I have a theory...

[gracesfall]

I still consider myself a newbie when it comes to BTC - I've only been scraping it together for about a month now - but I've noticed something. A lot of us who can't afford to BUY into Bitcoin now that it is $900+ are getting started at the faucets, pay to clicks, and other such sites. Nothing wrong with that...it's a good way to get your feet wet without risking anything other than time.

What I see a lot of, though, is people complaining (not necessarily HERE specifically, but in general). Complaining that the payouts aren't high enough, complaining that they have to jump through hoops, etc...

To the complainers, here's a couple of things to consider:

1. Of COURSE the bitcoin amounts are going to be lower than they were months or years ago. Look at how the price of BTC has jumped. Do you REALLY think someone is just going to hand you SERIOUS money for free?

2. The folks who are giving away the BTC aren't a bunch of philanthropists with money to burn. The Bitcoin they give you comes out of THEIR pocket. The ads that inevitably are on the faucet sites more than likely go mostly toward replenishing the faucet. So the more users who click an ad as a way of saying 'thank you for giving me free money', the longer the faucet will be around AND possibly the more the faucet owner will be able to raise the payout amount.

3. "But it's too much work for so little payout..." Really? Pasting your BTC address and solving a Captcha is 'too much' effort?

No, I don't run a faucet or any other bitcoin-earning website. But I use them. And I blog about them. Next time you feel like complaining that they don't pay enough or its too much work, let's see you put your money where your mouth is. Let's see YOU start a faucet that gives out what YOU think is a worthy amount for the least amount of effort possible.

Until you can do that, you have no room to talk. If you don't like them, don't use them. If you use them, then by God, click some ads to show your support.

Ending my rant now...it's time to get some sleep. I've been up all night.

[DeathAndTaxes]

A lot of us who can't afford to BUY into Bitcoin now that it is $900+ are getting started at the faucets, pay to clicks, and other such sites.

Why does the nominal price matter?  Couldn't you buy 1 mBTC (0.001 BTC) for $0.90?  That is still 100x what you would get from any faucet.  Honestly most of the faucets ARE a waste of time.  The operators prey on noobs who don't realize that a ton of ultra tiny dust outputs are very expensive to use in a tx.  So you work for weeks and get maybe a couple pennies worth of Bitcoins and to transfer/spend them ends up costing 25%, 50%, maybe even 100% of the value in anti-spam fees.

[gracesfall]

A lot of us who can't afford to BUY into Bitcoin now that it is $900+ are getting started at the faucets, pay to clicks, and other such sites.

Why does the nominal price matter?  Couldn't you buy 1 mBTC (0.001 BTC) for $0.90?  That is still 100x what you would get from any faucet.  Honestly most of the faucets ARE a waste of time.  The operators prey on noobs who don't realize that a ton of ultra tiny dust outputs are very expensive to use in a tx.  So you work for weeks and get maybe a couple pennies worth of Bitcoins and to transfer/spend them ends up costing 25%, 50%, maybe even 100% of the value in anti-spam fees.

I *have* bought smaller dribs and drabs, but not everyone can. For some, these faucets and the like are the ONLY way to get their feet wet.