Keep in mind, i'm not attempting to adverstise, i'm just trying to see what you've all got to say.
Full Version: Greenzap, do you think it's a joke?
I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but Greenzap claims to be the "new" Paypal. Has anyone signed up for it yet? I've been looking all over their site, but there is no registration link. I've also viewed peoples referral links, and there is still no place to sign up. I'm also a bit bias considering that the company spells like a nine year old girl, replacing all of their S's with Z's. Anyways, for those of you with an account, have you been able to spend the "free" money that they've sent you?
Keep in mind, i'm not attempting to adverstise, i'm just trying to see what you've all got to say.
Keep in mind, i'm not attempting to adverstise, i'm just trying to see what you've all got to say.
It says:
when you click signup on the right.
QUOTE
Thank you for your interest in GreenZap! We are in the process of verifying pre-registered members. Please revisit GreenZap on June 3, 2005 for open registrations. Thank you and happy zapping!
when you click signup on the right.
I have indeed signed up and things are looking good so far 
There is not much to spend your money on yet, but around June 22nd things should start moving as they will release their merchant features by then.
Most people are sceptical about things like these and generally stay away from anything that could get them into trouble. At the moment though you have nothing to loose from signing up since the only thing you risk is your email. they do not require you to connect a bank account or credit card for getting the $25 bonus, so if you are curious I suggest that you sign up and see what happens. if things goes well, you have $25 to shop for and if things goes badly you can just forget about it and move on.
I saw the same reactions back in the days when PayPal first launched, but they turned out ok. Hopefully GZ will take off and be just as strong as PayPal, but like I said...I got nothing to loose if they dont
remember though that to get the $25 bonus you need to add someones ZapID as referal, so find someone that has one before you sign up.
There is not much to spend your money on yet, but around June 22nd things should start moving as they will release their merchant features by then.
Most people are sceptical about things like these and generally stay away from anything that could get them into trouble. At the moment though you have nothing to loose from signing up since the only thing you risk is your email. they do not require you to connect a bank account or credit card for getting the $25 bonus, so if you are curious I suggest that you sign up and see what happens. if things goes well, you have $25 to shop for and if things goes badly you can just forget about it and move on.
I saw the same reactions back in the days when PayPal first launched, but they turned out ok. Hopefully GZ will take off and be just as strong as PayPal, but like I said...I got nothing to loose if they dont
remember though that to get the $25 bonus you need to add someones ZapID as referal, so find someone that has one before you sign up.
I also signed up and like Mortekai said, you have nothing to loose. Just wait a bit and see what happens. If I can buy a CD from amazon with my Greenzap money then I will be 99% convinced that it isn't a scam. As far as their site, the layout is good but the way they replace all the S's with Z's is really bugging me. I wouldn't recomend anybody get the Greenzap mastercard until everything proves safe, as you have to give your socail security number too 
As soon as I see that GreenZap is working I will work on my SkinShop to accept payment from GZ as well
Ill put it simple: yes 
Will you also accept GZ's down the road if it picks up Kris?
Probably not, im not liking the way they go, but that could change.
It all depends if people start excepting payments.
Is it just me, or is it addictive to see your community grow in the interactive ZapMap?
One of my forum/site members gave me a referral ID so I could get the $25, and I signed up. The only thing that's making me skeptical is about replacing all the S's with Z's, and the layout in general. I know it may look cool, but when I give a company my personal information, I'd rather have the website look professional than "cool". Another thing- the free $25 is WebCash, which is NOT real cash. Meaning you can only spend it on GZ accepted stores, which supposedly start accepting it later this month. It's not like you can transfer the $25 to a bank account or anything. Unless they have some really nice deals like no transaction fees (or very low ones, but I doubt it), I'll stick to PayPal as my main online money processor. They're a huge corporation (EBay) and have been around for quite a while. I think it's going to be hard to take away PayPal customers unless they have some really nice deals.
BUT, you never know. A lot of huge sites started off small and didn't look like they had much of a future, so only time can tell
BUT, you never know. A lot of huge sites started off small and didn't look like they had much of a future, so only time can tell
I belive their aim is a younger audience that is more "hip". Personally I dont think payPal has a more professional look, unless you consider dull more professional. IMHO GZ has a more professional layout and feels more fresh than PayPal, but then again I am all about design and hate flat and dull designs
Its a clever move to award webcash that you can only use for Online purchases as that way people have to spend it online, strengthening GZ's brand as merchants will see that there are a whole lot of people spending GZ money. This makes GZ a stronger product name and more interesting for merchants.
