After SafeDate made a big PR splash and threw a great party in Miami Beach this year at iDate, the company went way under the radar and a few executives left the company.
SafeDate is back, having recently struck an alliance with DatingHeadshots, to “provide online daters with quality dating headshots and background checks.”
DHS is a New York photo-shoot company that is the only real competition to LookBetterOnline that I’ve seen.
Introductory prices start at $120, which is less than LBO charges for a photo-shoot alone.
Here’s how it works:
The first step of the verification process is for the DHS photographer to verify the person’s identity based on information used in the online credit card purchase, including driver’s license verification. This validation process is done to verify that the person purchasing the package, sitting for the photo shoot and participating in the background check are the same person. The next step for the online dater is to submit the necessary information to complete their SafeDate background check. The online dater then chooses their DHS photos. Once the background check is completed, the date of the photo shoot and a SafeDate verification watermark are placed on the photos.
DHS charges less but doesn’t have the national footprint as LBO.
I wonder how dating sites will take to having personal images uploaded with the SafeDate badge on them? I can’t believe that’s going to float with most services, as they will rightfully want a cut of the “preferred dater” action.
Press release.
[tags: datingheadshots, lookbetteronline, safedate]
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Dave. Hope all is well with you this week. Here at AppleDates.com we’re taking moderate steps to help out users. We’re not pushing extensive background checks—that’s not really going to fly well with a typical New Yorker—but we do offer a verified photo option. To earn a “Verified Photo” tag at the bottom of your photos you have to drag yourself down to our office where we pull up your profile and flip a switch when we agree the profile photo is a fair representation of the person standing in our office. We also ask to look at their ID and verify their age. We’re located in Midtown near all of the major transit hubs so it’s really not a major hassle to find us. Since our dating system revolves around meeting people in public venues and hey, we’re New Yorkers, background checks are overkill for most singles here. The verified photo feature does give members a way to earn more respect as that mark inspires confidence in potential suitors that WTSIWTG (What they see is what they get).
This struck me as one of those things that falls into the category, “it was almost a good idea.” In this scenario, it takes a lot of effort to prove oneself worthy and, frankly, I don’t know of many persons, males especially, who are up to all that. This seemingly rigorous expenditure of time and money makes the actual protocol of courtship and dating seem easy by comparison. At Corra Group we offer simple background checks that are accessible in less than a day. For most people engaged in online or conventional singles dating, it seems more than adequate.