First not all names go to auction, most names are just dropped. People tend to get emotional when they see a name about to be dropped by the registrar because it is the name they want or already have the .net for. The name porn for instance would go to auction, where the name jimsonlinepornsite probably will just get dropped.
Another point, do a whois search on the name, the dates are posted on the whois, but more important, the sites, snapnames, namejet, etc are owned by different registrars and used to sell after market domains.