One thing to note is that "premium" names for those 88 cent domains are not 88 cents. I forgot what I searched but it was one of the 88 cent TLDs and it ended up being $32/yr (at least) and some were even higher.
Yeah I didn't understand if that was namecheap bumping the price up or a squatter trying to sell it. You may have to get a bit creative to find some good deals.