Also called tasting
Domain tasting, explained
The loophole was in registry rules. A registrar that deleted a new name within five days of registration got its fee back, so tasters could park large numbers of names briefly at almost no cost and keep only those whose type-in traffic paid. ICANN closed it with the Add Grace Period Limits Policy, adopted in 2008 and in effect from April 2009: registries may refund grace-period deletions only up to 10% of a registrar's net new registrations in a month, or 50 names, whichever is greater, and the .com registry may charge for disproportionate deletes.
Tasting is history, but it explains rules investors still meet. The five-day grace period still exists, so a registrar may cancel a mistaken registration, but any refund is at its discretion. Do not confuse tasting with domain kiting, which deleted and re-registered the same names over and over to hold them without paying, or with front-running, in which someone registers names after seeing your searches.
Example. Under the old rules, a taster could register a name, watch its ad clicks for five days and delete it for a refund if it did not pay.
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Education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Domain investing is speculative and most domain names never sell. Read the disclaimer.