Sniping domain auctions will save you lots of money and help you avoid unnecessary headaches. Period! It’s not that difficult to snipe under the right circumstances… Unfortunately not everybody knows how to snipe, why or when. I often see newer up-and-comers in the domain business make the mistake of placing a bid way ahead of time. Sometimes a few days before the auction even starts. Sometimes a whole freakin week!!

This is a classic “newbie” mistake and a big no no. You do not want to do this for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that a pre-bid will reveal the domain to the rest of the world. What does this mean though? Simply put.. If you place a bid on a domain that is going to be auctioned off at NameJet.com for example, that domain will now be visible publicly to everybody else in a special page which shows all of the current day’s domains being ordered.

So you did all the work basically… You found a good domain… You researched the domain properly and determined that it is worth this and that… You place a bid on it ahead of time and now hundreds or even thousands of other people see that domain and have all the time in the world to order it as well. Guess what they are going to do? Yup!! They are going to do some research and then most likely place their own bid, and there you have it… An auction or bidding war in the making.

You can sometimes avoid this, easily! You must snipe the domain. You wait until the very last minute to place your bid / order. At NameJet for example the deadline is 11:00 PM EST every night for domains that are to be auctioned off / available the following day. All of the “veteran” and seasoned professionals wait until the very last minute to place their bids because they do not want to reveal which domains they are trying to acquire. Why risk it??!?

Sniping domains keeps costs down as much as possible by preventing domain sharks and leeches to get in on the auction. That is why at the very last minute the lists of domains being ordered at SnapNames and NameJet increase quite a bit. This is nothing new and has been going on forever, but still I see it every day where some people do not snipe. People place their bids ahead of time and often have only themselves to blame for not winning the domain later on because things got heated.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to place a bid ahead of time sometimes if you are going to be away from the computer to do this and that or have bad internet connectivity, etc… But if you are serious about domaining and buy domains day in and day out via SnapNames, NameJet or GoDaddy you should snipe them as much as possible.

We all know about the exact deadlines as well. It is not secretive information. NameJet.com cut off is 11 pm EST. SnapNames.com is 3:15 pm EST. GoDaddy does things a bit different since all expiring domains are immediately auctioned off.. You want to wait until the last 10th second of the 2nd minute before the auction is closing and place your bid right there and then.

So next time you find that great domain that is going to be auctioned off at SnapNames, NameJet or GoDaddy, think twice before placing your bid right away. Don’t rush… Take your time and do try to snipe, if possible. You will be glad you did.. Trust me on this