How do I secure a pre-release domain?  How much will it cost me to do so?
To obtain a pre-release name, you'll need to order it at the auction service exclusively partnered with the domain's registrar.  That service, specified in your NameFlipper report, will be one of: SnapNames (SN), NameJet (NJ), GoDaddy Auctions (TDNAM), Afternic, Name.com or Dynadot.  Order prices vary significantly between these six services.  NameJet pre-release domains are generally the highest qualty but most heavily contested, Name.com/Dynadot domains the least sought after.  Refer to the specific instructions (below) for ordering pre-release domains at the relevant auction service.

It is generally advisable to bid on a pre-release domain as near to its release time as possible.

A pre-release domain retains its age (whois creation date) if a user wins it. The pre-release service's order fee will cover one additional year of domain registration.
 

How do I secure NameJet pre-release domains?  How much will it cost me to do so?
The process, minimum costs, and caveats of ordering pre-release domains on NameJet are virtually identical to those of backordering dropping domains on NameJet, except (1) NJ will list the domain under the "pre-release" rather than the "pending deletes" tab in Search Results, and (2) there's no such thing NJ failing to catch a pre-release domain (though its previous owner might renew it, invalidating any auction in progress).  NJ will only charge you if you turn out to be the domain's sole bidder or if you reign the highest bidder upon the auction's conclusion.

If you wish to "snipe" a NJ pre-release domain, bear in mind that NJ's deadline for bidding on pre-release domains is 11:00pm ET on release date.

CAUTION: Each NameJet domain registered with eNom enters a phase called "Auction Lock" the moment you win it in auction, and this lock lasts 42 days.  During this period, eNom will deny all requests to transfer the domain out or even push it to another account; furthermore, the domain's previous registrant may renew the name during this period -- though such occurrences are rare due to eNom's steep $160 redemption fee.  You should therefore not rely on quick-flipping eNom-registered NJ domains for cash.  Use whois to determine where a given NJ domain is registered before choosing whether to bid on it.
 

How do I secure SnapNames pre-release domains?  How much will it cost me to do so?
The process of ordering pre-release domains on SnapNames is similar to that of backordering dropping domains on SnapNames.  As with backordering, we recommend you use SnapNames's "Bulk Order" tool to place your bids.

The minimum cost of your SN Pre-Release order will be $59, $60, $79, or $119 (with $79 being the most common), depending on the underlying registrar.

Unlike SN backorders, SN pre-release orders are NOT private.  You should thus order each domain fairly close to its release time.  Since the Most Active Orders list on SnapNames is not as easily acessible as NameJet's Most Active Orders list, however (NJ displays theirs on their homepage, SN within their data files under Auction Lists, which are only updated onced every hours), it's not necessary to backorder SN domains within seconds before their release point, as with NJ domains.  30-60 minutes prior to release time should suffice

SN domains release at either at 3:15pm ET or 11:59pm ET on the scheduled auction date, depending on whether SN is auctioning a domainer's Moniker name or a partner registrar's expired domain.  Both these types of domains (80-90% being of the latter type) appear in SN pre-release lists.

SN will only charge you if you're either the sole bidder or highest bidder upon the auction's conclusion.
 

How do I secureTDNAM/GoDaddy Auctions pre-release domains?  How much will it cost me to do so?
To bid on a GoDaddy Auctions domain, head to auctions.godaddy.com and type the domain into the "Search Our Auctions" box, then hit "GO!". Click the "Bid" button next the matching name, then follow the displayed instructions to place your bid.  In the course of bidding, GoDaddy will prompt you to log in if you have not done so already.

GoDaddy Auctions are 100% public.  As soon as you bid on a domain, GoDaddy will bump the name to the "Most Active" tab, drawing (undesired) attention to the domain.  To minimze the potential for this newly cast spotlight to result in elevated bidder competition, you should submit you initial bid approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds prior to the auction's conclusion.  If you place your bids within the auction's final two minutes, the auction's end time will extend by two minutes, during which time the auction will remain visible under the "Most Active" tab (you don't want this).

GoDaddy Auctions are scheduled end at arbitrary points throughout the day.  To determine the exact ending time of a specific domain's auction, search GoDaddy Auctions for that domain early on that domain's auction end date.  Don't rely on the auction ending times NameFlipper lists as these times aren't always accurate.

At only $10 + a hidden $7.70 renewal fee (renewal cut down from $10.69 by applying coupon code gdbb776), GoDaddy Auctions permit much lower entry bids than auctions offered by any other major pre-release service.  In fact, if nobody enters a bid by a given domain auction's end time, the domain enters GoDaddy's Closeouts ("fire sale") section five minutes later, at which you could secure the domain for a mere $12.70 ($5 + $7.70) by hitting the orange-red "Buy Now" button next to the domain's listing.  Attempting this strategy is dare-devillish, however, as the listing will instantly disappear if another domainer watching that listing pounds the "Buy Now" button before you manage to.  We thus do not recommend "fire sale"-sniping domains which would represent excellent bargains even at $17.70.  Saving the $5 is simply not worth the risk.

