I think their incentive to be successful is word-of-mouth advertising. I'd never considered online dating until both my aunt and a couple at work had success with it. I tried their service and also met someone I very nearly married.
Granted, I've never paid for a dating service. But the business model is much like Facebook's: get a bunch of free users to voluntarily give personal data about themselves, then sell that data to power users. There's a good degree of faith that online dating works in general (which is bolstered by successful matches), and some people are willing to pay for an advantage in finding someone (and in being found).
If you use it for (monogamous, long-term) dating, sure. OKC also supports short-term dating/hookups and polyamorous “looking for secondaries” use-cases, though, and such searches are indefinite—finding someone doesn’t make you any less interested in finding more someones.
I don't think the fact that OkC now has paid features invalidates their (sadly deleted) blog post. With OkC, you can still match up with someone and accomplish what you intend to (finding dates/partners) without pulling out your credit card. Some of the paid features might (and might not) make it easier or more efficient to find a partner, but you don't need to pay them to get value out of the site. The argument in the blog post is against sites that require you to pay to do anything meaningful with the site, and I think that point holds.
"The issue is websites like match keeping profiles that are inactive or can't reply back."
I found Match to be very guilty of that. and on the app side, Bumble is the worst. Saw someone I knew from elsewhere on Bumble and I asked her about it. She seemed kind of surprised and said that she hadn't used it in almost a year. others have reported that too.. Bumble clearly leaves fake or abandoned profiles there for people to swipe on. it's very deceptive.
Depends on the relationship/partner goals. There are people looking for more short term situations which will probably keep them on the site.
But yeah for those interested in more long term relationships, that's what happens. I cancelled my subscription after I went exclusive with someone.
Consider the goals for a dating website. Finding "the one" is hard; there's just too many factors. Even if you could put all the data gathering on the web for that, how many people would want to do it?
However, if a site is enabling the user to meet more people (and the right kind), I think they're delivering the most value they realistically can.
Likely depends on the type of partner you're seeking/find.
Those who are seeking committed long term relationships, yes, likely cancel.
Those who are seeking short-term/multiple relationships and would like a revolving door of them... subscriptions continue to renew.
Probably has a lot to do with the price points between 'casual' dating sites/apps like Tinder and OKCupid compared to something 'more serious' like https://www.itsjustlunch.com/ - where it _starts_ at $2,800.
I kept a subscription going because I was looking for people to have casual sex with and wanted to A) support the site, B) have more advanced search options, and C) see who's liking me (unpaid it's a blind match like Tinder to find out likes).
I figure most other paying people are either the same or looking to cancel their subscription once they find a long term partner.
It almost seems predatory. Nobody will be drawn to the paid version of OKC unless they weren't having success with the free version, and if someone wasn't having success with the free version then it's extremely unlikely that whatever is in the paid version is going to improve their chances.
Comments
Where does the „body type“ data come from? Do they ask you for your weight when you sign up?
You specify it as part of your profile. If you pay for A-List (paid plan), you can filter potential matches by body type.
Disclosure: Paying OKCupid customer. I don't mind paying to support the service, it's provided ongoing value to us.
I have to wonder how effective paying for a dating site really is. Presumably if you find a partner through the site you stop paying?
Aside from a token few they can blog about, what's their incentive to be successful?
I think their incentive to be successful is word-of-mouth advertising. I'd never considered online dating until both my aunt and a couple at work had success with it. I tried their service and also met someone I very nearly married.
Granted, I've never paid for a dating service. But the business model is much like Facebook's: get a bunch of free users to voluntarily give personal data about themselves, then sell that data to power users. There's a good degree of faith that online dating works in general (which is bolstered by successful matches), and some people are willing to pay for an advantage in finding someone (and in being found).
If you use it for (monogamous, long-term) dating, sure. OKC also supports short-term dating/hookups and polyamorous “looking for secondaries” use-cases, though, and such searches are indefinite—finding someone doesn’t make you any less interested in finding more someones.
OKCupid actually did a blog post about this, which they have since deleted. Here's a copy of it.
http://static.izs.me/why-you-should-never-pay-for-online-dat...
I don't think the fact that OkC now has paid features invalidates their (sadly deleted) blog post. With OkC, you can still match up with someone and accomplish what you intend to (finding dates/partners) without pulling out your credit card. Some of the paid features might (and might not) make it easier or more efficient to find a partner, but you don't need to pay them to get value out of the site. The argument in the blog post is against sites that require you to pay to do anything meaningful with the site, and I think that point holds.
The reason they deleted that blog post was because they were bought by Match.com
Not debating that; that's obviously the case, but really has nothing to do with the point I'm making.
It has nothing to do with paying vs free.
The issue is websites like match keeping profiles that are inactive or can't reply back.
"The issue is websites like match keeping profiles that are inactive or can't reply back."
I found Match to be very guilty of that. and on the app side, Bumble is the worst. Saw someone I knew from elsewhere on Bumble and I asked her about it. She seemed kind of surprised and said that she hadn't used it in almost a year. others have reported that too.. Bumble clearly leaves fake or abandoned profiles there for people to swipe on. it's very deceptive.
Depends on the relationship/partner goals. There are people looking for more short term situations which will probably keep them on the site.
But yeah for those interested in more long term relationships, that's what happens. I cancelled my subscription after I went exclusive with someone.
Consider the goals for a dating website. Finding "the one" is hard; there's just too many factors. Even if you could put all the data gathering on the web for that, how many people would want to do it?
However, if a site is enabling the user to meet more people (and the right kind), I think they're delivering the most value they realistically can.
Value is in the eye of the beholder...
Likely depends on the type of partner you're seeking/find.
Those who are seeking committed long term relationships, yes, likely cancel.
Those who are seeking short-term/multiple relationships and would like a revolving door of them... subscriptions continue to renew.
Probably has a lot to do with the price points between 'casual' dating sites/apps like Tinder and OKCupid compared to something 'more serious' like https://www.itsjustlunch.com/ - where it _starts_ at $2,800.
Fair point that! I must've been in a long-term relationship too long, other types of relationship were in my blind spot
How many lunches is $2,800?
Hopefully just one :)
The dating niche that OKCupid has traditionally filled has been non-monogamous relationships of various stripes
I kept a subscription going because I was looking for people to have casual sex with and wanted to A) support the site, B) have more advanced search options, and C) see who's liking me (unpaid it's a blind match like Tinder to find out likes).
I figure most other paying people are either the same or looking to cancel their subscription once they find a long term partner.
If you're any successful, the subscription is negligible. Wait to see how much you spend for a pair of drinks on a first date.
It almost seems predatory. Nobody will be drawn to the paid version of OKC unless they weren't having success with the free version, and if someone wasn't having success with the free version then it's extremely unlikely that whatever is in the paid version is going to improve their chances.
There are always more people being born.
Their incentive to help you find mates is so that future people will join the platform due to you saying "OkCupid worked for me."
How well does that filter work when so many people lie to themselves about their body type?
I've seen too many 300+ lb women describe themselves as "average".
Works well. Folks are mostly honest, you’re going to meet in person eventually.
"""it's provided ongoing value to us"""
Is that a multi-user account? Or are you guys swingers or something?
Polyamorous couple. Swingers usually stick to lifestyle sites specific to that endeavor.