GreenZap.com issued a press release on April 11, 2005, to announce its new online payment service, which it is positioning as a competitor to eBay's PayPal service. GreenZap said during the pre-launch registration phase, it is putting $25 in users accounts for signing up, and skeptics are raising questions about the offer.

According to an interview with Greenzap's CEO on eAuction Air's radio program, users will not be able to cash out the $25, it can only be applied toward purchases made using GreenZap, which has not yet launched. Michael Donahue interviewed the CEO, Alex Sonkin, last week on his Internet radio program eAuction Air. You can listen to the two-part interview at http://www.eauctionair.com (4/24/05 edition).

Some skeptics have created websites (http://greenzapscam.com) and started threads on discussion boards (http://freeauctionscripts.com/community/ecommerce4839-0-asc-0.html and http://www.otwa.com/community/showthread.php?t=28926) raising questions about the service, which says it will launch in June.

This is not the first time eBay community members have turned a skeptical eye on pre-launch services; earlier this year, AuctionBytes wrote about user reaction to Wagglepop (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m02/i23/s01), and in 2001, AuctionBytes wrote about an auction site that apparently never made it off the ground (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y01/m07/i06/s01).

Greenzap is headquartered in La Jolla, California, but according to Sonkin, the company accepts mail at "Ralph's Grocery Store" while they are in the process of moving into a new building located east of La Jolla.