It also prevents the whole harvesting idea where you sign up just to harvest money and then abandon them. Now you must use your money on something, which is a positive thing for GZ
There has been some thought put into this it seems...
Its a clever move to award webcash that you can only use for Online purchases as that way people have to spend it online, strengthening GZ's brand as merchants will see that there are a whole lot of people spending GZ money. This makes GZ a stronger product name and more interesting for merchants.
It also prevents the whole harvesting idea where you sign up just to harvest money and then abandon them. Now you must use your money on something, which is a positive thing for GZ
There has been some thought put into this it seems...
GZ sucks period its fake money
I suppose i'll give it a try. The first one to post their referral ID gets a referral from me.
www.greenzap.com/index.php?act=theysuck
Clever, but not what I was looking for.
QUOTE
The page you requested was not found. Please check the URL of the page you are looking for and try again. Please contact us if you need further assistance.
Oh wrong one
www.greenzap.com/index.php?act=reg&CODE=theysuck
www.greenzap.com/index.php?act=reg&CODE=theysuck
They can't suck if Amazon will accept payements from them.
Good lord, 16 minutes. :S Thanks for the the link!
I'm not sure about the "z" in place of the s. Just seems unprofessional, imo. but I will track this site and monitor it and see where they go. I do use paypal a lot and if this turns out to be better, such as a lower fee, then maybe it's worthwhile.
QUOTE
Okay, now that the site has opened, here's the low-down
They have two different programs you can participate in.
Program #1: When you sign up, you get 25 in what they're calling "webcash" (not to be confused with real money - hereafter referred to as WC). For every person you refer, they get 25WC and you get 5WC.
Program #2: If you upgrade to "gold" status by sending them $100.00 (via cashier's check or electronic funds transfer) you get a credit of 100WC to your account and all of the following will also apply:
* If you get 5 to 9 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" (by getting them to send in $100.00) they get 100WC credited to their accounts and you get $1.00 and 4WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 10 to 19 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $2.00 and 8WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 20 to 29 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $4.00 and 16WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 30 or more people that you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $6.00 and 24WC for each person that upgraded.
* If any of the people you referred that upgraded to "gold" get 5 or more of the people THEY refer to upgrade, you will get a portion of the rewards as outlined as follows (taken directly from user agreement):
GreenZap will reward you for everyone in your community and will continue doing so until another member in your community begins to earn community rewards. From that point, and just for that particular member, you will begin to share your reward. For example, if you personally referred 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, and someone in your community (say, John Smith) has personally referred 10 GreenZap Gold account members, then you would continue to earn the difference of $20 from every Gold Account member in John Smith’s community i.e. $30 - $10 = $20. Further if you have personally referred 30+ GreenZap account members, and John Smith also refers 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, you will continue to be rewarded with a minimum of $5 per Gold account member in John Smith’s community. However, if John Smith has someone he directly or indirectly referred who also reaches 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, this would be your cut-off point for shared rewards
IMPORTANT NOTE: only 20% is paid out as "cash" the remaining 80% is paid out as "webcash".
Spending and Converting the Webcash
All of this "webcash" is only spendable at merchants that are willing to accept it. In addition, it doesnt convert to "real money" and cannot be withdrawn as real money, even by the merchant that accepted it.
If you buy $20 worth of items from John Smith Hardware, and he accepts 20WC (webcash) as payment for the item, he will then have a balance of 20WC which CANNOT be withdrawn. It can only be spent at other places accepting "webcash" payments.
They're claiming to have corporate sponsorship, but what actually is occuring is that they have arranged to be affiliates for various companies and people will be able to spend a tiny portion of their "webcash" at these places. The amount will vary, but in all cases it will be equal to or less than the amount that greenzap will get paid in commissions from the sale as an affiliate.
For example, if the arrangement is with Target.com, the item is going to sell for $100.00 and the commission that greenzap will get from the referral is $5.00, you will be able to use up to 5WC towards the payment, and the remaining $95.00 will have to be paid for in real money.
