This week, dating app Tinder announced a new feature called Tinder Plus. For a fee, users will be able to choose to search anywhere in the world for someone to date, and will be able to fix their mistake if they accidentally swept left on someone they actually wanted to get to know. They will also get unlimited likes, a feature that is apparently restricted in the free version of the app.
Interested? Tinder Plus is going to run the user $10—if they’re under 30—or $20—if they’re 30 or over. Huh?
Tinder adds to the indignity of being over 30. http://t.co/VU6AXcVw3T @techcrunch
— Nina Willdorf (@ninawilldorf) March 3, 2015
Tinder blogged about the new features on Monday, but didn’t address the price structure. Quartz reached out to the company for more information .
“We’ve priced Tinder Plus based on a combination of factors, including what we’ve learned through our testing, and we’ve found that these price points were adopted very well by certain age demographics. Lots of products offer differentiated price tiers by age, like Spotify does for students, for example. Tinder is no different; during our testing we’ve learned, not surprisingly, that younger users are just as excited about TinderPlus, but are more budget constrained, and need a lower price to pull the trigger.”
Okay. There are also reports that pricing varies around the world; Quartz says that in some markets, the app is being priced as low as $3 per month, while Tech Crunch reports that at least one over-30 woman in their office saw a price of $14.99 per month.
Tindr plus charges over 30s twice as much, isn’t #agediscrimination federally illegal? http://t.co/cUxfC2SOr1
— Emily Veinglory (@veinglory) March 3, 2015
All in all, over-30s seem pretty upset about the decision Tinder has made to price the app higher for those who are older. Gizmodo ‘s headline , that for “30somethings, It’s Tinder That’s Doing the Screwing,” seems to cover the general trend of the objections.
Will monetizing the app work? Investment firm Morgan Stanley said no in a note sent to client, and reported at ABC .
“First, given the young age of the target demo and frequent unwillingness to pay monthly recurring fees for social services, we believe Tinder will not have much success in monetizing with a high-cost recurring monthly subscription offer.”
Morgan Stanley estimated that as few as 4 percent of Tinder users would be willing to swipe right on paying for the service.
Would you consider paying for Tinder Plus?
[Image from Droid Life ]