Randy Dating

Lavalife was one of the first dating sites I joined when I was newly single. There were ads for it everywhere and I knew a few friends on it. I checked it out and through a combination of referrals from friends and what I found on the site, I decided to join. Now I’ll take you on a tour of what I found, and what you’ll find, should you decide to try it out…

Lavalife Review in external player

Off the top, this isn’t your typical dating site that charges you a certain amount every month for the pleasure of their services. Lavalife is based on credits. You purchase and spend credits when you want to communicate, such as through instant messenger and email. The smallest package you can buy is 50 credits for about $15. An email to another member will run you six credits, so that works out to just under $2 per contact. Obviously, you’ll find bigger savings if you purchase larger packages. It should also be mentioned that only the person initiating contact has to pay. You can respond to messages without paying from then on. What this means for you is that if you are a little selective, you can make your money go a lot further. In fact, if your profile and picture can grab enough attention, it’s entirely possible for you to be an active member of this site without ever paying.

There are downsides to this membership model, too. First off, it can be expensive for those who see a lot that they like. Serial daters we warned! The other downside to Lavalife’s credit packages is that six credits, the cost of your basic email communication, doesn’t divide evenly into any of their credit offerings. In order to spend all that you’ve purchased you’ll have to use a combination of features on the site. This means that the odds are good that after your credits run out, you’ll still be leaving money on the table. For a dating site that seems to excel in so many areas, this is one flaw that’s almost unforgivable… almost!

“The payment model seems to attract a lot of professionals…”

You have many options available to help make your mind up as to whether or not Lavalife.com is for you. First off, you can run geographic searches that are as narrow as a mile radius from your zip or postal code. You can also see when some members last logged in which, when combined with a search in your local area, should be able to give you an idea of how many people visit regularly. I should mention that you can turn this feature off in your profile settings. However, all search results are based on last login times with the most recent visitors showing up first, so if a few profiles don’t display the last login date, odds are good another recent member will show it so you can estimate from there. Combined, these features give you the chance to determine if Lavalife is offering what you need before handing over your cash.

I’ve read some visitor criticisms here on CupidsReviews that suggest Lavalife contains fake profiles. I’d like to suggest that most dating sites probably have them. There are very few personal recommendations I would make for dating sites. However, over the years, this site has served me and a large number of my friends very well. Be smart about how you spend your money and any fake profiles that may be out there won’t be an issue.

The payment model seems to attract a lot of professionals, which may or may not be of interest to you. What I would suggest, though, is that if you’re worried about how much you might spend, stick to these rules: If you smile at someone and they smile back, feel free to send them a message. If someone sends you a smile and you smile back, don’t pay to chat, no matter how perfect for you they may seem. It’s a sucker’s play. Besides, I’m know you’re worth the $2 it takes to send an email. It’s up to you to prove it to the world.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 14th, 2007 at 7:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.