Domain Parachute

Auctions Have Arrived

Alan Guerin — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:51:32 GMT

Demand for expiring .UK domains through Domain Parachute has grown significantly since our launch in 2024. As competition for the same domains increases, our first-come, first-served model is no longer the right approach for allocating contested domains.

We first announced our intention to introduce auctions last year and we’re now ready to make them generally available.

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Backorders placed before launch will continue to be handled as they are today, using first-come, first-served allocation at the current price.

Below, we explain how auctions will work and outline the other changes you can expect.

How Our Auctions Work

When Domain Parachute secures a domain, a blind auction runs automatically at the time of the drop. Only customers who have placed a backorder for the domain are eligible to participate.

Where there is only a single backorder, no auction takes place, and the domain is awarded immediately at the minimum backorder price.

Auctions use proxy bidding. When you place a backorder, you submit a proxy bid — the maximum amount you’re willing to pay. Bids are not visible to other participants before or during the auction.

The highest bidder wins, but pays the second-highest bid plus an increment, or their own maximum bid if that is lower. You will never pay more than the amount you set.

If you are unsuccessful in securing the domain, you do not pay anything.

This change gives everyone the opportunity to backorder a domain and compete on equal terms, rather than being excluded because another customer has already placed a backorder.

For more information on the process, see our auction how-to guide.

How Pricing Is Changing

To support our new auction system, we’re simplifying our pricing.

Previously, domain backorders were offered at a fixed price of £39 excluding VAT. We are moving to a minimum bid of £39, with all bid amounts including VAT where applicable. The amount you bid is the maximum you will pay. This may result in a lower net price for some users.

This is intended to make the bidding process simpler and fairer, ensuring price clarity for all bidders.

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Drop us a note at support@domainparachute.com if you have any questions. We’re happy to help.

Marketplace and Auctions Coming Soon

Alan Guerin — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 18:45:12 GMT

Since launching our service last year, we’ve been thrilled with the support from our customers and the wider community. The volume of orders we’ve received has reinforced our commitment to providing a top-tier drop-catching service and has helped us refine and improve our offerings.

Looking ahead, we have some exciting updates in the works, including the marketplace and auction features mentioned below, as well as ongoing improvements to our platform’s performance. We’ll share more details as these updates unfold and look forward to enhancing your experience with us.

Strength in Numbers: A Marketplace for .UK Backorders

We’re always looking for ways to improve and deliver a customer-first platform. That’s why we’re working on a new marketplace that lets us partner and collaborate with other .UK registrars. We’ve learned that .UK drop-catching is a team effort, and by building strong partnerships, we can expand our capabilities and improve the customer experience.

Collaboration in the .UK drop-catching space is key to making our platform more effective, giving customers the best chance to secure valuable domain names. By working with trusted partners, we can refine our approach, boost efficiency, and get better outcomes for everyone.

We’re really excited about what this means and can’t wait to share more as we move forward.

From Fast to Fair: The Move to Auctions

Our first-come, first-served approach to backordering has worked well, but as demand increases, we see some limitations. With more customers placing backorders, many popular domains can become unavailable quickly, which can be frustrating.

To address this, we’re introducing an auction-based model as an additional option for securing in-demand domains. We believe auctions offer a fair and balanced way for customers to compete, giving everyone an equal shot at acquiring valuable domains.

While this marks a shift in our approach, our commitment to fairness and a customer-first experience remains the same. We’ll continue engaging with our community throughout this process to fine-tune the details and ensure the best possible experience.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s been with us on this journey so far, and to those who have yet to join us. Your support, feedback, and enthusiasm continue to inspire us to keep improving and innovating.

Stay tuned for more updates—until then, catch you on the drop!

— The Domain Parachute Team

Open for Business: A Big Thank You to the UK Domain Community!

Alan Guerin — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 14:55:32 GMT

We are thrilled to share that Domain Parachute is now open for business! Over the past week, we’ve engaged with the UK domain community, and the response has been incredibly positive. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for the warm welcome, valuable feedback, and high level of engagement from everyone. Your enthusiasm and insights are already helping us shape the future of Domain Parachute, and we couldn’t be more grateful!

We’ve been especially excited to hear your positive feedback on our product’s user interface, design, and overall experience. Your constructive comments on the UK domain market conditions have also been extremely insightful. Thank you for sharing these with us—we will certainly keep them in mind as we continue to evolve our offerings.

Based on the feedback we've received, we have already taken several steps to enhance our platform. Here are some updates and improvements we've made in response to your suggestions:

Key Updates Based on Your Feedback:

Domain Watchlist: Many of you have expressed interest in a watch list feature that provides notifications about changes to a domain. We want you to know it’s on our radar, and we’re working hard to roll it out in the near future. Stay tuned for updates!

Clearer Backorder Status: It was frustrating for users to only find out that a domain was already backordered after they attempted to place a backorder themselves. We only support backorders on a first-come, first-served basis, and we’ve updated our system to display clear status information upfront. You’ll now be informed if a domain already has a backorder in place before starting the order process. We're sorry for the frustration this caused.

Removing Renewed Domains from Search Results: Our expiring domain search includes domains that have since been renewed. We’re actively working to update our search functionality to exclude these renewed domains, ensuring a more accurate and efficient search experience for all users.

Looking Ahead: Your Feedback Fuels Our Progress

Your trust and feedback have been invaluable to us, and we’ve been thrilled by the number of backorders you’ve placed, giving us a fantastic opportunity to refine our drop-catching software. We are continually working to enhance our algorithms and better tailor our services to meet your needs. Rest assured, we have more exciting updates and features on the way, and we’ll keep you informed as we roll them out.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has joined us so far for your support, encouragement, and thoughtful feedback. We are committed to growing and evolving with you and are excited to see what we can accomplish together!

Stay tuned for more updates—until then, catch you on the drop!

— The Domain Parachute Team