Tinder plans to launch an ultra-premium version of the dating app, Tinder Vault, which might cost up to $500 per month. Users invited to take part in the trials shared screenshots this week that hint that this service might include 24/7 access to a dating coach. The new offering – which is still in beta testing – also promises to connect users with the most active, influential and sought-following members of the app. Many critics claim that this wording suggests that Tinder Vault might act as an intermediary (matchmaker) between users.
Tinder is a popular online dating and social networking app that connects singles from the same region and around the world. In general, the operation of the Tinder application is quite simple: you swipe your finger to indicate the person you are most interested in. Tinder is very often called “the dating app”, but it’s primarily a dating app that aims to provide a gateway to relationships for a more tech-savvy generation. Anyone can join for free, but Tinder also offers premium features that can be accessed through a subscription.
Tinder currently offers three types of subscriptions to users: Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Premium. But recently it emerged that the company is working on a third paid offering called Tinder Vault which is described by app users as “a luxury subscription”. Mark Van Ryswyk, the company’s product manager, confirmed the rumor on Monday, though he was cautious regarding the details. The company leaves the door open to the pure and simple abandonment of the idea. “We’re really looking at a whole range of value-added services for Tinder in general,” Van Ryswyk told Fast Company on Monday.
We are still in learning mode. These include figuring out how a service that might cost someone $6,000 a year adds value to the overall Tinder ecosystem. It should not disrupt the experience of free Tinder members, who make up the vast majority of users. And it must have enough impact for serious users who are willing to pay for Vault, he added. However, users on Reddit have posted images of the app, claiming they have been asked to take part in a trial. The images show that Tinder Vault is a service for the wealthy.
Screenshots show that the upgraded accounts promise “unequal access to the best of Tinder”. The service offers two different pricing plans: a monthly fee of $500 or an annual fee of $5,000. This is a huge increase over the three paid accounts already available, which range from $2.67 per month to $29.99. At that price, Tinder says users of its new ultra-premium service will get “special status” and a “priority pass”. This seems to involve even more profile upgrades than the other subscription tiers Tinder already offers.
Besides being given priority in other users’ news feeds, the services offered by Tinder Vault include “a personalized concierge service” which would act as a kind of 24/7 advice service for drag artists. There is also a premium passport which would give users access to the most active and influential members of the platform. This suggests that there may now be human matchmakers. In fact, outraged users believe Tinder is moving towards a new business model, including one paid Tinder for wealthy men and one free for women.
Thus, Tinder might play “an intermediary role”. However, Van Ryswyk said Tinder Vault won’t include entirely new features like human matchmakers, but instead will look like an improved and more expensive version of their existing premium options. Today, Tinder users can pay for updates that amplify the reach of their dating profile, lower the cap on swipe limits, and push their likes to the top of the queue, where likes from paying members are seen before those of non-paying members. Tinder Vault might offer more such options.
Reddit users who posted screenshots of Tinder Vault trial offers, however, weren’t impressed with what Match Group has to offer. For that amount of money, Tinder should quietly line up with escort services. They’ll probably put escorts there if they know these guys are desperate enough to spend $500,” one said. Tinder will definitely help people whose main or only selling point is wealth, and it will help people whose main thing they are looking for in a partner is wealth, another reviewer commented.
A third reviewer says: I wouldn’t really say they prey on desperate people. In my experience, desperate people who you might think use Tinder usually give up when they don’t get a match as soon as possible and other people I know who use Tinder don’t use it. only for meetings and one-night stands. I’m sure you’ll find that most people on Tinder aren’t looking for love, just to meet someone, in this context offering a subscription isn’t that predatory.
I still remember the heyday of Tinder regarding six years ago, where you got tons of matches for just $10 a month. Today, it’s become a prostitution app that constantly tries to get you to spend more money. Do you already have a premium subscription? Buy platinum! Do you already have platinum? Buy a boost! The joke ? You don’t even get a match, even paying for the most expensive ridiculous options,” wrote another. Basically, Tinder Vault reviewers accuse Tinder and its owner Match Group of operating an escort service underground.
Given that Match Group, owner of Tinder, saw its first quarterly decline in earnings last January, it’s possible that its plans for the Tinder Vault aren’t entirely romantic. Match Group owns a slew of dating apps, including Hinge and OkCupid, and last summer bought dating platform The League. The League dating platform which offers quite expensive access options and which is described as being aimed at “very powerful (and autonomous) people who are ready for a long-term relationship”. She quotes $1,000 a week.
Van Ryswyk said The League’s subscribers have remained stable despite all the layoffs in high-paying sectors like tech, and so it seems the company is still bullish on the Tinder Vault concept to some extent. The company has been on something of an existential journey of self-discovery since last year, following the company’s former CEO, Renate Nyborg, announced she was leaving Tinder. Tinder is starting to look more and more like the Hinge dating app, trying to shake off the image that Tinder is just for dating.
Aside from Tinder’s privacy and confidentiality issues, research by Mozilla and Consumers International found last year that Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to five times more for the same service. . The research team found that Tinder Plus can offer up to 31 unique prices in a single country, and older users are often charged more. Meanwhile, Tinder provides no meaningful transparency into how prices are determined. Critics fear that Tinder Vault follows this logic as well.
And you ?
What is your opinion on the subject?
What do you think of the new premium service Tinder Vault?
In your opinion, how is this new service better than what Tinder already offers?
What do you think of the allegations that Tinder Vault might act as an intermediary between users?
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