Got lucky with the weather yesterday, so club member Pavel and I were able to do our checkrides on the same day (his private pilot-glider, my commercial- glider).
The glider DPE we use is very laid-back but thorough... my oral test was pretty quick and easy, but productive learning-wise.

The flight test consisted of two flights: first one had him pull the release on me as we were climbing through 300 after launch, which I did not expect!   
  I did a good job of turning around and landing downwind, so we quickly staged for the second hop.
This time we stayed on tow to 3000... I boxed the wake, pretty well I think, then we quickly went through the required maneuvers. First a straight-ahead stall, then a turning stall, then a stall with the spoilers cracked open a bit. No problem there.
  The commercial add-on is really the same as the private, except for steep turns, and a tighter margin for the spot landing. The steep turn requirement is for a 60-degree bank held through 720 degrees of heading change... he'd reminded me twice of this beforehand, but like a dolt I started to roll out after the first 360. He let that slide, commenting that he really liked my steep turn (I was doing unusually well with that, I'll admit). Then it was time for a 360 in each direction, flying as slow as possible while banking as much as possible. This is pretty much what you do in a small thermal; no big deal.
With no lift to speak of, after that it was pretty much time to start the approach... he gave me a rubber disc to cover the altimeter at about 2000 AGL, and had me enter the pattern and land, making sure to stop within 100 feet of, but not past, a predetermined spot on the landing area. I pulled that off just barely, having gotten a bit lower in the pattern than I'd have liked. A hearty handshake and it was finally done... now I can legally carry paying customers!

This is not a get-rich scheme by any means, but in our club, having a commercial endorsement does mean that if I am PIC for a joyride with a paying customer, I don't pay for the tow. Since I love taking people for rides and love flying for free, this works fine for me. 

  It's also a stepping -stone towards the glider instructor rating, which I hope to have by this time next year.
Pavel also passed with flying colors- we are all psyched for him, as he's done a lot of soaring in Europe and owns a glider of his own, but did not yet have a glider pilot's certificate.

Steve:
Our minimum for emergency-planning purposes is 200 AGL (to attempt to turn around); I thought for sure it was almost that low, but the tow pilot later confirmed it was 300. At our airport, it would be pretty dicey intentionally releasing below 200... even if we got down OK, we don't even have a trailer for the 2-33, so getting it back to the airport would be difficult (there's not a lot of airport property beyond the ends of the runway, so such a landout would take us off-property).

The no-instrument takeoff you describe is sometimes done with initial applicants here; I know of only one current member who did the PP-glider as his first pilot rating, and I think he was tested in that manner. But for add-on ratings, the whole thing is less intensive, usually.
I am looking forward to carrying some paying pax...but I've given several rides already, to friends and strangers, on my dime. It will be sweet, though, to fly for free... next summer, I might have to start hanging out by the fence, luring in customers, like the barnstormers used to do.