Buying dropped domains with links and redirecting?

[Dreemer]

I have vaguely heard of a practice, can anyone comment if this works in the slightest?

Allegedly you can check dropped domains and after finding some with backlinks, you buy the domain and then host it, put a redirect on it ( a 301 maybe? ) and basically redirect the links and linkjuice to the domain of your choice. Over time the orginal backlinks may drop away but for a while it might all help your rankings/serps.

Can anyone shed any light on my half-learnt babblings?

[hooperman]

I think there's a good chance that would work if the content on your existing site is aligned with the redirected links. What I'd prefer to do, if it's not too huge a task, is build a site on the expired domain (even if it's a "dummy" site) and then link to your target site. But you then have problems with the value of a link from one site you own to another possibly (probably?) not being worth as much as a link from an independent source.

[Clinton]

Over time the orginal backlinks may drop away but for a while it might all help your rankings/serps.

That has never worked for me. It works to funnel traffic via the 301 of course but I've never seen it work to improve SERPS.