High-End Hookups

High-End Hookups

Paying Big To Make The Perfect Match

 by Sierra Silverspoon

 One of my closest friends, making big bucks got fed up “with all the rejects” from the local dating scene and decided to go the personal matchmaking route.   In six months, she spent $8000.00 and met five guys who were supposedly the crème of the crop, as it related to substance and success.    Unfortunately, she didn’t match any of them.  One was successful but physically unsuitable, and one was a con man looking for a victim.  With the remaining three, there was no “chemistry or mental connection.”  She was so angry with herself for spending all that money to find a man that she ended up suing the matchmaker to get her money back.  She lost and decided after that expensive foray into the world of personal matchmakers to give the job of finding her mate to the Good Lord.    

However, her experience made me curious about the many high-end matchmaking services and personal matchmakers who charge huge dollars to find mates for affluent men and women who can afford to pay.   Research shows that personal matchmakers are usually women who have parlayed their natural talent for hooking up their friends into a very profitable business.  The fees for personal matchmakers run from $5000 per match to $100,000 and more.  TV’s Millionaire Matchmaker is a testament to this.

These prices are not related to actual matchups that succeed in getting married.  These prices deal with introductions only.  The question was – Do affluent black singles spend big bucks to meet Mr. or Ms. Right?  Yes – They do.  A 32-year-old female attorney who wished to remain anonymous told me how she spent over $10,000 last year with a very upscale personal matchmaker, who hooked her up with three matches.  “All guys were professional and polished, but neither of them fit the package I was looking for.  I felt like I wasted my money, but I was in a frame of mind at that time that inspired me to explore and be more adventurous about finding Mr. Right.  I was tired of all the mismatched encounters I’d been having, so I decided to do something different.  I could afford it, so I tried it, and I don’t regret the experience.” 

Carla, (not her real name), a corporate executive for a major company told me she spent $12,000.00 last year, to meet “an attractive man of stature and means,” but it didn’t happen.  She met two guys who ended up being two wannabees looking for a woman of means.  She was very impressed with the third guy, but the interest wasn’t mutual.  She signed up for four matches, but the fourth one never materialized.  In the end, she received a partial refund of $2000.00. 

Studies show that affluent women and very rich men are more prone to pay a professional matchmaker to hook them up with that ideal person that they couldn’t meet otherwise.  These types are usually too busy and far removed from the usual pick up a dating scene.  They rely on personalized introductions, either professionally or socially. 

I did a short poll among some real upscale brothers to check if they could ever see themselves paying big bucks for a romantic introduction.  They all answered NO emphatically.  However, when I polled the same genre of women, they all answered YES resoundingly.  Very Interesting