Guest spot 'applications' are a scam — clubs just want your money

We've applied to 6 guest spots in the last 3 months. Every single one required a $25-50 'application fee.' We got accepted to exactly zero. When I followed up, I got ghosted or got a vague 'we went with another player.' I'm starting to think these clubs are just collecting application fees with no intention of actually placing guest players. Am I being cynical or has anyone else experienced this?