A token pre-sale is usually done before the official launch date of the public token sale. It is half-way between private placement and a full public sale. Tokens are typically sold at some level of discount from the official public price and there may be a higher minimum purchase amount than the public sale.

Such as private placement sales, pre-sales are often somewhat restricted in terms of who is allowed to buy. If a project has been able to build up some community engagement, the pre-sale is typically offered to that community first.

For instance, if the public sale per token will be $0.10, with a minimum purchase of $300 (or equivalent in Ethereum or Bitcoin), the private sale price may be $0.08, but with a minimum purchase of $1,000.