MARKETWATCH - Nov 1 - eHarmony members can now pay $5K and they’ll get a personal counselor to help sift through matches. The site will also approach them on their behalf. "After surveying 15K eHarmony members who earn ~$250K a year, it was clear there was huge demand for such a perk, says Grant Langston, eHarmony’s VP of customer experience. "When it comes to paying thousands of dollars — instead of eHarmony’s $60 monthly fee — dating sites need to manage the already high expectations carefully, says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst. “It was only inevitable that free dating sites started to add these kinds of premium features,” he says. Others say it makes sense to combine a matchmaker with a dating site. “Match.com hired some matchmakers in Dallas to experiment with higher price points,” Brooks says. “Then things went quiet, and they let the matchmakers go.” “People point to the sting of rejection and the time it takes to sift through profiles as two of the biggest frustrations of online dating,” Brooks says. “But I wonder how many users have the disposable income for that kind of help.”
There is no shortage of single love seekers who are willing and eager to invest much more than typical online dating fees, especially if that added investment will provide a shortcut to meeting the type of person who is truly on target. My fingers and toes are crossed, hoping that finally, one of the Big Boys can create the badly needed bridge between online dating and personal matchmaking. It's time! Hope it's a huge success!
Posted by: Julie Ferman | Nov 06, 2013 at 10:47 PM