domains are available to the general public 75 days after they expire, how do you know your GoDaddy backorder isn’t one of many other backorders from other people using other services? The answer is, you don’t. And thus begins the cloak-and-dagger game of “getting in on The Drop.” “The Drop” is the unpredictable three hour period of time in which the domain is deleted from VeriSign’s database and released back into the ecosystem.

So there’s the magic number (my bolding above) to remember: 75 days after the expiration date. And to boot Mike is from the Seattle area, right on. Well done, Mike. Subscribed!