Cheap Cupid: Online Valentines
BOSTON (CBS) - This is big business. Over $2.4 Billion a year is spent looking for a date or a mate. This is just for the dating services, and then add in the actual costs of the date. 47% of Americans are single and many are looking for the perfect mate.
There are over 2,500 sites for online dating. Many of them niche dating. A few of the sites are free but most want your credit card number and will charge a monthly fee.
And not all sites are secure. Many users of the Ashley Madison site found there may be hidden costs associated with online dating!
In doing some research I found a website that ranked the dating sites so I didn't have to, the Top 10 Dating Sites.
Zoosk.com ranked number one. It says it has over 50 million subscribers worldwide. That's a lot of singles. It was given a 5-star rating by its members.
Match.com has been around for a while and I know several couples now married who met on this site. My son met his wife using this site, as did several of his friends. So I guess I have them to thank for my granddaughter!
Our Time surprised me ranking number 3 because it is for folks over 50, mature serious daters as they described their members.
Elite Singles for single professionals which I had never heard of ranked 4th and when I researched it there were lots of complaints.
Christian Mingle ranked 5th and states it is a place for Christians to come together on many levels. They have over 9 million registered users.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tinder. Tinder is really a hook up app and claims to have had 10 billion matches and is in 196 countries. This is definitely for those under 30, once you are over 30 the cost of the app doubles.
Plenty of Fish claims to be the largest free dating site. Being free means there will be ads popping up. They claim to generate 800,000 relationships a year.
And then there is the stand by eHarmony You will need to fill out a lengthy questionnaire and I do believe if everyone was honest in filling out the questionnaire there would be even more marriages. But people tend to embellish when writing about themselves.
Then we have Spark Networks www.spark.net which is a group of targeted dating sites. They offer a site for Jewish singles, Silver singles, Black singles, Latter Day Saint singles and Christian singles and many more. Their ticker symbol is LOV for anyone interested in trivia.
One more thing: I found more! Overweightdate.com for "large lovers and the men and women who love them". Here at least people can be honest about what they look like and who they are.
If you and your dog are inseparable, try Datemypet.com where you post a picture of yourself and one of your pet. Maybe you will both find true love or at last someone to take long walks on the beach with.
If your type is Abby or McGee from NCIS then I found the place for you also. It's Geek 2 Geek.
I also discovered Farmersonly.com you guessed it for farmers only. Not many listings for New England! First month is free!
Veggiedate.org is for you guessed it, vegans. It claims to be the premier vegetarian dating site in the world. Their members include vegans, lacto vegetarians, ovo vegetarians, pescatarians (fish and vegetable eaters), semi-vegetarian, those who are becoming vegetarian and macrobiotic eaters.
If you want to check someone out before dating begins you can go to mymatchchecker.com, which will do a background check for a fee.
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You can hear Dee Lee's expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.
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