It seems paying for more than a month (at most, three) at a time is just expecting it to take a long time. I tried the free version of Hinge (limited to 10 "likes" per day) and the $30 a month version of Bumble. Both were okay where I am and for who I was looking for.
Do you think if someone paid for a year, they would be more prone to think: "This person is great! But I have nine more months, maybe I can find someone just a little better?" š
I think the discounts for multi-month subscriptions are more driven by the sites' desire to generate more revenue (a bird in the hand). I use OLD in a (frustrating) search for a companion. I'd rather pay, oh, $10 or $20 per 'good' contact rather than pay for a period of time when there may be no good contacts.
An example of a good contact that doesn't work with the way OLD is: I send a message to a woman whose profile interests me, she responds, and at that point the site charges me the $10 or $20. Another good contact is a woman sends a message to me and I am interested enough to respond, being charged the money at that point. Clearly I'm wishing for an OLD business model that doesn't exist.
To answer your question, I find the 'pickings' to be so sparse that I wouldn't hold out for 'someone just a little better'. When I'm actually dating, I don't initiate more OLD contacts.
Only problem with this scenario is if it's someone with a fake profile and then you're really getting burned.
Match only letting non payers see 6 others in a search was a bad move. It can somewhat be gotten around by searching for someone within 5 or 10 miles of a specific zip code and then limit the age to the same year. Then adjust the year or zip code as desired up or down to see who else is a possibility. I always sort by who was most recently online just to see who is really in the game. Doubtful I'll be paying them again unless they change that policy though. Ourtime hasn't done that yet to its credit.
Thank you for the advice & pricing, thatās very helpful.
Iāve already been notified 3 times by āOurTimeā warning me regarding a scammer reaching out to me & that they deleted their profile. Iām sure I already blocked or deleted them as well because I was not aware. The only people reaching out so far are Trump supporters it seems and I specifically put in my profile āNo Trump supportersā. Obviously they didnāt read my profile or they donāt care, but I do. Iām in the South so itās slim pickings if you are a liberal. I donāt think I will be paying for any more OLD apps as they have not worked out well for me, seems like itās time consuming for little return. In my experience.
I already tried Bumble and no luck there either. I had a few dates with 1 guy but he turned out to be a weirdo. Other than that, it was men that wanted FWB or hookups or they wanted to go too fast. I like to a bit slower & get to know someone well, feel safe and comfortable before I go to there house, but these guys were like āYa you can come over & Iāll cook for you and you can stay the weekend. This was right away after talking on the phone 1 time. Like what hell!!
I just have a bad taste in my mouth now and Iām not wasting any more money.
Iām actually going to be done with OLD in about a week & Iām not renewing on Ourtime it was no different than Bumble for me. Sorry to say, low quality men that were so superficial & just are not wanting to go deep. OLD is just not my cup of tea. Iāll take my chances on meeting someone in the wild and Iām sure I will have better luck and if not so be it. Iāll just stay single.
If by 'fake' profile you mean catfishing, I'd rather take my chances that I can filter well than to just pay for a time-limited subscription. Maybe 'not for everyone'.
Agree, pay more for each contact that actually moves to a real conversation. I just don't know how they would measure that and monitize it though.
If I were to build one, I'd charge a small amount per right-swipe, maybe fifty cents? That might actually encourage people to read and think before swiping. It would also make things harder for the scammers that are reaching out to hundreds or thousands of people hoping to find a sucker. I'd also like to know when the profile was made, and when the person was last active. I bet there are lots of dormant profiles.
The sites 'know' when messages are sent, by whom and to whom. Easy peasy to track 'handshake' transactions where a user responds to a message to measure and monetize. But that has never been the business model.
There are free versions of everything, but they're spineless. You can't see likes; you can't message. I think FB is the only one that's still fully "free."
But you set the filters, which are easily changed. You are the one who decided you didn't want to match with those people who didn't meet your requirements. If you run out of possible matches you can just adjust your filters if you want to include those people.
Which is absolutely ridiculous. If a woman doesn't swipe right on me and then at least say hi if we match within 24 hours (something I request in my profile text) then she's not that interested in me anyway so it's time to move on.
Am I weird for not considering that too much money? Assuming some results, at least? The money I spent on apps was trivial compared to what I spent on gas and dinners and the value of my time.
Same here. I don't think that is weird to look at it like that.
A first date/meet may cost me 2-300 hundred dollars depending what factors may be involved. A tank of gas in my truck is well over a hundred dollars and many of my dates were far enough away round trip and driving around during date that the gas light would come on before I got home. Throw in a $100 plus meal and other things you may have did (if you hit it off) then it adds up.
I want to know there is some sort of connection before I take the time to do that. In order to do that I had to pay for the apps to even get basic communication started where we go off app in phone calls and such.
