Get paid to meet for coffee
April 15, 2008 by gayla
Filed under Relationships
A new dating web site has emerged and boasts a new concept in matching interested singles in the multi million dollar online dating business.
Finding a new concept isn’t easy, but BuyUCoffee.com has accomplished just that.
BuyUCofee.com believes their concept will vastly improve the ability to effectively match up interested singles. They call it “pay to play.”
How it works: Interested singles submit their profiles to BuyUCoffee. Then they set a price for potential suitors to pay for meeting for coffee. If someone determines from the profile (and initial e-mail contact) that they want to meet AND are willing to pay the nominal fee (a one time fee usually ranging from $10 to $50), then the people meet for coffee.
Company VP Marketing Steve Casper points out: “Our approach using this nominal fee filters out people who are not serious or who are just flirting. We’ve found if you’re willing to pay the person this fee, you’re serious about meeting and pursuing a relationship.”
After only 3 weeks in business, the site already has over 1,000 members. And early reports are that this new twist in on-line dating is leading to more than just coffee.
I’m not exactly sure I ‘get’ this concept or if I would feel comfortable setting a “price” for meeting for coffee. I would think there would be a sense of obligation or a bit of pressure to meet if a person were willing to pay the price.
What do you think? Would you sign on and give BuyUCoffee a try?
I agree with you, although I kinda like buyucoffee idea. I suggest buyucoffee also offers reject option for the users, so there won’t be any pressure.
Once you pay for a relationship experience, a natural power imbalance comes into the picture. People pay for the time of psychotherapists, doctors, lawyers, coaches. These types of relationships have strict boundaries. But in the realm of love, the whole *point* of meeting for coffee is to see if both parties want to mutually cross boundaries. And, as you wrote, the person who accepts payment may feel a sense of obligation. I think this is a bad idea.
Or you could just join a regular online dating service and meet someone for coffee that way. It worked for me!