So, as you can see, this "webcash" is totally worthless, cannot be truly "spent" and cannot be withdrawn as real money.
Between that, and the pyramid scheme portion of the "gold" program (outlined as program #2 above) it's a very classic pyramid/ponzi scheme that is of no benefit to the consumer nor the merchants, just with a slightly new twist.
I just hope those that got people to preregister do the right thing and warn the poor people that signed up under them!
Also, for anyone feeling proactive, there are TONS (several hundred) ebay listings with greenzap referral urls in their ad! just go to ebay and do a description search on the word "greenzap" to find them.
Definately an ebay violation! and they should be reported to ebay. so if people are feeling proactive, they could do their share by reporting some of them....
GreenZap - the latest pyramid scam/ponzi scheme to hit the Internet!
Thank you, wayoutwestusa for the info
They have two different programs you can participate in.
Program #1: When you sign up, you get 25 in what they're calling "webcash" (not to be confused with real money - hereafter referred to as WC). For every person you refer, they get 25WC and you get 5WC.
Program #2: If you upgrade to "gold" status by sending them $100.00 (via cashier's check or electronic funds transfer) you get a credit of 100WC to your account and all of the following will also apply:
* If you get 5 to 9 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" (by getting them to send in $100.00) they get 100WC credited to their accounts and you get $1.00 and 4WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 10 to 19 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $2.00 and 8WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 20 to 29 people you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $4.00 and 16WC for each person that upgraded.
* If you get 30 or more people that you referred to upgrade to "gold" they get 100WC credited to them and you get $6.00 and 24WC for each person that upgraded.
* If any of the people you referred that upgraded to "gold" get 5 or more of the people THEY refer to upgrade, you will get a portion of the rewards as outlined as follows (taken directly from user agreement):
GreenZap will reward you for everyone in your community and will continue doing so until another member in your community begins to earn community rewards. From that point, and just for that particular member, you will begin to share your reward. For example, if you personally referred 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, and someone in your community (say, John Smith) has personally referred 10 GreenZap Gold account members, then you would continue to earn the difference of $20 from every Gold Account member in John Smith’s community i.e. $30 - $10 = $20. Further if you have personally referred 30+ GreenZap account members, and John Smith also refers 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, you will continue to be rewarded with a minimum of $5 per Gold account member in John Smith’s community. However, if John Smith has someone he directly or indirectly referred who also reaches 30+ GreenZap Gold account members, this would be your cut-off point for shared rewards
IMPORTANT NOTE: only 20% is paid out as "cash" the remaining 80% is paid out as "webcash".
Spending and Converting the Webcash
All of this "webcash" is only spendable at merchants that are willing to accept it. In addition, it doesnt convert to "real money" and cannot be withdrawn as real money, even by the merchant that accepted it.
If you buy $20 worth of items from John Smith Hardware, and he accepts 20WC (webcash) as payment for the item, he will then have a balance of 20WC which CANNOT be withdrawn. It can only be spent at other places accepting "webcash" payments.
They're claiming to have corporate sponsorship, but what actually is occuring is that they have arranged to be affiliates for various companies and people will be able to spend a tiny portion of their "webcash" at these places. The amount will vary, but in all cases it will be equal to or less than the amount that greenzap will get paid in commissions from the sale as an affiliate.
For example, if the arrangement is with Target.com, the item is going to sell for $100.00 and the commission that greenzap will get from the referral is $5.00, you will be able to use up to 5WC towards the payment, and the remaining $95.00 will have to be paid for in real money.
So, as you can see, this "webcash" is totally worthless, cannot be truly "spent" and cannot be withdrawn as real money.
Between that, and the pyramid scheme portion of the "gold" program (outlined as program #2 above) it's a very classic pyramid/ponzi scheme that is of no benefit to the consumer nor the merchants, just with a slightly new twist.
I just hope those that got people to preregister do the right thing and warn the poor people that signed up under them!
Also, for anyone feeling proactive, there are TONS (several hundred) ebay listings with greenzap referral urls in their ad! just go to ebay and do a description search on the word "greenzap" to find them.
Definately an ebay violation! and they should be reported to ebay. so if people are feeling proactive, they could do their share by reporting some of them....
GreenZap - the latest pyramid scam/ponzi scheme to hit the Internet!
