We only bill for pre-orders just before the launch takes place. However, we need to have account and billing details in place when the pre-orders are placed.
We need a valid email address to be able to contact you with additional notifications and information. We need a valid address for all domains registered because it's a legal requirement.
We need a valid credit card to ensure we can proceed with registration on launch day. Without it, the odds of having all the necessary details in place by launch are much lower. People miss notifications, or forget to update their billing details, etc., and then we're unable to register the domains they wanted.
If everything's in place well beforehand, then everything can proceed smoothly at launch.
For many new domain extensions, details like launch date, pricing, etc. haven't yet been released.
When we get that information, we'll update our website and notify everyone who has placed pre-orders. From then, you'll have plenty of time to update or cancel any pre-orders you don't want anymore before they're billed.
We will notify you 72 hours before billing, then bill 48 hours before launch. After launch, all the cleanup, notifications, refunds, etc. are processed within 24 hours. There is also a bit of time after billing, before registration, when we can usually refund unwanted pre-orders that we're only notified about last minute.
If you have any additional questions, just let us know.