How to acquire an expired domain name?

A good friend of mine has had her domain name for 15 years. She couldnt pay it right before it got expired but she planned on paying it right after that to maintain ownership but before she could someone else stole it from her and doesnt even use it. this person has now made it one of those placeholder websites that tell you the damain is available and asks you to make an offer to purchase it from them. She's made offers but the guy said he wanted $3500 back for it. So because of that she hasnt been able to get it back.

I checked the whois info on the domain and it says that it expires next month. My question is if she registers it as soon as it expires will she get her domain back from the person who stole it?

Yeah the parking shinanegans of some people.. Damn domain trollers.

Whatever domain registrar she buys it from should have a feature to get it back when it's available. If not then look back and usually after it expires there is an invoice and 'redemption period' so they can get it back 'if' they really were serious..

So be careful, don't contact them anymore and when it expires bid for it ( not bid for them, for the name which should be $15-25 for a backorder ) or wait a bit longer and it should be yours..

You know GoDaddy has a backorder service.. check with them when it happens.

If she's able to get at it before buddy the snake renews, then yes, she can get it back.

People do this all the time (buy expired sites then demand big bucks for them) - which is why no one should ever search for a domain name they want on one of the registry sites. NEVER do searches there....search with your browser online then go and purchase it right away.

The other person didn't really steal the site - they bought it fair and square....demanding that kind of money for it isn't nice though.