Matchmakers

For those of you who want a personal matchmaker and have been checking out either Premier Match or Modern Matchmaker here is a bit more information about these two services including cost and number of clients:

Premier Match

• First launched in 1999. The owner is Christie Nightingale.
• Have offices in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington.
• Have signed up nearly double the number of new clients this year, when compared with the same time period in 2008.
• The cost of a full-year membership starts around $5,500 and guarantees 10 to 12 introductions (cost of dates not included).
• Have signed up between 32 and 47 new clients each month since October.
• Has over 2,000 Philadelphia clients.

Modern Matchmaker

• Located in Pittsburgh. The president is Susan Dunhoff.
• Charges $1,250 for a six-month package (cost of dates not included).
• Has over 500 clients.

For our list of similar services, check out our Matchmaker Services category.

You want someone special in your life but, you don't want to use online dating and your circle of friends have limited social networks, what do you do? You could try a Professional Matchmaker. They bring singles together by offering a personal touch with face to face interactions. A professional matchmaker is ideal for you if you have a very busy schedule and you don't want to spend inordinate amounts of time searching and viewing online dating profiles of potential partners. The 3 most popular matchmaking services available in most major cities in the United States are The Right One, It's Just Lunch and Great Expectations. Both The Right One and It's Just Lunch state that:

... the majority of their clients are in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and come from all walks of life. And while there are fluctuations in the number of males to females who use the service, both sexes, for the most part, are evenly represented.

Members of these services tend to be the busy professional who wants to have a partner in their life but don't have the time to find one. For this premium type of service don't expect to pay online dating site prices. Prices start at around $1000 for a year of service with a professional matchmaker (this depends on the level of service you want), about 3 times as much as the average major dating site for the same time period. For this price all you need to do is give details on yourself, your personality and what type of person you are looking for. From here, most of these services will take this information and your schedule for the month, figure out who suits you best and setup some dates for you.

The Right One matching service is the oldest and has been around for 34 years (1975) and promotes the fact that nationally, they are responsible for, on average, 1 match every 17 minutes and 1 marriage per day. They also belong to an independent organization called the Matchmaking Institute which we discovered recently (see Story). The Matchmaking Institute was established in 2003 to set strict quality standards and a code of ethics in the matchmaking industry.

It's Just Lunch International has been matching singles for the last 18 years (1991). They offer their service not only in the US, but in Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe and Asia from 100 different locations. It's Just Lunch has about 30,000 members in total. who on average go on 50,000 dates a month. About 70 percent of dates lead to a second date.

Great Expectations has about 30 years of experience in matching (1980?) and over 50 locations nationwide. According to their website they have 100,000 members across the US. Currently, we do not recommend this service, do to the Arizona Attorney General filing a lawsuit against them in 2008 (see Story).

Professional matchmakers usually always are in major cities and have a smaller pool of daters than the major dating sites. What professional matchmakers may lack in number of clients (when compared to online sites) they make up in servicing the customer. You also are paying for the human intuition of the ability to size people up to determine what type of person would make a good match for them.

For more information on matchmaking professionals, check out our Matchmaking Services category.

According to a Times article, matchmakers in China have seen an increase in clients ever since the economy started its downturn last year. With the job market frozen in China many young college graduates are not finding any work and are experiencing financial difficulties because of the huge debt of going to school. It is estimated that only 35 percent of the 6.1 million students who graduate this year will find a job. Many young woman are using marriage as a means to ease the financial burden.

Unlike online dating, the matchmaking industry mediates dating through a broker. People who want to find a spouse register at a given agency, and the broker will pick and arrange their dates based on their requirements. The first date usually takes place at the office of the matchmaking business.

Marriage is very important to the Chinese and it is seen almost as a compulsory step for woman. As woman grow older the pressure increases not only though family but friends and the media as well. Many parents agree with their college grad daughters in getting married when work is not found. Some parents will even go out and hand pick the man for them to marry.

New Chinese dating sites like Xiaoyuanlove.com (which means Love on Campus) have seen their member numbers swell. While online dating is not as popular as a personal matchmaking services in China, things are changing fast.

Visit Time for the complete story about Matchmakers in China.

From a CNN article about Matchmakers thriving in the current economy I learned that there is a Matchmaker Institute which was established in 2003. Described as the go to place for everything matchmaking, the website is designed for the Matchmaker business professional. It is a place you can go to become a Matchmaker or to improve your Matchmaking business. They offer training and certification as well as a Matchmakers Network, the industry trade association. Among other things they also offer business software, Home Study Kits (that can run thousands of dollars), and the Matchmakers Multiple Listing Service (MMLS) to help in your business as well.

The Matchmaker Network does have a Code of Ethics which looks good on the surface but it is unknown to us what happens to a Matchmakers Certification if he or she has one or more infractions. A code of ethics is useless if not enforced.

According to the institute there are about 1,500 independent matchmakers who operate in the United States, I was unable to find how many actually belong. The Matchmaker Network is a good idea as long as they are ridged with their rules and are not in it just to make money. It would be beneficial if something similar was setup for online dating sites, with a similar set of code of ethics. We all know dating sites are all over the map when it comes to how they treat their members.

For more information visit the Matchmaking Institute. If you are looking to hire a personal Matchmaker, visit our Matchmaking Services category.

All matchmaking services in Shanghai must register with the Shanghai Association of Matchmaking Management by next year. Among other things, the association will keep track of any misdemeanors of the matchmaker service.

Each employee who works at a matchmaking service must obtain two certificates from the Shanghai Association of Matchmaking Management. One is a qualified matchmaking certificate and the second one is a matchmaking company employee certificate.

More information on the new regulations can be found at Shanghai Daily.