Subscription sites are really where any serious daters should be spending their time, and it’s worth the money if you are genuinely interested in finding a potentially lifetime partnership. The basic fact is that people who are willing to fork over their credit card and pay even a small fee are generally more reliable and more financially stable than people who opt for free services. If you feel funny about paying money to get dates, get over it: think of how much money people spend on drinks at bars under the same premise- meeting people. Think of these sites as exclusive clubs; naturally, the more expensive the cover charge, the more distinguished and mature the clientele will be. For this reason, it is important to take the time to research a site thoroughly before investing your money into joining a specific pay site.
Subscription sites often offer a “Free Profile”, which allows you to create an account, build your profile, and browse through other members of the site, but will not allow you to contact any members directly unless you pay to join as a member yourself. You should be aware that some sites will not let you contact unpaid members as well, even if you yourself are a paying member, which severely limits the actual pool of feasible dating partners within that membership base.
The most popular pay sites include Match.com (the biggest), Lavalife.com, GreatExpectations, Date.com, eHarmony, and YahooPersonals. These can be thought of in two categories as well, mainly based on price and services. Most match sites will charge about $10-20 per month for basic service: Date.com, Match.com, and YahooPersonals all provide a generic form registration and profile building process, with some additional tools for meeting people according to your preferences. Sites such as eHarmony and GreatExpectations take a more tailored approach to finding matches for their customers, including ‘compatibility surveys’ and assistance with writing your profile. As such, you can expect to pay upwards of $40 a month for these services and the clientele tends to be more professional, not too many teens, and are looking for serious relationships.
If you are not good with computers, and are really looking to find just one special person to love and cherish ‘till death do you part- then these services are worth the investment of your time and money, as you’re less likely to have your time wasted by the fools and flakes that dominate free and low-cost dating sites.