Thu, 9 Dec 2004
Net24 launches new auction service for expiring domain names
Press release, 9-Dec-04, Net24, Christchurch, NZ: Online businesses searching for eye-catching domain names to house
their websites can now use a smart new tool for finding and buying names already registered, but which are about to
become available on the open market.
Domain name Registrar and Web hosting provider Net24 (www.net24.co.nz) has launched Expired Domains
(www.expireddomains.co.nz), a New Zealand-first service that allows people and organisations to view, bid for and
register expiring and recently released .nz domain names.
"For a variety of reasons, several thousand domain names expire every month, some potentially valuable to the right
owner. Occasionally real gems emerge, waiting for a canny (or lucky) web operator to snap up, if only they knew where to
look. We calculate that around 2000 domain names expire every month," says Mike Schupbach, Director of Net24.
Net24's new service provides a quick and easy preview of soon to expire domain names and enables people to bid for them
prior to the Registry releasing them.
The highest bidder is awarded the domain name at the bid price and only charged if the domain name is successfully
registered on their behalf by Expired Domains.
The launch of Net24's new service follows the .nz Registry's recent decision to make available to authorised .nz
Registrars a daily list of .nz domain names that will expire within 24 hours.
The service was developed in partnership with Net24's Registrar division, 1st Domains (www.1stdomains.co.nz). 1st
Domain's back-end automated registration process is used to secure domain names on behalf of a customer moments after
the Registry releases them.
As well as providing the ability to bid on expiring domain names, the Expired Domains site will publish recently
released domain names available for registration on a first in, first served basis.
Expired Domain's minimum bid price is $25 and the top-bidding price includes a one-year domain name registration. An
extensive list of recently released domain names can also be registered for $25 for a one-year term with 1st Domains.
About Net24 (www.net24.co.nz)
Net24 is one of New Zealand's leading privately owned website companies. It specialises in website hosting (Unix and
Windows), domain name registration, and data co-location or telehosting services, running a fully redundant network that
is physically located in New Zealand.
Christchurch-based Net24 currently hosts over 2000 websites, manages over 16,000 email accounts, and is the registrar
for more than 14,500 domain names, placing it in the leading handful of New Zealand registrars.
ENDS