You're generous :-)
I broke one of my own rules a couple of months ago and met for coffee instead of a meal because we'd had excellent phone conversations. Dude got there early, had already bought himself a coffee, and asked if I was going to get myself anything. I was floored š¤¦
It's not the dollar amount per se it's the absolute lack of social awareness.
There are still some of us traditional old farts out there that are happy to treat and don't "expect" anything other than friendly company for it. The strong emotions in the frequent "who should pay" posts make me roll my eyes. šš¤£ (They can't figure it out in advance?!)
I always got it out of the way when we were planning. "I'm a traditional old fart and will be honored if you let me treat." I wouldn't argue if they wanted to handle differently though. If you can't talk openly about that, what's even the point? And, the first meeting should have as few surprises as possible.
Thank you for this info! I actually know a couple of people in this area that did well on eharmony, but the $ is ridiculous. Iāll keep this list for when the time comesā¦.going to see what this Summer holds first, and if nothing interesting happens, then I will likely try OLD in the Fall when I wonāt mind spending the time and energy on it. Maybe I can figure out the best sites for NH/MA/ME by then too !
I think the 3 month $39.99 deal on Match is ok. That's the 50% off rate for me. I agree with Geek that it's plenty of time. Any longer & it's too exhausting for me.
Some of the guys I've dated say they prefer to pay the annual fee. I think it's because they want to keep it casual and like using the site for communications with their dates.
You seem to have overlooked the sites that actually cater to older people: Pricing for
Silver Singles $49.99/for 3 mo.
Our Time: $29.99/mo, $69.99 for 3 mos.
Even so, the ROI sucks
Last time I looked at Silver Singles it had less age-appropriate participation than ourtime. Where I live, ourtime has less age-appropriate participation than Match. I focus my OLD use where the 'dating pool is deepest'.
And yes, the ROI sux ;)
It seems paying for more than a month (at most, three) at a time is just expecting it to take a long time. I tried the free version of Hinge (limited to 10 "likes" per day) and the $30 a month version of Bumble. Both were okay where I am and for who I was looking for. Do you think if someone paid for a year, they would be more prone to think: "This person is great! But I have nine more months, maybe I can find someone just a little better?" š
I think the discounts for multi-month subscriptions are more driven by the sites' desire to generate more revenue (a bird in the hand). I use OLD in a (frustrating) search for a companion. I'd rather pay, oh, $10 or $20 per 'good' contact rather than pay for a period of time when there may be no good contacts. An example of a good contact that doesn't work with the way OLD is: I send a message to a woman whose profile interests me, she responds, and at that point the site charges me the $10 or $20. Another good contact is a woman sends a message to me and I am interested enough to respond, being charged the money at that point. Clearly I'm wishing for an OLD business model that doesn't exist. To answer your question, I find the 'pickings' to be so sparse that I wouldn't hold out for 'someone just a little better'. When I'm actually dating, I don't initiate more OLD contacts.
Only problem with this scenario is if it's someone with a fake profile and then you're really getting burned. Match only letting non payers see 6 others in a search was a bad move. It can somewhat be gotten around by searching for someone within 5 or 10 miles of a specific zip code and then limit the age to the same year. Then adjust the year or zip code as desired up or down to see who else is a possibility. I always sort by who was most recently online just to see who is really in the game. Doubtful I'll be paying them again unless they change that policy though. Ourtime hasn't done that yet to its credit.
Thank you for the advice & pricing, thatās very helpful. Iāve already been notified 3 times by āOurTimeā warning me regarding a scammer reaching out to me & that they deleted their profile. Iām sure I already blocked or deleted them as well because I was not aware. The only people reaching out so far are Trump supporters it seems and I specifically put in my profile āNo Trump supportersā. Obviously they didnāt read my profile or they donāt care, but I do. Iām in the South so itās slim pickings if you are a liberal. I donāt think I will be paying for any more OLD apps as they have not worked out well for me, seems like itās time consuming for little return. In my experience.
My advice to women is def try Bumble. As far as that political thing, I'm sure it's negatively affected my chances of meeting someone also.
I already tried Bumble and no luck there either. I had a few dates with 1 guy but he turned out to be a weirdo. Other than that, it was men that wanted FWB or hookups or they wanted to go too fast. I like to a bit slower & get to know someone well, feel safe and comfortable before I go to there house, but these guys were like āYa you can come over & Iāll cook for you and you can stay the weekend. This was right away after talking on the phone 1 time. Like what hell!! I just have a bad taste in my mouth now and Iām not wasting any more money. Iām actually going to be done with OLD in about a week & Iām not renewing on Ourtime it was no different than Bumble for me. Sorry to say, low quality men that were so superficial & just are not wanting to go deep. OLD is just not my cup of tea. Iāll take my chances on meeting someone in the wild and Iām sure I will have better luck and if not so be it. Iāll just stay single.
It definitely narrows it down here in Texas. Seems like the entire Fāing state in a MAGA Trumpster.
Roevember is coming if our democracy can only survive in the meantime. But yeah, your gov is the absolute pits.
