9 ms·

OKCupid also charges men, especially more than women for their premium service. It's common on online dating apps. Not much different than real life... in many

OKCupid also charges men, especially more than women for their premium service. It's common on online dating apps. Not much different than real life... in many clubs women can go inside for free while men have to pay entry ticket fee.

qshqwudhoquc 6y ago
My issue with this is that these decisions aren't necessarily being made because of operating costs. It doesn't cost more to host a man than a woman.
- gambiting 6y ago
  Having too many men can impact the experience women have, and if they leave then the entire platform collapses. The cost to "host" a user is the same regardless of gender but platforms like these work only if the gender ratio is at least somewhat balanced - the fee seems to help with that, just like it does in a physical club(where it also doesn't cost any more to host a man than it does a woman).
  - est31 6y ago
    Gender imbalance also negatively impacts the experience of the men: nobody wants too much competition. Currently there are 3 men for every woman on Tinder [0]. [0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/975925/us-tinder-user-ratio-gender/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/975925/us-tinder-user-ra...
  - insickness 6y ago
    Gay men are charged $8-13 while gay women are charged $7. Gay men and women aren't dating each other so this has nothing to do with gender imbalance.
    - theredlion 6y ago
      Gay men can choose not to pay if they are unhappy with the price
      - gambiting 6y ago
        Well yes, but at least in some places companies introducing different prices based on things like gender or race are not legal. Recently in the UK there was a case where a pub had a promotion where men paid more for drinks on the International Womens day, and someone took them to court over it and won - the court agreed that such pricing based in gender is not legal in the UK. On the other hand, clubs do this all the time without a fuss, but I suspect it's because no one challenged them legally on it yet. In general I'm not a fan of the "gay people can just chose not to pay" argument - it sounds too similar to the one where some companies argued they should be allowed to deny gay people service, since they can simply go somewhere else.
- draw_down 6y ago
  Yeah, you almost get the sense they aren’t running this business out of the kindness of their hearts.
- arketyp 6y ago
  More drinks will be bought if there is a certain ratio.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Meh, it's just like cover prices at a club. As a guy, you can let the "unfairness" bother you, or you can realize it's in your best interest to minimize barriers for women because basically everything is a saugagefest otherwise. Then again, the actual figures in the article tell a different story than the title does. - Queer female under 30: $7/mo - Straight female over 30: $30/mo - Straight male over 50: $35/mo So it's really age in general. Though I'm a male in my 30s in a metro center and it's just showing me $8/mo. Though that's probably just Tinder's AI recognizing me as the gift to women that I am. Also, Tinder Gold is optional. I'm a heavy dating-app user and would never pay for premium features.
  - qshqwudhoquc 6y ago
    Doesn't affect me personally I just thought it sounded weird from an outside perspective.
- Sharlin 6y ago
  It's simply supply and demand. There are many more men than women using most dating services.
- PeterisP 6y ago
  It's perfectly normal that these decisions aren't necessarily being made because of operating costs, pricing in general is arbitrary and does not have to have any relation whatsoever with costs.
- roenxi 6y ago
  Commerce has never been done on the basis of operating costs. Go look at the price difference between a cheap shirt and an expensive shirt. The change in operating costs is nothing compared to the price difference.
- mrtksn 6y ago
  The cost doesn't have anything to do with the price(except for setting the bare minimum if you want to break even). If the price is higher that what it should be, there's your opportunity to sell your matching service at lower prices.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
fimdomeio 6y ago
The fact that is common doesn't make it right.
- ChuckNorris89 6y ago
  There is no right/wrong here, Tinder is a business, not a public square or a public service, you choose willingly to use their service so they can charge whatever they want, nobody is forcing you to use it. Just like in a night club or country club, the house is free to set whichever memebership rules it wants, if you don't like them you are free to go somewhere else. Unlike the jobs market, the dating market and its (discriminatory) dynamics is not something the government could regulate.
  - dillonmckay 6y ago
    So, it is not okay to discriminate by age at a public square? But, why would Tinder control a public square?
  - Udik 6y ago
    So are you fine with a service that charges black people more? Or a private company that decides not to hire gays? They're both not public squares or services, right?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - theredlion 6y ago
      Not op, but I'll counter with the question: how do you feel about public universities discriminating based on race and sex, which they do
      - Jestar342 6y ago
        No op either, but negatively, too. Why on earth would think that that make it all ok?
Udik 6y ago
I know it's common, but shouldn't it be illegal?
- asdff 6y ago
  You'd think with rules on the books against discriminating on the basis of sex that it would be a slam dunk case, for this and night club covers, but there must have not been a serious legal challenge to the practice yet.
  - oblio 6y ago
    It's probably counterproductive. Yeah, you can sue and maybe you can win. But are you sure you want the end result? Human attraction, unfortunately, is not very fair, and definitely doesn't really follow anti-discrimination practices, from everything I've read so far.

