I found a very elegant answer to a question and considered signing up to let the user know they helped me by giving an up vote. After considering my signup options I was about to skip signing up but I that I really wanted to let this user know they had really helped me out.

Upon attempting to give an up vote or even a comment I was blocked as messaged popped up letting me know I did not have enough reputation.

I understand rep is a large part of this website but when a user signs up to honestly reward someone (after considering not signing up) maybe the barrier for entry is a little high?