I hear ya but the actual PROBLEM you're referencing isn't about "pre-launches"...

If a vendor is properly setup, the sales page is indeed already done AND should even have a few hundred dollars of PPC traffic and/or a couple of small scale private email promos ... a general feel for conversions and the necessary tweaks should be done too.

AND, in an ideal launch, the affiliate should be given a package (ie: a PDF) with bullets of how the subscriber/customer wins, how the affiliate wins, how the merchant wins. How the product/service works. Where the money is (through the various pages of their sales funnel). Etc.

The "problem" is that most get really behind on their launch schedule and the deadline (that they've already pushed up 2-3 times) is fast approaching so they start this last minute attempt at recruiting and soliciting without all the pieces even being live.

Don't get me wrong... I'm no hero. Sad to say I've done that in a few instances in the past. But it's never something I strive for and with each launch, I get better at estimating the schedule to avoid such problems.

So do you hate pre-launches or do you hate unprepared merchants who try to sell you on pitching a product/funnel that isn't even fully live?