Yahoo Finance Sydney woman charges $1,500 per month to get you Tinder dates
When Holly Bartter’s colleagues asked her to deal with their dating accounts so they didn’t have to bother with the upkeep, she realised others probably felt this way too.
Cue MatchSmith, Holly’s year-old dating service where she manages other people’s dating apps so they don’t have to.
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“I just saw a natural gap,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“People wanted a really bespoke service that understood their schedule and how much time they could actually commit, but also still allowed them to be online and having control over who they’re meeting just without having to actually sit on the apps.”
Holly’s services come in three levels: levels one and two involve brushing up dating profiles, assisting with the right profile picture and strategising over who they’d like to match with.
But level three is something a little more.
“Level 3, which is where a lot of the media interest comes in, is where I have a select amount of clients (because it is very labour intensive) where I actually manage their profiles personally as them.”
And before you wonder, no, the person on the other side doesn’t know they’re not actually speaking to they matched with.
“I haven’t had any of my clients reveal to their matches that they may have met that person or matched with them [because of me],” Holly explained.
“I really don’t get into any in-depth conversations with any of those matches, so we don’t talk about politics or anything personal.
“I’ve already built out a really detailed client profile at the time, so I’m really just looking for whether this person is courteous, whether they respond to messages in a timely fashion.”
And she doesn’t consider it cat-fishing.
“In the end, I’m not turning up to the date, I’m not putting up fake photos. I’m not lying, all the information is what this person’s given to me in their profile - it’s accurate, and I try and reflect their personality online.”
Once Holly has a good selection of matches, she’ll take them back to her client with a brief detailing whether the match is interested in meeting the client.
“They get this curated set of matches without having to go through absolutely everyone. They just know this person’s interested in them and they match their criteria so far.”
And while Holly still works a regular nine-to-five, her new side hustle is proving to be extremely lucrative.
A one-time service at level one starts at $79.
“[That’s for] brushing up the profile, writing a new bio and telling you what photos might be useful.”
Level two costs around $190, which is the same as level one, but for up to three dating profiles.
Level three will set you back $1,500 per month, but it’s no easy feat for Holly.
“That’s me matching for them Monday to Friday – five days a week for that month.
“I can only take on a maximum of around five to eight people to get that done. Most of the time I sit around the three to four mark, and I waitlist people because I prefer it to be a really personal service.”
But according to Holly, the average client probably stays with her for around two to three months. They can pause the service if they meet someone after a month, and they can come back whenever they choose.
“It’s just like having an EA – it’s having the leg work done for you.”
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