I will, depending on the price and if'n I think I can make enough to justify it. I think the companies typical do it to weed out the trouble. Just look at what's apparently going on with Spark, apparently they're having theft progblems with contractors who's info can't be confirmed. Yep, no charge background check, but nothing to stop you from lying on your application.
With Dispatch when I first joined, it was $30 or $35, don't remember, and I figured that was a small investment.
Frayt wanted... $40 I think it was, that or $45, and I was a little hesitant but took a shot at it. They didn't like the registration paperwork, so although I paid for the background check, I got nothing for it, so I'm a little salty about that.
Now I have GoShare, and I'm not sure I'll move forward, as background checks are $49 or $154, the latter for New York state if'n you've lived, worked or gotten a citation there, ostensibly because of a tax on background checks. That must be one heck of a tax to more than triple the price. I grew up there, though I moved in grade school, so does that mean I have to pay $154? Yeah, how about no, anything over $50 is just not worth the investment, especially when I expect the app to be one of my fallback apps at best.
Not a chance. That’s the sort of thing that would strike me as a sc - especially the NY “tax”.
Never have I paid money for a job or gig, and I find it difficult to imagine a scenario where I would.
I’ve been around the block a few times, and any time I’ve seen a requirement to pay up front for something that should be paying me, it’s a scam. There are “advance fee loan” scams too, and…. If I had money to gamble, I wouldn’t be putting in 20h on the weekends plus drive time to a real city where I can actually make some decent cash.
The NY tax thing really galls me as it really doesn't meet the sniff test. One good reason for being willing to pay that I didn't mention is that it can thin out the competition if'n enough people won't pay for it, which can mean better pay for those willing to invest.