Here is what you need to know:<p>What status is the domain in (expired, rgp, pendingdelete). Expired means the registrar has renewed it for free for X days (it lasts up to like 45 days I think, it depends on registrar's policy). RGP is expensive expired, the registry charges I think $50 and registrars generally charge $100+. Then pendingdelete, means it DELETES in 5-6 days depending on registry (verisign/pir... not sure on neustar).<p>If its just expired and NOT RGP, then you have to check for registrar relationships. Most places call it something like pre-release and have an agreement with a dropcatcher/auction site. The most popular ones being NameJet, SnapNames, Pool. Figure out which one has pre-release rights and backorder there. IT WILL NOT ACTUALLY EXPIRE IF SOMEONE HAS BID ON PRERELEASE.<p>If its hit RGP (redemption grace period) it is going to drop eventually unless the owner renews it. You can try to contact the owner and buy it that way, it's risky, but it's the only thing happening at that point.<p>PendingDelete means it's expiring. It will be delete from the registry and whomever orders it fastest will get it. The original registrar has ZERO advantage at this point. big companies like namejet/snapnames/pool have a ton of registrar partners who they use all of their connections at once to try and grab these domains. Most of them allow you to backorder for free and if they catch it, it goes to auction between those who ordered it. Backorder it for free at ALL of them. Hopefully one of them catches it and not a private company investing in domains for themselves.<p>Good luck. If you have any questions I am happy to answer more.
It is also helpful knowing if any of the drop catching services have "first dibs" on the name you're looking to acquire. Most (all?) drop catchers have registrar relationships, so it may very well be the case that one service has a huge advantage over the others.<p>Personally I don't know if these lists are published (a quick search yielded nothing current), but I would do a bit of research to see if the registrar of your desired domain does have a drop catcher partnership. Failing that, I would put in a bid on all the services you've mentioned.<p>Godaddy backordering is a special case, as you have to buy a credit upfront (whether or not the name is secured). If the current registrar turns out to be GoDaddy or one of its subsidiaries (eg. Wild West Domains, there may be others), then be sure to buy that credit. Otherwise, I'd advise against it. I've never seen GoDaddy's drop catch come out on top (granted its a small sample size, I've used dropcatching to secure approx 10 low-competition domains).<p>EDIT: A quick WHOIS on the domain will tell you the current registrar. I'm sure you don't want to share the specific name, but sharing the current registrar here may help out.
Where is the domain registered now? You can find this in the WHOIS.<p>Most registrars either own or have a relationship with a service which auctions off all of their dropped domains several weeks before they have even expired (if they are renewed the auctions are voided). If the domain is with one of these registrars, join the auction on their site (or partners site) and hopefully pick it up for the minimum bid.<p>Here is a partial list:<p>GoDaddy --> tdnam.com
Moniker --> snapnames.com
Fabulous --> namejet.com
eNom --> namejet.com
tucows --> namejet.com