I have tried both Namejet and Snapnames recently. I used Namejet two times to try to get domains that expired and were under redemption. For Namejet you need to place a backorder and state the amount you are willing to pay, though I believe there is a minimum of $70. You do not need to pay upfront and pay only if you win the domain. You just place the backorder wait until the domain is released, when it is released if Namejet is able to get it, Namejet will charge you, provided no one else is bidding on the same domain name. If someone else is bidding on it, the domain will enter an auction. In my case, Namejet was successful for the first domain I backordered. No one else bid on it, so I got it right away. Namejet transfered the domain to eNom, paid the registration fee for 1 year, and gave me the login. The second time I tried Namejet, it failed to get the domain I wanted when the domain was released. I immediately found out that the domain was acquired by Snapnames based on an updated whois entry. Snapnames was conducting an auction on the domain I wanted, which they just acquired. I bid on it and the auction lasted for 3 days. At the end of the auction, there were no other bidders and so I got my domain for the low price of $19, Snapnames' minimum bid for this particular domain. My suggestion would to be to try both Namejet and Sanpnames, since you don't have to pay anything unless you win, though you do need to provide you credit card number. Also, you want to follow the whois records carefully for your domain of interest. I find GoDaddy's domain monitoring service very useful for monitoring whois records for domains I own and for domains I may want to own. It is quite affordable and a very good service. Hope this helps.

I've done this recently. I watched it expire. I checked the redemption times. Then ordered it as soon as it came out of redemption. It was done manually.