- Dating service Elite Connections charges $15,000 for a six-month membership.
- Claudia Duran is a Miami-based matchmaker with Elite Connections. She told us about the perks of membership.
- For example, you get feedback on what your dates thought of you, unlimited access to Duran's advice, and a little bit of "therapy."
A six-month membership with Miami dating service Elite Connections costs $15,000. That's $2,500 per month.
Frustration with online dating has led more and more people to matchmakers, as Insider's Talia Lakritz reported. According to an article by Sarah Kessler in Fast Company, matchmakers have grown into a "niche" over the last few years — and the people who use them are getting younger and younger.
Claudia Duran, a matchmaker with Elite Connections, is honest with clients who are about to shell out thousands of dollars in the hopes of meeting The One: "We can't guarantee love." Still, she'll tell them, "we are guaranteeing that we are going to introduce you to people are invested emotionally, logistically, and financially, just like you."
What's more, she said, "we bring you people who you wouldn't normally have met on your own." Elite Connections has thousands of people in its database, Duran said, but they may also recruit people from outside their network if you're not satisfied with any of your matches.
Here's what people get for their $15,000:
- An in-person interview with your matchmaker to discuss deal-breakers as well as "deal-makers" in a date or partner
- Advice on choosing photos and creating your profile
- A guaranteed one or two matches per month in a single geographic area (a VIP membership or a global membership, which broadens the search to multiple cities, costs $75,000)
- Feedback on what your dates thought about you, relayed through your matchmaker
- Unlimited access to your matchmaker's advice and feedback at any time
After each date, Duran will talk to both people individually and find out how it went. Then she'll pass that information to the other person.
"If you're being matched with people and you want to know what did or did not go wrong, we will tell you," she said, adding that she "diplomatically" shares what your date said about you. It's less about gossiping, and more about getting constructive criticism so you can improve.
Part of Duran's job is being a "therapist," she said. Clients will text her at midnight wanting to debrief their date, and ask Duran what she thinks. And when she meets with clients, Duran will encourage them to open up about touchy topics — for example, whether they've had a problem with jealousy in the past or whether they've been burned in a previous relationship.
Duran personally defines "success" as a client putting their membership on hold because they've met someone they want to date exclusively. She said it happens about 70% of the time.
Lately, Duran said, she's been seeing clients hit it off with their first or second match. "I don't take it for granted; I don't expect it," she told me. "There's some magic in the air."
Have you worked with a matchmaker? Email slebowitz@businessinsider.com to share your story.
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