Many people think that paying a monthly subscription to an online dating service is tantamount to paying for something that they could otherwise get for free in a bar. Yet the money spent on a night out in a bar makes the money spent on online dating look like loose change. So why then is there still a feeling of stigma attached? Walk into any bar in any city of the world and you can see hundreds of men and women all mingling and chatting, but what are the actual odds of bumping into someone whom you actually get on with?
Well we ran the numbers and the results are interesting to say the least.
Back in 2010 Peter Backus, a maths genius and tutor at Warwick University ran a study based on the famous Drake Equation (originally used to discover signs of extra-terrestrial life) and calculated that in just London (UK) alone there is a one in 280,000 chance of him meeting an ideal partner. This was based on calculating the number of single women aged between 24 and 34 making Backus’ chances of meeting his dream woman in a bar were slim to say the least (0.0000034% if you want to be as precise as Backus). Backus merely replaced the original equation with his own criteria of a dream date leading him to the figures above.
Depressing? Debatable. Surprising? Not at all. All you have to do is think about any night out on the town to gain an understanding of why searching in a bar can decrease your odds of success.
Basically you’re searching blind.
Where Online Races Ahead of Offline
Online dating is still seen as something of a last resort by many especially when it comes to stumping up money. Why this is though becomes a bit of a mystery. All anyone needs to do is calculate how much money they spend on a night out bar and club hopping to see the benefits of searching for someone online, rather than offline. The average spend on a night out in Sydney for example falls between $60 to $80.
Once again; that’s an average spend!
Balance that with the money spent on searching for a date online – most recently calculated at $19.00 per month based on US, UK and AUS statistics – and the idea of looking for that perfect partner online suddenly becomes a lot more attractive financially.
Choice and Narrowing the odds
The simple fact is that online dating, free or otherwise, gives you the choice of narrowing down the traits that you are looking for in a partner, casual or serious. If you don’t believe us then try a little experiment.
The next time you go out to a bar or club with the intention of trying to find someone new, see how many potential hits you get as opposed to running an online search based on your same criteria.
And finally have a look at how much money you have in your wallet or purse at the end of the night. I can guarantee that you’ll suddenly see the financial benefit of experimenting with the online dating world.
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