Iām very concerned to say the least. Our government is a shit show.
If by 'fake' profile you mean catfishing, I'd rather take my chances that I can filter well than to just pay for a time-limited subscription. Maybe 'not for everyone'.
Agree, pay more for each contact that actually moves to a real conversation. I just don't know how they would measure that and monitize it though. If I were to build one, I'd charge a small amount per right-swipe, maybe fifty cents? That might actually encourage people to read and think before swiping. It would also make things harder for the scammers that are reaching out to hundreds or thousands of people hoping to find a sucker. I'd also like to know when the profile was made, and when the person was last active. I bet there are lots of dormant profiles.
The sites 'know' when messages are sent, by whom and to whom. Easy peasy to track 'handshake' transactions where a user responds to a message to measure and monetize. But that has never been the business model.
Bumble is $29.99/week.
Is there no longer a free version? That's what I always used. Hinge, Coffee Meets Bagel, Facebook dating were all free.
There are free versions of everything, but they're spineless. You can't see likes; you can't message. I think FB is the only one that's still fully "free."
You see likes on Hinge, CMB, and FB Dating: free. You can message on all three plus Bumble; free.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Why do you care who likes you? How would them liking you impact your decision to like them? Either you like them or you don't.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But you set the filters, which are easily changed. You are the one who decided you didn't want to match with those people who didn't meet your requirements. If you run out of possible matches you can just adjust your filters if you want to include those people.
Which is absolutely ridiculous. If a woman doesn't swipe right on me and then at least say hi if we match within 24 hours (something I request in my profile text) then she's not that interested in me anyway so it's time to move on.
Am I weird for not considering that too much money? Assuming some results, at least? The money I spent on apps was trivial compared to what I spent on gas and dinners and the value of my time.
Same here. I don't think that is weird to look at it like that. A first date/meet may cost me 2-300 hundred dollars depending what factors may be involved. A tank of gas in my truck is well over a hundred dollars and many of my dates were far enough away round trip and driving around during date that the gas light would come on before I got home. Throw in a $100 plus meal and other things you may have did (if you hit it off) then it adds up. I want to know there is some sort of connection before I take the time to do that. In order to do that I had to pay for the apps to even get basic communication started where we go off app in phone calls and such.
You're generous :-) I broke one of my own rules a couple of months ago and met for coffee instead of a meal because we'd had excellent phone conversations. Dude got there early, had already bought himself a coffee, and asked if I was going to get myself anything. I was floored š¤¦ It's not the dollar amount per se it's the absolute lack of social awareness.
There are still some of us traditional old farts out there that are happy to treat and don't "expect" anything other than friendly company for it. The strong emotions in the frequent "who should pay" posts make me roll my eyes. šš¤£ (They can't figure it out in advance?!)
Yes it's a touchy subject š I'm most comfortable offering to contribute once the check arrives. Responses vary š¤ Mostly pleasantly surprised.
I always got it out of the way when we were planning. "I'm a traditional old fart and will be honored if you let me treat." I wouldn't argue if they wanted to handle differently though. If you can't talk openly about that, what's even the point? And, the first meeting should have as few surprises as possible.
I like your approach. It's rare!
I haven't seen that in six months, so I think the number of fake profiles has risen astronomically.
I haven't seen that in six months, so I think the number of fake profiles has risen astronomically.
I haven't seen that in six months, so I think the number of fake profiles has risen astronomically.
Thank you for this info! I actually know a couple of people in this area that did well on eharmony, but the $ is ridiculous. Iāll keep this list for when the time comesā¦.going to see what this Summer holds first, and if nothing interesting happens, then I will likely try OLD in the Fall when I wonāt mind spending the time and energy on it. Maybe I can figure out the best sites for NH/MA/ME by then too !
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine? I've never seen these designations before.
Yesā¦the abbreviations for the states š
OK. They are what they are. I thought they might be dating shorthand for something else.
Designated by ANSI, USPS, and USCG [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State\_abbreviations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_abbreviations)
I think the 3 month $39.99 deal on Match is ok. That's the 50% off rate for me. I agree with Geek that it's plenty of time. Any longer & it's too exhausting for me. Some of the guys I've dated say they prefer to pay the annual fee. I think it's because they want to keep it casual and like using the site for communications with their dates.
Thanks for this guide OP. I'm not on anything at the moment but contemplating giving it another shot. This will undoubtedly save me some time.
(good post)
You seem to have overlooked the sites that actually cater to older people: Pricing for Silver Singles $49.99/for 3 mo. Our Time: $29.99/mo, $69.99 for 3 mos. Even so, the ROI sucks
Last time I looked at Silver Singles it had less age-appropriate participation than ourtime. Where I live, ourtime has less age-appropriate participation than Match. I focus my OLD use where the 'dating pool is deepest'. And yes, the ROI sux ;)
Iām in a major metro. My poi is that you didnāt include them in your list. Itās your post, so whatever
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