3 letter domains are quite scarce these days, so i think the price difference from 12000 to 995 is more to do with the length of the domain than the actual letters used. Based on that, I think the domain you want may not be cheap considering that .com is often preferred over .net. I have often encountered the same problem as you. Domains, taken up by tragically ugly and unused sites and no owner anywhere to be found. Personally I have never been able to find a solution to the domains I was after… Good luck to you nonetheless! PS: I suppose you have contacted the actual registered domain ‘owner’ listed in the domain registrar?