Thank you, wayoutwestusa for the info
http://www.gptboycott.com/forum/showthread...14&page=1&pp=15
QUOTE
For example, if the arrangement is with Target.com, the item is going to sell for $100.00 and the commission that greenzap will get from the referral is $5.00, you will be able to use up to 5WC towards the payment, and the remaining $95.00 will have to be paid for in real money.
I have not seen this anywhere before, know where this information is found on the greenzap website?
website won't even load right now for me. i guess i'm just a skeptic but it reeks of scam to me. This whole referral pyramid and webcash seems suspect.
Seems like they have a IP problem that is blocking large chunks of the traffic they receive...Use http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/ or http://proxify.com/ and you can access teh website just fine.
QUOTE(Mortekai @ Jun 8 2005, 09:21 PM) 
Is it just me, or is it addictive to see your community grow in the interactive ZapMap?
Very nice Flesh
Eek, I don't even know how to use Paypal, though putting a Paypal Donate button on my site has been at the back of my mind since I started it, but I never have, never even really looked into Paypal. It's cheap enough to run a small forum with the basic hosting package with IPS, though if I ever want a hosting with a more... realistic... amount of file space and have to get a perpetual license, I'll consider it.
That GreenZap thing sounds shady. It's a neat idea, a currency system based on the Net, but why should a merchant accept WC if they can't convert it to money? Unless their webhost or the people that they pay bills to accepts WC as payment, or their employees. If something like this were to spread and go beyond computers (say, to include those new shopping carts that go online and get your online shopping list, direct you through the store) it could take hold, but just between a few sites... It would only take hold with small merchants who themselves shop online.
If WC can't be converted to cash, why can cash be converted to WC? Ask yourself that. The company will accept $100 from you in real money to go "Gold" but they won't let you convert your WC to cash. It can only go one way -- theirs. That part spells scam to me.
That GreenZap thing sounds shady. It's a neat idea, a currency system based on the Net, but why should a merchant accept WC if they can't convert it to money? Unless their webhost or the people that they pay bills to accepts WC as payment, or their employees. If something like this were to spread and go beyond computers (say, to include those new shopping carts that go online and get your online shopping list, direct you through the store) it could take hold, but just between a few sites... It would only take hold with small merchants who themselves shop online.
If WC can't be converted to cash, why can cash be converted to WC? Ask yourself that. The company will accept $100 from you in real money to go "Gold" but they won't let you convert your WC to cash. It can only go one way -- theirs. That part spells scam to me.
It seemed okay but everyone talked about $25, it said I had to give a friend's code to get $25.
Bah
Bah
QUOTE(Michael Nelson @ Jun 10 2005, 08:39 AM)
It seemed okay but everyone talked about $25, it said I had to give a friend's code to get $25.
Bah
Bah
Is that a problem?
QUOTE(DonWilson @ Jun 10 2005, 05:21 PM)
Is that a problem?
Not unless you are a little short in the 'friends' department... :-"
QUOTE(DanC @ Jun 10 2005, 11:35 AM)
Not unless you are a little short in the 'friends' department... :-
They're sending their emails from reply-919@up0.net and Google caught it as spam. O_o Their rating with me is going down a little bit.
QUOTE(DanC @ Jun 10 2005, 06:35 PM)
Not unless you are a little short in the 'friends' department... 
LOL
Should not be hard to find someone who let you be their friend since they get a bonus for it
This is suspicious
They're not going to very great efforts to appear legitimate. Quirky spellings and schemes which appear to throw away cash have their place on the net but not at a payment processing firm.
Well.....I don't know about some people here, but I get like $16.00 in cash for every person that has signed up using my zapid, and then so much in webcash. I haven't refered alot of people and I have close to $150.00 in cash and close to $200.00 in webcash in my account from just referals. Scam or not.....I didn't give them bank info so......if I get to spend it great if not that's fine too. Worth a shot at any means.
This seems nice maybe finally some competition for Paypal and they'll start charging reasonable transaction rates.
QUOTE(Imusion @ Jun 10 2005, 11:38 PM)
This seems nice maybe finally some competition for Paypal and they'll start charging reasonable transaction rates.
Whatever it takes to show PayPal they're not the owners of easy payments would be fine with me.