qshqwudhoquc 6y ago

My issue with this is that these decisions aren't necessarily being made because of operating costs. It doesn't cost more to host a man than a woman.

gambiting 6y ago
Having too many men can impact the experience women have, and if they leave then the entire platform collapses. The cost to "host" a user is the same regardless of gender but platforms like these work only if the gender ratio is at least somewhat balanced - the fee seems to help with that, just like it does in a physical club(where it also doesn't cost any more to host a man than it does a woman).
- est31 6y ago
  Gender imbalance also negatively impacts the experience of the men: nobody wants too much competition. Currently there are 3 men for every woman on Tinder [0]. [0]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/975925/us-tinder-user-ratio-gender/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/975925/us-tinder-user-ra...
- insickness 6y ago
  Gay men are charged $8-13 while gay women are charged $7. Gay men and women aren't dating each other so this has nothing to do with gender imbalance.
  - theredlion 6y ago
    Gay men can choose not to pay if they are unhappy with the price
    - gambiting 6y ago
      Well yes, but at least in some places companies introducing different prices based on things like gender or race are not legal. Recently in the UK there was a case where a pub had a promotion where men paid more for drinks on the International Womens day, and someone took them to court over it and won - the court agreed that such pricing based in gender is not legal in the UK. On the other hand, clubs do this all the time without a fuss, but I suspect it's because no one challenged them legally on it yet. In general I'm not a fan of the "gay people can just chose not to pay" argument - it sounds too similar to the one where some companies argued they should be allowed to deny gay people service, since they can simply go somewhere else.
draw_down 6y ago
Yeah, you almost get the sense they aren’t running this business out of the kindness of their hearts.
arketyp 6y ago
More drinks will be bought if there is a certain ratio.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
Meh, it's just like cover prices at a club. As a guy, you can let the "unfairness" bother you, or you can realize it's in your best interest to minimize barriers for women because basically everything is a saugagefest otherwise. Then again, the actual figures in the article tell a different story than the title does. - Queer female under 30: $7/mo - Straight female over 30: $30/mo - Straight male over 50: $35/mo So it's really age in general. Though I'm a male in my 30s in a metro center and it's just showing me $8/mo. Though that's probably just Tinder's AI recognizing me as the gift to women that I am. Also, Tinder Gold is optional. I'm a heavy dating-app user and would never pay for premium features.
- qshqwudhoquc 6y ago
  Doesn't affect me personally I just thought it sounded weird from an outside perspective.
Sharlin 6y ago
It's simply supply and demand. There are many more men than women using most dating services.
PeterisP 6y ago
It's perfectly normal that these decisions aren't necessarily being made because of operating costs, pricing in general is arbitrary and does not have to have any relation whatsoever with costs.
roenxi 6y ago
Commerce has never been done on the basis of operating costs. Go look at the price difference between a cheap shirt and an expensive shirt. The change in operating costs is nothing compared to the price difference.
mrtksn 6y ago
The cost doesn't have anything to do with the price(except for setting the bare minimum if you want to break even). If the price is higher that what it should be, there's your opportunity to sell your matching service at lower prices.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

fimdomeio 6y ago

The fact that is common doesn't make it right.

ChuckNorris89 6y ago
There is no right/wrong here, Tinder is a business, not a public square or a public service, you choose willingly to use their service so they can charge whatever they want, nobody is forcing you to use it. Just like in a night club or country club, the house is free to set whichever memebership rules it wants, if you don't like them you are free to go somewhere else. Unlike the jobs market, the dating market and its (discriminatory) dynamics is not something the government could regulate.
- dillonmckay 6y ago
  So, it is not okay to discriminate by age at a public square? But, why would Tinder control a public square?
- Udik 6y ago
  So are you fine with a service that charges black people more? Or a private company that decides not to hire gays? They're both not public squares or services, right?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - theredlion 6y ago
    Not op, but I'll counter with the question: how do you feel about public universities discriminating based on race and sex, which they do
    - Jestar342 6y ago
      No op either, but negatively, too. Why on earth would think that that make it all ok?

Udik 6y ago

I know it's common, but shouldn't it be illegal?

asdff 6y ago
You'd think with rules on the books against discriminating on the basis of sex that it would be a slam dunk case, for this and night club covers, but there must have not been a serious legal challenge to the practice yet.
- oblio 6y ago
  It's probably counterproductive. Yeah, you can sue and maybe you can win. But are you sure you want the end result? Human attraction, unfortunately, is not very fair, and definitely doesn't really follow anti-discrimination practices, from everything I've read so far.