Nearly every dating site on the internet claims to offer free dating. Running a quick search on google for the phrase 'free dating' returns some one and half million results!

Yet is the consumer being mislead? What are the true costs of free dating?

The fact is there is rarely any such thing. Free dating often means the ability to post a profile and recieve messages from members but here the word 'free' stops. If a member wishes to contact other members, read messages and use additional features other than merely posting a profile they must 'upgrade' their account and this of course comes at a cost.

Is the consumer being mislead? In a way yes. These sites are not really offering free dating, rather the ability to post a profile - if you actually want to use the dating service, that is interact with other members then you must pay an 'upgrade fee'.

At the same time however it is important to remember the old saying that nothing in life comes free. For the website owner running, maintaining and advertising a dating site costs money and often lots of it. Some of the top dating sites are paying nearly