Dating Sites that are Entirely Free to Use
While the biggest (and usually best) dating sites do charge a fee for their premium services, there has been a recent boom in completely free dating sites. They offer many, if not all, of the profile and contact options that the paid sites do while never charging a cent.
So, how do they make their money, or at least break even? By various methods, including serving ads and sending e-mail offers to members.
OK Cupid is a big international site of this kind that has lots of Aussie members, but Plenty of Fish is the clear leader in this website genre. The owner of this site is a millionaire, apparently. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up, with more joining all the time. The site gets so much traffic that he makes thousands of dollars a day!
There are other sites that use this model (or something similar) to offer completely free dating. None are as big as Plenty of Fish yet, but some do have lots of members, a significant proportion of whom are in Australia. (Oasis Active, linked through the banner above, is a good example. This site has been growing apace lately, and now - according to Hitwise - has more members than any other site in Australia, including the paid ones!) Some have an Australian version of the main site, like Completely Free Dating Australia and Connecting Singles Australia.
And it seems that some Aussies have gone down this path and have built 100% free dating sites catering solely to their countrymen. Have a look at Ezifriends - linked through the banner below - as well as Slinky, Singles Who Click, Hook Me Up, Dating Online and Next Wink.
Generally speaking people tend to have a bit more dating success with the big paid dating sites, since these tend to have a higher proportion of members who are serious about their intentions, and who are therefore more active on the sites. (However that doesn't apply in every case. The massive success of Oasis Active is a good example.)
But ultimately this can be counteracted by joining several completely free sites and contacting lots of people whose profiles you like. Do this, and you're sure to have some success. That's why it's definitely worth checking out the sites listed here as well as searching for new ones as well.
So, how do they make their money, or at least break even? By various methods, including serving ads and sending e-mail offers to members.
OK Cupid is a big international site of this kind that has lots of Aussie members, but Plenty of Fish is the clear leader in this website genre. The owner of this site is a millionaire, apparently. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up, with more joining all the time. The site gets so much traffic that he makes thousands of dollars a day!
There are other sites that use this model (or something similar) to offer completely free dating. None are as big as Plenty of Fish yet, but some do have lots of members, a significant proportion of whom are in Australia. (Oasis Active, linked through the banner above, is a good example. This site has been growing apace lately, and now - according to Hitwise - has more members than any other site in Australia, including the paid ones!) Some have an Australian version of the main site, like Completely Free Dating Australia and Connecting Singles Australia.
And it seems that some Aussies have gone down this path and have built 100% free dating sites catering solely to their countrymen. Have a look at Ezifriends - linked through the banner below - as well as Slinky, Singles Who Click, Hook Me Up, Dating Online and Next Wink.
Generally speaking people tend to have a bit more dating success with the big paid dating sites, since these tend to have a higher proportion of members who are serious about their intentions, and who are therefore more active on the sites. (However that doesn't apply in every case. The massive success of Oasis Active is a good example.)
But ultimately this can be counteracted by joining several completely free sites and contacting lots of people whose profiles you like. Do this, and you're sure to have some success. That's why it's definitely worth checking out the sites listed here as well as searching for new ones as well.
