How Do You Pick Up Expiring Domains?

This might be a n00b question, but anyone have a technique to picking up expiring domains? There's a domain I'd like that is expiring next month and the owner is not going to renew it. I know there are services such as SnapNames or Pool, but I was wondering if it's fine to do it manually. I've read it becomes available to register approximately 75 days after it expires. Is that correct? What are your thoughts?

You can go to name.com and check out their expiring domains. That's free, you usually have up to 5 days to grab them before the drop.

If you REALLY want it, I would use a pro service. I would use 2 pro services to compete against each other. How much is the domain worth to YOU? If someone else wants it, you probably wont get it manually.

I've only used GoDaddy auctions to grab expiring domains, but never had one in mind, just browse/purchase.
If you don't think anyone will want it, I guess you could just wait until it expires. But registering a dropped domain isn't the same as transferring the domain through an expiring auction service.

If you really don't want to miss the domain then back ordering is the best option. Otherwise someone else could grab onto it before you realize it is available.

I just use this tool:

If you really want it, or if it's worth a damn at all, your best bets are to:
1 - contact the current registrant directly if possible (or via their whois privacy contact info) and hit them up to buy it directly)
2 - as kickflip says, engage two professional acquisition services to go after it

Otherwise, odds are if its worth anything, a pro will snatch it, taste it for awhile and see how it monetizes, and flip it if they don't think it's worth keeping. Wasting effort and money on backorder services or spending time trying to catch it manually...the odds are pretty bad for you.

You can use Scrapebox to scrape GoDaddy expiring domain's, find them on GoDaddy Auction & bid