Recently, I just have gotten myself involved in domain investing. I found that there are too many domains with good names are purchased, but not used. The owner maybe invested in the domain or no longer interested to develop it. If the owner no longer interested to develop it, he may be let the domain to expire & there is a chance for others to catch it.
After the domain expired, it will be made available to general public within 80 days if the owner not renewed it within this period. The process called Domain Deletion Cycle. The table below is the information regarding this cycle.
| No | Cycle Name | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active | 1 – 10 years | The owner may register or renew the domain up to 10 years. |
| 2 | Expired | 1 – 45 days | DNS & email functionality no longer works, but the owner may renew the domain. Registrar is allowed to send delete command to the registry. |
| 3 | Redemption Grace Period | 30 days | WHOIS record will be deleted, and the domain is not useable. The owner may renew the domain, but it may cost nearly $200. |
| 4 | Deletion | 5 days | The domain will be deleted from the registry at the end of 5 days. |
| 5 | Available | The domain is available again to be registered. |
You may use Domain Drop Date Tools to find or the drop date for .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .US domains.