Someone else has domain I want but is not using it yet

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Alerner

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Someone else has the domain I want. But they are not using it yet (i.e. no website on it yet); the domain is registered and the registrar has a page up showing it is registered for their client.

If the domain was "tradingcard.com" and the plural version, "tradingcards.com", is available, is there any point in buying that and trying to compete?

And should I just buy the plural version and get my site up first? Would that avoid any disagreement later about who was first?

thanks
 
M

M@rc

Member
You can always attempt to contact the owner of the domain (WhoIs for example) to purchase it from them.
Other than that, you'll have to wait until the domain expires and the grace period (if any) is over.

You can go along and purchase the plural version but personally, I prefer to purchase both the singular and the plural versions of a domain to eliminate any people mistakenly going to the wrong website.
PS. I'm sure two webmasters aren't going to have a CAT fight about "who was first", ;)
 
A

Alerner

Member
It is not an issue of a catfight .... but rather if the other party can send me a "cease and desist" letter for trading with this domain, based on the fact that they had the singular version of the domain registered first?
 
J

jmcc

Active Member
Alerner said:
It is not an issue of a catfight .... but rather if the other party can send me a "cease and desist" letter for trading with this domain, based on the fact that they had the singular version of the domain registered first?
Click to expand...
A C&D letter often depends on the other business trading as the domain term or having some intellectual property rights in the term such as a trademark. If it is a generic term then the plural might be equally generic (again the TM thing would apply). It would also depend on the jurisdictions (are the owners in the same country?) and the TLD (is it a .com or .ie?).

Regards...jmcc
 
A

Alerner

Member
Thanks Jmcc.

It is a .com and it is a generic 3 word term. I have no idea if they will trade as the domain term ... or if they have some intellectual property as the website is not up yet.

I am leaning to using a slightly different url however to avoid any hassle in the long term.

Thanks
 
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