Domain names don't stay registered forever. When an owner lets one expire and it isn't renewed, it eventually becomes available again (see The Domain Lifecycle, Explained for the full lifecycle). Two related practices exist around catching that moment:

• Backordering — placing a request in advance with a service to attempt registering a domain the instant it becomes available, without you having to watch and act manually.

• Drop-catching — the more competitive, technical version of the same idea: specialized services maintain infrastructure built specifically to register a freshly dropped domain within milliseconds of its release, since many domains attract multiple simultaneous backorder attempts the moment they free up.

This is a real, active niche within domain investing. NameBright's own sister company under the same parent, DropCatch.com, is one of the better-known drop-catching services in the industry.