Putting a price on love (eBay meets eHarmony)

[Blue_Tires]

Depending on your perspective, Brandon Wey is either digital dating's Prince of Darkness, or the most honest -- and innovative -- guy in online matchmaking.

The Singaporean-born, MIT-educated entrepreneur has spent the last half decade building lucrative businesses at the seething intersection of cupid and cupidity. His company Infostream operates such sites as SeekingArrangement.com, a marketplace where affluent older gentlemen (Sugar Daddies) can connect with fresh-faced proteges (Sugar Babies) for "mutually beneficial relationships" -- not to mention its platinum-plated spinoff, the bluntly named SeekingMillionaire.com, which offers "Indecent Proposal"-class interactions for the legitimately wealthy looking to turn cold cash into, er, hot assets.

Both businesses were instant successes -- SeekingArrangement.com now has more than 800,000 members, 90 percent of them sugar-seeking young honeys -- but they also were fundamentally focused on a niche audience: The large but fixed number of rich but unattractive people -- I'm looking at you, Donald -- willing to spring big bucks for head-turning arm candy.

Last month, Wey took a step that promises to democratize pay-for-play dating, launching WhatsYourPrice.com, a site that lets "generous" members bid cold hard cash -- $20, $100, even $1,000 a pop -- for dates with "attractive" ones. It's a concept he calls "eBay for dating."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/05/apop050511.DTL#ixzz1LVpPwlPL

[Moondog]

1. Every market, even one

that is not yet formally defined, has a clearing price.

I learned that years ago in biz school. Apparently it is still a valid concept.

[Blue_Tires]

3. As long as he stays in the clear legally, he'll be a billionaire in a few years...

[BlueJazz]

2. "Everybody already knows you're a Whore/Gigilo...we're just trying to figure out your price."