'Get paid to' (gpt) websites - are these legitimate?

             Many of the questions that are fielded to me include phrases such as “how can I make easy money,” or “where can I get $50 real quick.”  A person who does not have first-hand knowledge of the economic opportunities that the internet offers might initially say that there aren’t any serious opportunities like this; they are either scams are highly misleading regarding the amount of money.  The fact of the matter is that there are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of websites that say they will offer free money or gifts for completing a certain amount of offers or other participation requirements.  In the industry these types of sites are known as GPT, or Get Paid To, sites.  Literally, you get paid to complete certain requirements.

 

                I’m going to start off talking about the logistics and economic viability of such websites.  Before the days of the internet, an advertisement would take approximated 20 years to reach a market audience of 20 million individuals.  The internet has accelerated this greatly, possibly shorter than a 4 year period now for the same audience.  Soon, it is estimated that the amount of information on the internet will double every 4 days.  This poses a huge economic possibility for any type of business.  The GPT industry takes huge advantage of these large audience numbers.

                 Once you hear about the specific way that GPT websites operates, it isn’t really hard to believe how these types of business can be relatively profitable.  Some advertisers decided, through market research, that it would be cheaper per lead to offer incentives for participating in some type of transaction with them than advertising through conventional methods such as banner ads, TV, radio, print, etc.  The idea behind this is that since gaining a new customer is the hardest and one of the most expensive things to do, perhaps it would be worth it to offer perhaps $10 to a new customer for trying their product or service for free.  In order to maximize the amount of potential customers this new incentive program would reach, advertisers contracted with websites to show links to their product or service in exchange for a commission.  Each time a customer arrives at one of these GPT websites and completes an offer, the advertiser confirms a valid completion and pays a commission to the website owner.  The website then passes down a portion of the money down to the consumer in the form of cash or gifts.  The advertiser gets a larger percentage of new and valid customers than they would normally through other advertising methods.  As the old saying goes, the art of good business is being a good middle-man. 

                With that being said, you have a very real possibility of making money through GPT websites.  Depending on the type of offer and the type of transaction you want to involve yourself with, you could potentially earn anywhere from $0.50-$100.00 or more per offer.  Since we have now established that system can work, it is important to point out possible shortfalls.  Everyone has probably seen ads on the internet that feature statements such as “Get a free Wii now!!!!!” or “You are the 999,999,999^th visitor! Claim your prize!.”  Problems with GPT websites come in mainly two categories: practicality and viability.

 

 

Practicality of 'gpt' websites

 
A website littered with GPT site ads

             Practicality concerns deal with the ease or possibility of you actually being able to complete the requirements to get a particular gift or money.  Many websites require you to go through certain “tiers” or “levels” of offers and complete a certain amount of offers in each tier; e.g. a silver, gold, and platinum tier.  The idea behind this is you will complete offers before going and looking at the next tier; the offers get progressively harder with each tier.  This helps maximize their profits.  Some people will to the platinum tier and realize that they are unwilling or unable to complete offers such as signing up for a webhosting service or satellite TV service.  With this staggered structure, the website will still gain money per offer completed, but you only get paid at the very end. 

             When deciding which of these offers you want to complete, it is imperative that you scan all of the offers first in each category to see if this is something you are willing to do.  Go through each tier and see what are the cheapest offers you can complete are; look for the free trials.  You will only be able to do an offer once even if it is listed in multiple tiers.  Generally the last tier will include relatively difficult offers to complete such as signing up for VOIP phone service, satellite TV service, web hosting, or credit card applications.  I would personally recommend looking for either a web service without a contract or possibly a diet program (another popular choice).  Although you may end up paying around $10 initially, they are easy to cancel and generally don’t have any commitment period.  If a particular site does not offer an easy choice, you will need to find another website.  You can expect to pay anywhere from $20-$50 to complete all the tiers in an average staggered GPT site.

Viability of GPT sites

             Another concern is viability.  Certain service exist (a popular one is ShiftCode) that easily allow individuals to create makeshift GPT websites.  Unfortunately, most of these sites do not last very long.  When I first started signing up for these sites, I would sign up for as many as I could find.  I bookmarked the site, and many times, when I returned to the site it had been suspended or the domain was inactive.  Unfortunately, many of the people who created these sites either did not have viable business models or, even worse, might even have closed up shop and fled with the money.  With that being said, you should only stick with recognized websites that have their own original layout and are commonly recommended.  Occasionally, even a prominent website might close, especially in this economic climate.  This most recently happened to SwatCash, which offered high payouts and a very innovative interface.  Generally, however, reputable sites will let you know if they are going to have to close, and they will allow you to cash out. 

 

 

 

 

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