Batch of Democratic Domain Names are expiring/dropping

[rabid_nerd]

From my custom-programmed filter, these domain names are dropping* tomorrow.

DEMOCRAT DOMAINS
================
2004DEMOCRAT.COM - oooh
2004DEMOCRATS.COM - oooh
DEMOCRATICGOVERNMENTINSTITUTE.COM
DEMOCRATICGOVERNMENTINSTITUTE.NET
DEMOCRATICGOVERNMENTJPROJECT.COM - why there's a J in there...?
DEMOCRATICGOVERNMENTJPROJECT.NET
IOWAPROGRESSIVEDEMOCRAT.COM

If anyone wants to try to secure one you can wait until tomorrow afternoon - after about 2PM ET - and hope noone else gets it (but you get it at market rate) or you can try to back-order it, which costs at least $20 in most places (including through me)...

I don't want these domains, so I'm not going to register them on my own, but I just thought maybe there was someone out there that might... I can help someone if they do want them or point them to how to do it on their own.

Herb
http://DemocraticDomains.com

* - Dropping: Someone once registered these domains but did not renew them, nor have they attempted to renew them up to 45 days after they expired, so they are now in "Pending Delete" status. Tomorrow is when these domains exit "Pending Delete" and are actually deleted. This makes these domains open to the public again. However, if someone sees these domains and likes them, they may have already put their order in to backorder the domain(s) - which means that as soon as theit agent noticed the domain is actually deleted, it will register it for them immediately and automatically.

[alexwcovington]

1. I thought registrars paid a flat fee for unlimited registrations

Meaning, if you file the paperwork and pay the fee, you can register all you want for zilch.

[rabid_nerd]

2. Not true...

Since 1998, there is a fee involved to register a domain.

Since 2000, the Network Solutions monopoly on domain registrations was broken, allowing other accredited "registrars" to register domain names.

They must pay a fee to become accredited, but also a quarterly accreditation fee based on that registrar's share of all TLD registrations you control.

This quarterly fee does translate to a per-domain cost of between $4-5/year. Add marketing, hardware, software, payroll, credit card processing fees, etc. etc. and you see why anything below $6.50/year at the very minimum (and generally that is only for top level resellers) is a loss-leader.

For example, .US domains at GoDaddy right now are $4.95/year. But the renewal fee is $8.95/year.

For more details, see: http://www.namefaqs.com/question/qstId/18.html