SnapNames and NameJet are one inventory under two logos, the backorder costs $79, and the name only reaches them if its current registrar sends it there. Check that before paying anyone.
Skip the three-day auction
Expired domains already checked, with DR, backlinks, referring domains, age and a fixed asking price on each listing. Membership $24.50/mo billed yearly, or $49/mo, reveals the names and the Ahrefs reports.
Browse the catalogue Unlock one listing freeThe short answer
A SnapNames or NameJet backorder costs $79 for a .com and is charged only if you win the name. Both sites belong to Newfold Digital and share one inventory, so backordering at both only bids against yourself. If you are the sole backorder you usually pay $79; if anyone else wants the name, a private auction of about three days decides the price. It is worth using when the domain sits at Network Solutions, Bluehost, IONOS or another registrar that feeds them, and useless when it does not.
This is the check most backorder guides skip. Names at the registrars in blue are handed to NameJet and SnapNames before the pending-delete stage, so a DropCatch or Dynadot backorder on them never fires. Look up the registrar in WHOIS, then backorder in the right place.
Registrar
Network Solutions, Register.com, Domain.com
Goes to: NameJet and SnapNames
Registrar
Bluehost, HostGator, Dotster
Goes to: NameJet and SnapNames
Registrar
IONOS group, Ascio, Automattic (WordPress.com)
Goes to: NameJet and SnapNames
Registrar
PublicDomainRegistry, LogicBoxes resellers, OnlineNic, CrazyDomains
Goes to: NameJet and SnapNames
Registrar
GoDaddy
Goes to: GoDaddy Auctions, never reaches the drop
Registrar
Most other registrars
Goes to: Public drop, caught by DropCatch, Dynadot and others
Registrar list as reported by Domain Name Wire in August 2025. Registrar agreements change, so treat it as a starting point.
Both sites block automated fetching, so figures come from their public help text as quoted in search results and from domain trade press. We state where a figure is second-hand.
| Rule | SnapNames and NameJet | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Backorder price | $79 minimum for .com (raised from $69 in July 2016) | Higher than DropCatch at $59 and Dynadot at $24.99, but it covers names those two never see. |
| When you are charged | Only when the name is acquired and awarded to you | Backordering a long list costs nothing until something lands. |
| One backorder | Usually awarded at the backorder price | SnapNames reserves the right to open a caught name to a public auction under its terms. |
| Two or more backorders | Private auction, about 3 days, backorder holders only | A domain with visible backlinks will draw several bidders. Set your ceiling first. |
| Shared inventory | One inventory since 2020, both owned by Newfold Digital | Backorder at one of them, never both. |
| Unsold names | "Bid or buy" second chance listings since October 2025, e.g. $19 bid or $39 Buy It Now | Cheap, but these are names nobody wanted at auction. Check why. |
The $79 figure is real for a name nobody else noticed. An expired .com with a clean profile of a few hundred referring domains is not that name. Every finder tool shows it to thousands of subscribers, several of them backorder it, and the fee becomes an opening bid.
Neither site publishes a dataset of private auction results, so nobody can quote you an average. What is certain is that the price is set by the most determined bidder, not by the fee. You also carry the vetting yourself: nothing in the auction tells you whether the links are relevant, or whether the name spent a year as a redirect farm.
The listings live in our catalogue today are priced from $1,800 to $2,400, with Ahrefs DR from 42 to 51, and the asking price is the whole price of the name. No auction, no three-day wait, and the Ahrefs report comes with the name.
Use it
A competitor's lapsed brand, a keyword .com you have watched for months, and WHOIS shows a registrar in the Newfold feed. Backorder at one of the two and set a firm auction ceiling.
Use it with care
Spread backorders across NameJet, DropCatch and Dynadot by registrar. You pay only on a catch, so coverage is cheap. The cost is the hours you spend vetting what arrives.
Skip it
Backorders are a lottery on timing and competition. When the deadline is yours, a buy expired domains listing with the metrics and the price public is the quicker route.
If the name you are after is still active and nowhere near expiry, a backorder will sit idle for months. In that case it is often faster to buy a premium name outright from its current owner than to wait for a renewal date that may never be missed.
For the fee side of the other services, our domain backorder service comparison puts DropCatch, Dynadot and NameJet side by side, and the DropCatch review covers the $59 backorder and its public auctions in detail. For names that do drop, the Dynadot backorder review explains the $24.99 option and its 7 to 10 day public auction.
Run a WHOIS lookup. If the registrar is not in the Newfold feed, backorder at DropCatch or Dynadot instead.
Pull the backlink profile, count referring domains, read the Wayback history. A clean score is not relevance.
Decide the most the name is worth to you before the private auction opens, then stay under it.
Payment is due when you win and notices can be missed. Check the account daily until the transfer lands.
Yes, in practice. Both marketplaces are owned by Newfold Digital, the group behind Network Solutions and Register.com, and since 2020 they list the same inventory. A backorder placed at either one competes for the same names and ends in the same auction, so there is no point backordering at both.
The standard minimum is $79 for a .com, the price both SnapNames and NameJet have charged since they raised it from $69 in July 2016. You are charged only if the name is acquired and awarded to you. If other people backorder the same name, the $79 becomes the opening bid of an auction rather than the price.
The name goes to a private auction that normally runs about three days, and only the people who placed a backorder can bid. The highest bidder wins and pays the winning bid, not the $79. For any expiring .com with a real backlink profile, expect several backorders and a contested auction.
No. The backorder is a bid that is charged only when the name is caught and awarded to you. If the owner renews, another service catches it, or you lose the auction, nothing is billed. The real cost of losing is the time spent watching names that never arrive.
Yes. NameJet has operated since 2008 and has a Better Business Bureau profile in Jacksonville, Florida. Complaints on review sites are mostly about slow transfers after payment and missed e-mail notices, not about fraud. Pay attention to your dashboard rather than waiting for e-mails, and budget a few days for the transfer.
Neither is better in general, because they catch different names. NameJet and SnapNames get expiring names from Network Solutions, Bluehost, IONOS and a dozen other registrars before those names ever drop. DropCatch catches names that do drop at the registry. Check the current registrar first, then backorder where the name will actually go.
Pick one of the two, never both, and only for names held at a registrar that feeds them. The $79 is the entry ticket, not the price, for any domain with links worth inheriting. If you want the name without the auction, see what a checked domain costs first, or read where to buy expired domains for every route side by side.