Ian WhiteSaid the spider to the fly
September 18th 2006 19:40
A few minutes after sending my first couple of kisses, I was happy to receive my first kiss replies. Two of them arrived within a few minutes of me sending them out. Ever the cynic, I thought about it for a minute or two and it occurred to me that it would be beneficial of a dating website to hire a couple of decent sorts to post a profile up on the site in order to entice those more likely to pay money (read: blokes) to join up thinking that they are likely to actually meet someone. Or even, pay a model for a decent shot, put it up on the site to attract a few more and then just have a paid correspondent sitting at home coaxing a bloke to open his wallet. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed plausible.
The first website I had success on was RSVP. Within minutes of sending out a couple of kisses, I had received some in return. The women I contacted were online, that was a part of my search criteria. Out of five kisses I sent I received three “Yes, I would like to hear from you” responses. In order to respond to them further, I am required to pay for the service. What struck me as strange is that none of the three who consented to me contacting them seemed to be a paying member. None of them initiated contact with an email reply. This to me is a little strange. I would have guessed that at least one out of three would be a member with enough credit to make the first decent, more comprehensive contact. So is RSVP paying women to stay online to entice blokes to sign up? Why is it unlikely? Why is it likely?
I know that the fees for men are a lot more expensive than they are for women on one of the sites, and I will look into the other two as well. RSVP charges $54.95 for 6 stamps valid for 2 months (cheaper if you sign up for longer). Women on the other hand pay less. For blokes, 6 stamps will allow you to send just 6 emails. That’s $9.15 per email, only to potentially get absolutely no response. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but that’s a lot of cash to be spending on thin air.
OK, so cheaper prices are a good way to entice actual women to sign up, that’s fair enough. But wouldn’t it be easy enough, not to mention cheaper to hire a couple of girls to sit online with attractive profiles and wait until a bloke sends them a kiss. They respond with a positive and then when the bloke seemingly gets a sort of go-ahead, he signs up and forks over his hard earned, only to have no further contact whatsoever from the respondents. That describes my first experience with all three websites almost to the letter. Then I found this article - http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=media&storyID=nN18708924&imageid=&cap=&from=business . Have a read, it may just change your perspective on the whole idea. And I guess what we’ll see with this project is whether it holds any water.
Do you know anyone who may work for one of these or another such site who may be interested in telling their story? Do you think you have been stung this way? I would love to hear your story.
The first website I had success on was RSVP. Within minutes of sending out a couple of kisses, I had received some in return. The women I contacted were online, that was a part of my search criteria. Out of five kisses I sent I received three “Yes, I would like to hear from you” responses. In order to respond to them further, I am required to pay for the service. What struck me as strange is that none of the three who consented to me contacting them seemed to be a paying member. None of them initiated contact with an email reply. This to me is a little strange. I would have guessed that at least one out of three would be a member with enough credit to make the first decent, more comprehensive contact. So is RSVP paying women to stay online to entice blokes to sign up? Why is it unlikely? Why is it likely?
I know that the fees for men are a lot more expensive than they are for women on one of the sites, and I will look into the other two as well. RSVP charges $54.95 for 6 stamps valid for 2 months (cheaper if you sign up for longer). Women on the other hand pay less. For blokes, 6 stamps will allow you to send just 6 emails. That’s $9.15 per email, only to potentially get absolutely no response. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but that’s a lot of cash to be spending on thin air.
Do you know anyone who may work for one of these or another such site who may be interested in telling their story? Do you think you have been stung this way? I would love to hear your story.
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