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New Dating Site Blurs the Line Between Capitalism and Prostitution

by Amar Toor on April 7, 2011 at 08:39 AM

what's your price
Somewhere near the intersection of online dating and unabashed prostitution is where you can find WhatsYourPrice.com -- a new dating site where cash trumps compatibility.

Site founder Brandon Wade compares WhatsYourPrice.com to eBay. "When you see a hot single you want to date, just make an offer and buy the first date," Wade explains, in a press release. But that's where the similarities end.

WhatsYourPrice members are divided into two groups: "the generous" (i.e., men) and "the attractive" (women). Attractive users are invited to create profiles on the site, featuring all the basic information you'd find on most dating networks, as well as the amount of money they'd accept for someone to go on a date with them. The generous, meanwhile, can browse through these profiles, and make offers to any attractive users that catch their eye. Once an offer is made, the attractive member can choose to accept it, reject it, or come up with a different price.

Sounds a little like prostitution, right? Well, almost. "This is all about paying for the FIRST DATE!" a spokesman explained to Gawker. "There is absolutely no sex involved, and except perhaps the chance of sex at some point in the future if you are able to successfully charm and seduce. But isn't that what every first date is about?"

In Wade's view, WhatsYourPrice simply injects the dating game with a heavy dose of capitalism. Men can pay up front for a hot date, rather than pursuing women via more traditional dating services. Women, meanwhile, can make some extra cash. The phrase Make Money Dating™, believe it or not, has actually been trademarked by the Las Vegas-based company that owns WhatsYourPrice.

"It's a matter of free market principles really," Wade explained. "I guess that makes me the Adam Smith of online dating!" Or, equivalently, the Dolemite of capitalism.

Tags: brandon+wade, brandonwade, dating, money, OnlineDating, prostitution, sex, top, Web, whatsyourprice, whatsyourprice.com

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