A while back, I opened an account with GreenZap, a supposed alternative to PayPal. At the time, they were offering a nice referral deal: spread the word and get $25 or something. Some were quick to refer others, but I didn’t want to recommend a service that had yet to be proven.
JP at MyMoneyBlog gave his impressions now that the company has expanded from its viral marketing campaign and has a functioning website. The deal doesn’t sound as good any more.
Here are some points of concern to me:
* There’s a $2 fee for receiving money, unless you upgrade to a Gold accuont, which cuts that fee in half.
* Bonus money you receive cannot be chashed out and must be spent at partering retailers.
All in all, it’s not looking good for GreenZap. My first impression is that it’s a company that will try to lure people with a nice offer, and once they get your personal data which will be sold to other companies, you realize it’s not such a great deal after all.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published June 8, 2005. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
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Thanks for the heads up. I hadn’t even heard of GreenZap. My wife and I use PayPal for the little bit of stuff that we do on eBay. I think PayPal seems a bit pricey for merchants – especially when you add to that the fees that eBay charges.
GreenZap’s going to collapse if this is their marketing strategy. They’re creating bad vibes with the “bogus” bonus money. That’s like ING saying “here’s $25, you can only use it to offset your taxes.”
Thanks for the warning
There is a difference, a big difference, between what appears to be promised by the site and what has been delivered so far. GZ members should know: they will trade real cash for a worthless currency, the site has NO active merchants accepting the worthless currency, and no member has been paid a dime despite promises otherwise. Join for free, if you want a front row seat to a train wreck, but do NOT give them cash, an email address you don’t want full of more spam, or access to your banking information.