How much should I bid on each domain within my list?
You should decide your bidding cap on a given domain based upon a combination of:

1. Our estimated resale value for the domain,
2. Close assessment of the domain's sales leads & websites,
3. Your spending budget and planned domaining term (quick-flip vs. long-term investment), and
4. Your gut.

For a more comprehensive explanation of how to assess each domain on your list, please see our article on intelligently selecting domains from your NameFlipper list to pursue.  If you're short on time and seeking a quick-and-dirty rule of thumb for setting your bidding cap, we can offer this: If you manage to win a domain at 50% of its listed resale value or less, you've scored yourself a juicy bargain.
 

What is sniping?  What are its benefits?  How do I snipe a domain name?
Auction "sniping" means bidding within its final seconds to deny other bidders time to outbid you.  To this very day, many serious eBay customers rely on auction-sniping software, switching on their sneaky tool as an auction they're watching winds down, to score top bargains.

The major domain auction houses -- SnapNames, NameJet, Pool.com, and GoDaddy -- don't permit auction sniping in the classic sense.  These services have set up a trigger which they invoke if a user attempts to bid within the auction's final minutes.  This trigger "forces" the auction to extend several minutes, voiding the snipe attempt.

There are, however, two contexts in which it's possible to use the auction countdown timer to your advantage, minimizing the window during which other auction participants may outbid you.

First, both NameJet (backorder & pre-release) and SnapNames (pre-release, non-Moniker names only) allow members to join an auction until a given date [we'll call this auction phase 1], then kick off a 3-day private auction amongst all subscribed participants [auction phase 2].  The deadline for joining the auction is 100% fixed in time -- i.e. it can NEVER extend. Thus if, near the join deadline of an auction on a highly underrated domain, you find the auction has zero participants and then throw yourself into the auction within phase 1's final seconds, you will effectively force NJ/SN to declare you the auction's winner.  Yes, in marking yourself an auction participant you might have fleetingly kick the domain to the "Most Active Auctions" page both NJ and SN provide, but phase 1's a few remaining seconds won't allow other onlookers enough time to barrel into the auction room before its gates shut.  Domains NameFlipper above $70 but have zero bids generally represent the spiciest NameFlipper bargains, as domains with bids will appear under SN/NJ's 'Most Active Auctions" pages, painting them as sitting ducks for accumulation of more bids and, ultimately, auction frenzy.  Focus on sniping high-value, zero-bid domains before turning your attention to the others. (However, be aware that many other domainers are known to lurk about for sniping opportunities as well, waiting to pounce on zero-bid around the 1-minute mark, so don't be disappointed if the cellar doors suddenly swing open on your cozy bargain witn one minute to go and a half-dozen bidders rush through to feast on it)  All in all, however, know that there's at least one incredible deal lurking on NameJet that receives zero bids for every garbage domain that somehow creeps its way into NameJet's daily "Most Active Backorder" collection.

Second, GoDaddy auctions are "almost" snipe-able.  They only extend if and when a user places a bid within an auction's final 2 minutes, and then only by an additional 2 minutes.  We have found that whenever users manage to cast their initial bids around the 2:15-2:30 mark, it's far more unusual for bidders to top them than if they're a couple seconds too late and the timer extends to 3:58 -- whoops!
 

What if I don't have a debit/credit card?  Can I participate in backorder and pre-release auctions using only a PayPal account?
In some cases yes, in others no.  Many young citizens of non-U.S. countries do not use debit cards, and perhaps may fall under this category.  If yo do, we strongly recommend you obtain a PayPal debit card.  PayPal will deliver the card to your door within a week or two and it works like a debit card hooked into your PayPal account balance.  As a bonus, you'll receive 1% cashback on each of your debit card purchases and get shot an e-mail notification each time your card is charged (a convenient security measure).