Internet v 1.0, porn Internet v 2.0, facebook Internet v 3.0, seekingarrangements.com
No shit. Heroic.
Seekingarrangements.com founder Brandon Wei:
"BRANDON WEI GOT THE IDEA for the site from his own dissatisfying love life as an M.I.T. student and then as a well-off but awkward tech executive. Traditional dating Web sites were no help. “It was difficult to advertise the assets I had compared to hundreds of thousands of guys who had better looks or better pickup lines,” says Wey, now married to a woman 13 years younger than he is, whom he met before the site went live. “I needed to find a way to put myself at the front of the line.”
"The Times magazine has a long piece about SeekingArrangement.com, a web site that helps "sugar babies" find rich "sugar daddies" :-) On the site there are 10 babies for every daddy."
"There’s the 18-year-old from France asking for $5,000 to $10,000 a month from “a mentor who can provide me with the finer things in life and keep me happy!” And the 49-year-old investor from upstate New York willing to pay $5,000 a month for a “daytime playmate” for “intense connection without commitment.”"
"...In fact, Seeking Arrangement pays to have its ads pop up on search engines whenever someone types in “student loan,” “tuition help,” “college support” or “help with rent.”
"Some sugar babies also insist that wives who stay in miserable marriages for an American Express black card, mansion or country-club membership are more like prostitutes than they are."
Let's take a look at a dude named Sam. Sam reminds me of some people I've met.
"One sugar daddy whose screen name is Sam has tried long-term girlfriends, mistresses, prostitutes and a brief marriage. ... Sam’s profile on Seeking Arrangement is audacious. He advertises for a woman who is “drop-dead beautiful, sexy, fun and elegantly mannered in a fancy setting. She must turn heads . . . and make me the envy of the crowd.” ... When I asked to chat in person, Sam suggested meeting at CORE, a private Manhattan club where membership is by invitation only and costs $65,000 the first year and where Sam’s assent was required before I could be admitted. Sitting alone at a long conference table in a room set aside for him, he looked utterly unremarkable, a man of average height with a buzz cut and an aloof air. But once Sam got talking, he became affable and witty, especially as he described his unorthodox history with women. He started college when most kids his age were still in middle school. “When you go to college at that age, you’re pretty undatable,” he said. “I was somewhere between a curiosity, a mascot and a friend. I tutored freshman physics and calculus so I could at least be near women. Of course, all they’d do is talk about their boyfriends.”
He has an almost mathematical approach to assessing relationships, and once even computed the costs for a girlfriend, mistress, prostitute and wife — mistresses turn out to be most expensive by the hour; wives, by the year; girlfriends are cheapest all around. But he’s not as calculating as he seems. In fact, he concluded there’s little correlation between cost and quality. Still, he is relentlessly searching for an algorithm that will predict relationships’ success.
Sam is also more determined than most to try separating a sugar baby’s affection and the money she’s paid to provide it. In his arrangements, he says, he establishes a trust in the woman’s name that pays a monthly stipend of at least $5,000 for the length of their contract. If the woman decides to quit sleeping with him at any point, he may quit serving as adviser and pamperer, but the stipend continues regardless. “If I didn’t do that, then it’s like a leash I’m putting on somebody, and that seems really unfair,” he said. “Besides, then I’d never know what the relationship was really about.”
Sam runs these relationships with an explicit business plan, a set budget, measurable goals and quarterly reviews. From the outset, the contract has an end date. It’s a brilliant, if contrived, way to protect his pride. The contract specifies that the romance and sex are to end by the preset date, so there’s no break up, no rejection, no bruised ego. She’s not dumping him; the gig’s just over."
it's prostitution but with a contract, i feel that if both parties are in accord it is perfectly viable. I find it odd so many are so disgusted by this.
not my cup of tea mind you but still i can hardly see what's wrong with willing women swapping sex for money, this seems to be a more humane ( risk free) way of accomplishing it considering the contract.
I loathe rich people who really got nothing going for them except money, who want to hook up with beautiful women using their money. Nerds, know your place. I mean, calculating the cost of a wife vs prostitute is just a bit too aspergers
i saw a documentary like this the other day, only it was more shocking (to me at least).
it was this organization in Russia that has like a list of women that are looking to get married to someone from the west and that can provide for them, offer them a better life, etc. i mean, girls as young as 18 looking for completely random strangers from the other half of the world and whom they do not share a language with (i mean most spoke very basic english) to get MARRIED. the guy (usually american, of course) has to pay for the all the expenses, and if they didn't get married within 2 months of the girl being brought to the US, then she gets deported. it's like an entirely established system it was sooo shocking to me. and of course you got some terrible cases, like this american guy that was a fat ass psycho bitch ended up murdering the girl. but the simple thought of marrying someone from the west only because he can provide for the women was just so new to me. i understand it, and it's sad since they are basically poor and stuff, but still it weirded me out. anyways just wanted to share that, cuz its certainly relevant to this.
On October 19 2009 20:10 Blyf wrote: This is great. Why be so taboo about it - Now you have somewhere to go if money is your main attraction.