The problem is that someone sees that someone else is running a successfull business and then they try to go start their own. The problem is that the first business (PayPal in this case) is already fine and has been around much longer, making it more trusted by the customers. If it works, no one will switch to a different service unless it is really offering something unique- not $25 that are basically useless. And replying to the person who said they don't like PayPal's "dull" site design on the first page: I don't care if it's "dull", all I really care is that I can get the information, and I can get it easily, both of which are availble through the PayPal site. The GZ site is all green and stuff- looks like some sort of a game clan website or something. It's not that I don't ever go to sites like that, it's just that I wouldn't like a site that manages my money to be like that. A site's layout reflects the nature of the website. And also- my activation email also got tagged as spam. (I decided to use gmail for that )
EDIT: It looks like they changed their layout. I'm still not going to trust it until it's been around longer though
)EDIT: It looks like they changed their layout. I'm still not going to trust it until it's been around longer though
I just made me an advertisement logo for them and placed it on my portal page. They look legit to me.
QUOTE(lnewcomb @ Jun 11 2005, 03:51 AM)
I just made me an advertisement logo for them and placed it on my portal page. They look legit to me.
Would you be willing to transfer a few thousand into your greenzap account?
QUOTE(ernestdefoe @ Jun 11 2005, 06:01 AM)
Well.....I don't know about some people here, but I get like $16.00 in cash for every person that has signed up using my zapid, and then so much in webcash. I haven't refered alot of people and I have close to $150.00 in cash and close to $200.00 in webcash in my account from just referals. Scam or not.....I didn't give them bank info so......if I get to spend it great if not that's fine too. Worth a shot at any means.
Right now you get full bonus for your referals. Probably as an incentive to sign up for gold
If you do not upgrade you will get $5/referal. Your account should recount around the 22nd when the suspension is lifted.QUOTE(mitty @ Jun 11 2005, 07:46 AM)
The problem is that someone sees that someone else is running a successfull business and then they try to go start their own. The problem is that the first business (PayPal in this case) is already fine and has been around much longer, making it more trusted by the customers. If it works, no one will switch to a different service unless it is really offering something unique- not $25 that are basically useless. And replying to the person who said they don't like PayPal's "dull" site design on the first page: I don't care if it's "dull", all I really care is that I can get the information, and I can get it easily, both of which are availble through the PayPal site. The GZ site is all green and stuff- looks like some sort of a game clan website or something. It's not that I don't ever go to sites like that, it's just that I wouldn't like a site that manages my money to be like that. A site's layout reflects the nature of the website. And also- my activation email also got tagged as spam. (I decided to use gmail for that )
EDIT: It looks like they changed their layout. I'm still not going to trust it until it's been around longer though
)EDIT: It looks like they changed their layout. I'm still not going to trust it until it's been around longer though
Good thing about it is that with competition perhaps we will see PayPal lower their fee's, or otherwise give perks to keep their status as number one. It also encourages technical advances when companies compete, so thats a good thing.
I am a designer so I am biased when it comes to design
For me websites must have a design that meake it fun to use, or I migth just as well go over to a text browser...Its an occupational hazard QUOTE(DonWilson @ Jun 13 2005, 12:43 AM)
Would you be willing to transfer a few thousand into your greenzap account?
Not at this time no. Would go gold though if I could without having to leave the appartment
Why would you transfer real money to greenzap money when it's virtually useless? No company is going to use it if they are unable to transfer it back to real money.
I can't believe some people are niave enough to believe a start-up company is just handing out hundreds of real dollars to people.
I can't believe some people are niave enough to believe a start-up company is just handing out hundreds of real dollars to people.
QUOTE(Rikki @ Jun 13 2005, 07:44 AM)
Why would you transfer real money to greenzap money when it's virtually useless? No company is going to use it if they are unable to transfer it back to real money.
I can't believe some people are niave enough to believe a start-up company is just handing out hundreds of real dollars to people.
I can't believe some people are niave enough to believe a start-up company is just handing out hundreds of real dollars to people.
Accoring to the Zap Map, it's more like millions.
I meant hundreds per person, but I understand what you mean
If it is real though, wow. Check out this thread at Neowin, especially this post: http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...ost&p=586057222
read the links in this message and then decide about GreenZap
http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?...0&#entry1206363
http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?...0&#entry1206363
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