<b>Reading the drop clock</b>

<b>Reading the drop clock</b>
A refresher worth bookmarking on how a name actually dies, grouped by phase:

— <b>Grace (0-30 days)</b>: still the owner's. Don't chase yet; renewals here are common.
— <b>Redemption (30-75 days)</b>: registrar can restore for a fee. Real abandonment signal starts here.
— <b>Pending Delete (5 days)</b>: the only window worth a backorder. Drop hits ~1-2pm ET for .com.

📌 Pick of the day: pull the WHOIS expiry, add ~75 days, and you've got the approximate drop date. Stack that against your backorder provider's catch list.

Why it matters: most beginners backorder names still in grace and burn credits. Source: ICANN's lifecycle diagram is the canonical reference here.