There are many types of "Get Paid To" or GPT sites out there. Some go out of their way to keep people from cashing out, either by way of high cash out requirements that take forever to reach, or by way of convoluted processes and such. Should these be considered scams? Some people do actually get paid, but it seems like many others give up and leave in frustration, having never received a cent for their time. Does this count as a scam or is it just bad business, just shady?
Some are and some aren't. I have had one GPT site completely go out of business before I reached the payout threshold and I've had others pay me out several times over the years. Yes, it is scammy to make people jump through hoops to get paid, so you do your research and avoid those sites, and warn others by posting a bad site when you get ripped off.
Could you give us a little more details about what GPT sites you are referring to? I have heard of many of them over the years, but they are not all the same. If you feel comfortable naming some names that would be great, I may or may not be familiar with the sites you are thinking of.
Some of them are a scam but generally, the only way GPT sites are a scam is they don't pay much for your time. You also have to be at least somewhat active on them or your earnings will be gone.
They are not necessarily scams. There are a lot of well known ones out there that will actually pay you. The issue is that they wont feel rewarding at all. Lets take Get Paid To Click websites for example. You'll work for hours a day, to only get a few bucks a week. And that's if you get lucky. The only way to earn a relatively decent income from these is through referrals.
Just like any other type of business, there are the legits, the unsuccessful (closes down due to low profit) and there are scams. So you really have to be careful in joining GPT sites and avoid those that offer unrealistic claims. Because you might get scammed and waste your precious time. The first rule in GPTs is that if the offer is too good to be true and it probably is. Also helps to do some online research first and as much as possible join only those that has been operating for at least a year now, with good paying record.
Several of the scammers are now using the names of the legit companies in order to confuse people. I just saw this on a scammer site. There are so many scams out there it is hard to keep up. I do not even bother with "get paid" ads anymore. I have become very skeptical of most things now.
No I do not. What you must understand is that the people who run these sites have to chase for payment before they can give you your share of it, and thus some of them who struggle to get their money will put up a higher cashout rate because they might have been paying you out of their own pocket until the advertisers paid them and no longer wish to do this.
I think that if a site pays, then it can't be considered a scam, even if they do make you jump through hoops to get your money, a scam wouldn't pay at all. They could be considered "scam-like" especially if they seem to be going out of their way to make it hard to reach payout. Is it shady, yes; bad business, yes to that too because no one wants to continue to do business with a company that is giving people the run around. All that being said, I echo what others here have said, which is basically do your research, and that online companies have people behind them, and in everything there is good and bad, online companies are no different. There are some very unscrupulous people out there doing anything for a dollar, but there are also good sites too. One has to be patient and work to find which sites work for them.
I think those sites pay some and opt not to pay others. If they don't pay everyone, then the complaints would be so many that they'd be out of business in a year. But because they do pay some people, from time to time hear people talking about how great a certain GPT site is and so on. The only site I'd recommend would be swagbucks because I've heard that they consistently pay their users. But the others . . . avoid them.
It is like what scammer PTC websites do. To gain the trust of users and get them to invest, they will go as far as to copy the script and or layout of known reputable paid to click websites. This works time and time again, and very few people realize that this is what is going on. I am very careful about GPT websites. Swagbucks is one of the worst for me. Not because it is a scam but because it takes WAY too long to reach cashout and or be paid hereafter.