Most likely the later... Personally, I work on the "pay what it's worth to you" basis... if people don't want to pay, that's OK, I enjoy the good karma from helping people. I've actually had some VERY generous tips before.

I just really dislike the ones who say "I'll pay a generous tip for help!" and then quickly disappear after you actually do help. That's just a dick move... just be honest and say you can't afford or don't want to pay anything.

Anyway, I can vouch that this method works. I have basically done the same thing to help a couple of people get their BTG...