At the point you've thrown 5+ fire sale domains in your shopping cart, GoDaddy will nick an additional dollar off each domain's fire sale fee.

GoDaddy auctions last 10 days.  If the domain hits fire sale, the ensuing fire sale period will last up to 5 additional days.
 

How do I secure Afternic pre-release domains?  How much will it cost me to do so?
Afternic domains require a $60 minimum bid.  You could place this bid by entering the domain name in the upper search bar and clicking the resulting listing.  Like GoDaddy's expired domain auctions, Afternic's auctions are 100% public.  Afternic auctions last 5 days.

Be aware that if an Afternic domain is listed in your pre-release compilation, this means the domain's auction will BEGIN on the date attached to your pre-release list (and "release" 5 days later).  This stands in contrast to all other pre-release domains on your list, whose public auctions will END on your list date.

You will need to purchase a $19.99/year AfternicDLS membership to participate in Afternic auctions.
 

How do I secure Name.com pre-release domains?  How much will it cost to do so?
Name.com pre-release domains hit Name.com's Expired Domain Marketplace immediately upon expiration:
https://www.name.com/expired_domains.php

Name.com uses a marketplace rather than auctions to distribute expired domains.  All domains are listed at buy-it-now (BIN) prices.  If you pay the price, it becomes yours immediately. You can locate a given domain by keying it into the "Search String" box at the page top and hitting "Search".

Each Name.com expired domain enter the marketplace with a $29.95 BIN price.  Thes tags drops by $5 each day that passes without anyone purchasing the domain.  When the countdown to deletion strikes 24 hours, the domain will shift to its baseline price of $9.95.  Purchasing Name.com expired domains entails no hidden renewal feels, i.e. the BIN represents the total price you pay and includes a full additional year of registration.

Unless your NameFlipper list shows the domain's current price in the marketplace to be far below resale value, we recommend that you wait until the domain's price reaches $9.95 before purchasing it.  At the time of this writing, no publicly available tools for analyzing Name.com expired domains exist.
 

How do I secure Dynadot pre-release domains?  How much will it cost me to do so?
Dynadot's expired domain marketplace is quite tiny, but liquid names do crop up once in a while.  You could view Dynadot's marketplace via the following URL:
http://www.dynadot.com/marketplace/expired/

Bids for .COM, .NET, and .ORG domains start at $11.25.  Auctions last one week and end at various points throughout their final day.  All auctions are, quite clearly, public.

Most interestingly, Dynadot does not extend an auction if someone bids within its final seconds.  You can truly snipe an expired domain on Dynadot.

If you win a domain auction, Dynadot immediately moves the domain to your Dynadot account on checkout.  Dynadot imposes a short "Auction Lock" period on each won domain; during this window, the domain's previous owner may renew it.
 

How do the various pre-release markets compare?
Here's a side-by-side comparison of all pre-release outlets:

* A GoDaddy expired domain auction lasts 10 days.  If a user bids on  the domain during this period and wins, he/she must actually pay a minimum of $17.57 ($10 min. bid + $7.57 renewal fee with coupon code dnf2).  If the domain receives no bids during the 10-day auction, it will entire a closeouts (fire sale) period spanning up to 5 days, or until a viewer purchases it for the $5 + $7.57 renewal fee buy-it-now price.  GoDaddy will cut the $5 fire sale tag to $4 on all domains within your shopping cart once your cart contains five fire sale names.
** SnapNames pre-release auctions fall into two categories.  About 85% are expired domain auctions, whose entry deadline is 11:59pm ET on pre-release date.  Following 11:59pm a private 3-day auction kicks off between participants.  The remaining 15% are Moniker-registered domains that users have decided to send to auction on SnapNames.  This sliver of domain names are already in public auction and their auctions all end at 3:15pm ET on pre-release date.
*** These reference points refer to marketplace listings, not actual auctions.


Why do pre-release domains sometimes disappear from NameJet, SnapNames, and GoDaddy before their release points?
Probably because the previous owner decided to renew it.  NJ/SN allow the previous owner to renew a pre-release domain until its release point, GoDaddy until 6 days following its expired domain auction.  Many domainers allow their pre-release domains to expire intentionally and decide to renew them "at the last second" as a trick to obtain an accurate market appraisal based on bids users have thus far cast on their domain name.  NJ/SN allow the registrant to renew late for free, though GoDaddy charges an $80 redemption fee to renew a domain in (or past) auction.

These "short-circuit" renewals occur on about 10-20% of pre-release domains, most frequently on the strongest of those names.

For reasons not fully understood, SnapNames domains sometimes continue through to deletion even if users bid on them during their pre-release periods.  Kinks in the underlying registrars' communication channels with SnapNames most likely account for these incidents.