Some of you probably saw this. It is at MSN's site:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/family/basics/9520.asp
It is about matchmaking in AMERICA.
And you thought agencies abroad charged too much... It is funny how people who will engage in this think it makes sense... but going over seas ... oh my!...
Some of the more interesting quotes:
"I just see so much money in it, to be honest," Winston [a matchmaker] told me earlier on the phone. "Men and women will pay anything to meet the right person."
. . .
"I don't think the women who are coming to me want to meet a starving artist," Winston says, with a refreshing candor. "They want a provider..."
. . .
"Maria Mancini Matchmaker, who covers the Philadelphia-Delaware area, charges $995 for a six-month membership, which includes at least six "introductions" (as they're called in the biz). For an exclusive search, i.e., finding you a match outside her private database, her price goes up to $5,000.
Moving on up, for a mere $10,000 you could retain the services of New York-based Janis Spindel, head of Janis Spindel Serious Matchmaking, and get six introductions a year for the most basic membership. For $15,000, you get 12 introductions and "Preferred" status.
Or, if money really is no object, there's Selective Search in Chicago. Selective Search, which also recently opened offices in New York and San Francisco, charges a yearly retainer fee of $15,000 to $25,000.