This is nothing more than prostitution stretched over a longer period of time. Hence, it should be scorned as such.
No it's not. This is basically a really expensive escort service. The reason I look down on the act of prostitution is that many of the women involved don't really have a choice. Or have been suckered in to such a terrible existence perhaps through no fault of their own, then of course you can delve in to the kidnappings, rape, drug addictions, unwanted births and pimps that are associated with prostitution.
This has none of that, the girls involved are probably just "magazine pretty" and are spoilt little brats that want money. The guys involved are just rich lonely guys that sacrificed all social skills in the pursuit of money and never got the women they thought they would. Of course I'm just stereotyping here, but from looking around the site for 5 minutes that's pretty much the gist of it. You just have to accept it as a bunch of pathetic people on a niche “dating site”
On October 19 2009 18:35 Foucault wrote: I loathe rich people who really got nothing going for them except money, who want to hook up with beautiful women using their money. Nerds, know your place. I mean, calculating the cost of a wife vs prostitute is just a bit too aspergers
everybody wants a hot girl. The ugly socially awkward guys know they can't get them by looks or personality alone, so they work hard to make that money so they can buy them. Yeah they use what they got, in this case its their money. I don't see anything wrong with that ;p
On October 19 2009 18:33 Etherone wrote: it's prostitution but with a contract, i feel that if both parties are in accord it is perfectly viable. I find it odd so many are so disgusted by this.
not my cup of tea mind you but still i can hardly see what's wrong with willing women swapping sex for money, this seems to be a more humane ( risk free) way of accomplishing it considering the contract.
I've never understood why men want to pamper women. Especially when the man has all the money and the woman is a gold digger only without the traditional tools.
Also, Sam's requirement of "drop-dead beautiful, sexy, fun and elegantly mannered in a fancy setting. She must turn heads . . . and make me the envy of the crowd" coupled with his supposed mathematical background makes me wonder why he hasn't considered the statistics behind finding a woman with such features. Given the number of people in the world I'm sure it's not too uncommon. Instead of offering a $60,000 year contract he should design an auction where the women can make bids (about their desired amounts) and then Sam can choose with respect to payment, as well as looks and personality. That way he might find someone "worth more" than $60k to him that he wants or someone worth the $60k but is willing to accept less.
On October 19 2009 19:06 UGC4 wrote: i saw a documentary like this the other day, only it was more shocking (to me at least).
it was this organization in Russia that has like a list of women that are looking to get married to someone from the west and that can provide for them, offer them a better life, etc. i mean, girls as young as 18 looking for completely random strangers from the other half of the world and whom they do not share a language with (i mean most spoke very basic english) to get MARRIED. the guy (usually american, of course) has to pay for the all the expenses, and if they didn't get married within 2 months of the girl being brought to the US, then she gets deported. it's like an entirely established system it was sooo shocking to me. and of course you got some terrible cases, like this american guy that was a fat ass psycho bitch ended up murdering the girl. but the simple thought of marrying someone from the west only because he can provide for the women was just so new to me. i understand it, and it's sad since they are basically poor and stuff, but still it weirded me out. anyways just wanted to share that, cuz its certainly relevant to this.
has anyone heard about that?
this is basically mail-order brides.. i know a girl whose father did this, the relationship didn't even last a year. i also know a friend who married some girl just so she would get her green card.. that marriage failed pretty quickly too. its really a shame how devalued marriage has become, about 50% of marriages end in divorce
In the long run, what would any of this change? Is this site something that's seriously going to stamp out marriage for genuine reasons of love and caring? I don't think so.
It's a supply and demand service that gives both parties what they want. The men want attention and feigned affection and they're willing to pay for it, the girls want money and they're given an easy way to get it if they meet the visual requirements. It may be akin to prostitution if sex is involved but at least the way it's done on this site allows for some modicum of vetting and security. Street prostitution may be an ugly thing but it's been around a long time, it's not going to go away and people need to understand that. I may not approve morally but I'd rather it be legalized so that there's a greater chance of support and protection for the women involved than continuing attempts to keep it illegal as it currently is in most countries around the world.
Also, it's not like the majority of people are losing anything from this sugar daddy website. I'm pretty sure that no one here feels like they're missing out on dating a materialistic girl who wants a shitload of cash for looking nice because they're too busy signing up to that site. And if you do feel like you're missing out, go earn some money and register there. The rest of us can continue to seek out people who care little about the size of a bank account so we can eventually settle down in the good old fashioned way
I dunno, it seems pretty interesting - most guys don't get to the top of the corporate ladder without being at least somewhat discerning in dealing with people, so it'd be pretty easy to root out the obvious golddiggers
although to be fair, some of these guys will probably be completely helpless to a very skilled manipulative, but immature woman and lose a good amount of their wealth if they invest far too much
at any rate, I think this is a good thing if in the long run it helps these silly gentlemen with too much money and too much pride to get over themselves a bit and learn how to relate with women
and, well, I'm glad people are acknowledging it for what it is