30 or Older? Sorry, You'll Have to Pay Twice as Much to Use Tinder's New Premium Features. The viral dating app stirs up yet more controversy with its Tinder Plus pricing structure.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Tinder just swiped its way right into hot water.
The makers of the popular dating app yesterday rolled out Tinder Plus, a long anticipated paid version that lets users undo accidental left swipes, set their location to anywhere in the world and avoid ads. Of course, there's one catch: users 30 or older will have to pay twice as much to use the premium service as the under-30 set.
Related: Hinge, the Less Random Tinder, Raises $12 Million
In the U.S., the cost to swipers younger than 30 will be $9.99 a month, while older swipers will have to fork over double, at $19.99 a month. In the U.K., older users are even worse off: swipers older than 28 can subscribe to the service for £14.99 (about $23) a month -- almost four times as much as swipers younger than 28 will shell out for the same thing, reports Bloomberg Business.
The West Hollywood, Calif.-based startup -- owned by dating services industry juggernaut IAC/InterActiveCorp, the company behind OKCupid and Match.com -- justified its controversial age-based premium product pricing tier in a statement to BIZ Experiences this morning. Essentially, Tinder says it decided to charge younger users less because, well, those users are strapped for cash. And, hey, it's not the only company charging customers based on their ages.
Related: Here's the Major Obstacle Tinder Still Faces
Tinder Plus has arrived! Check out Passport and Rewind! Go to http://t.co/8GADRZuokQ for details. pic.twitter.com/5i7inFG2K9
— Tinder (@Tinder) March 2, 2015"Over the past few months, we've tested Tinder Plus extensively in several countries," Tinder spokeswoman Rosette Pambakian said. "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 Tinder Plus, but are more budget constrained, and need a lower price to pull the trigger."
Tinder's brash push to openly target younger users isn't a love match for older daters, who now have another reason to avoid the heady app, other than left swipes.
Related: Tinder Co-Founder Sean Rad on the Hot Dating App's Viral Success
