SeekingArrangement

Seeking Arrangement (also known as SeekingArrangement.com) is an American Sugar Baby and Sugar Daddy dating website^[2] founded by MIT graduate Brandon Wade in San Francisco, California in 2006.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} Wade is currently the company’s CEO^[10] and has launched several niche dating sites, including MissTravel, WhatsYourPrice? and Carrot Dating (a mobile app). He plans to launch a new site, OpenMinded in early 2015.

Business model

The SeekingArrangement business model is based on a membership system. Sugar Babies create profiles and join the website free of charge. Sugar Baby members who register with their university email address automatically qualify for a Premium Membership status.^[11] Sugar Daddys and Mommas are able to register for site services free of charge, which provides them with a limited number of messages. After the trial period has expired, members have the option to either purchase credits for expanded messaging privileges on a monthly basis or on an annual basis with the Diamond Package.^[12]

Membership

Members join for free, and can currently access the site from 139 countries^[3] with translations in ten different languages.^[13] The company headquarters is presently located in Las Vegas, NV. There are additional offices located in Ukraine and Singapore.

Sugar Baby Members

Currently there are a combined 2.6 million Sugar Babies^[3] active on the site—both male and female.

In 2010, SeekingArrangement.com began offering free Premium Memberships to students who register using their university email addresses.^[14] The company expanded its offering to college students in Canada,^[15] Australia,^[16] the United Kingdom,^[17][18] France,^[19] and various parts of Europe.

In 2014, over 1.4 million students were registered on the website in search of Sugar Daddies and Sugar Mommies.^[20] Requests from Sugar Babies varied from assistance with college expenses to monthly allowances for living expenses.^[21]

In February 2015, Seeking Arrangement released a list of the top 20 colleges attended by girls using the website as sugar babies. The number one university on the list was the University of Texas with 425 new sign-ups in 2014. Other information on sugar babies was also provided such as the average allowance ($3,000 USD) and a break down of what girls spent their allowance on.^[22]

Sugar Daddy Members

Although membership is free for Sugar Babies, Sugar Daddys (and Mommys) must pay for a monthly premium membership or pay for a 1-year Diamond Package.^[23]

TCLogiQ

SeekingArrangement offers optional background checks for its members through a third party source: TC LogiQ. However, background checks are mandatory for Diamond Tier. Background checks include providing screening services for site members reviewing user records for flags such as: sexual predators, assault/battery charges, domestic abuse filings, and indicators of the like. There is a one-time fee associated with the member background check process charged to the account holder.

Users who successfully become background verified are indicated with a badge on their site profile.^[24]

PerfectArrangement

In 2015, SeekingArrangement.com added matchmaking services as an option to clients. The PerfectArrangement slogan is “A Different Kind of Matchmaking.” The service caters to both alternative and traditional relationships based on client-specified preference and need.^[25]

Mobile application

SeekingArrangement is available for mobile application use on Android-compatible phones and tablets.^[26] SeekingArrangement is not currently available in the iOS store.

Controversy

SeekingArrangement.com has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and various print outlets. The site has also been featured on television's ABC 20/20, ABC Nightline, CNN This is Life,^[27] Showtime’s Seven Deadly Sins (Season 1, Ep 6)^[28] and other television programs worldwide.

Assignment of rights in perpetuity

The member policy automatically agreed to at time of joining, states: "By posting Content on the Website or as part of the Service, you automatically grant an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, worldwide right and license to (i) use, copy, store, perform, display, reproduce, record, play, adapt, modify and distribute the Content, (ii) prepare derivative works of the Content or incorporate the Content into other works, and (iii) grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing in any media now known or hereafter created."^[29]

Google executive's death – Alix Tichelman trial (2013–2015)

Google executive Forrest Hayes was found dead on his yacht November 2013 by his captain. Surveillance footage from the yacht shows Alix Tichelman, a woman he met on SeekingArrangement.com, injecting what appears to be heroin into her arm, then shooting the substance into Hayes immediately after. Hayes died later from an apparent overdose.^[30][31][32]

Alix Tichelman was arrested in July 2014, on charges of manslaughter and prostitution.^[33] On May 19, 2015, she was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and administering illicit drugs.^[34]

Republican National Convention Site Boost (2012)

When the 2012 Republican National Convention took place in Tampa Bay, Florida, SeekingArrangement.com plausibly saw a 25.9% increase of site users stemming from this geographic area. This increase translates to the average of 1,823 daily users increasing to 2,295 accessing the site at this reported time.^[35]

Huffington Post quotes “politicians in the Republican Party had more than just politics on their mind.”^[36]

Huffington Post continued to state that further evidence suggests that of the 200,000 Sugar Daddy users, 42.1% are Republicans opposed to 34.9% claiming to be Democrats.^[36]

Anthony Weiner "Sexting" Scandal (2011)

In 2011 former New York U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner posted a photograph of sexual nature via his Twitter page. Six women would come to light admitting that they had engaged in sexually charged phone relationships with the married representative.^[37] Sydney Elaine Leathers, one of the six women Weiner had extramarital contact with, admitted to meeting Weiner on the SeekingArrangement site. Leathers has since admitted to using similar sites since the age of 19.^[38]

New York Times Feature (2009)

The New York Times featured the in-depth piece “Keeping Up With Being Kept” revealing the complex world of Sugar Dating. Multiple aspects were covered including the allowances Sugar Babies typically requested, gifts received and the age ranges involved. The article highlights that pairings seemed to likely tip towards older male- younger female partners.^[39]

Reasons Sugar Babies are drawn to this alternative lifestyle include needing to pay rent or covering the costs of an education. Some actually sought encouragement or financial advice. In these instances, sex was not discussed and the agreement became exchanging companionship for an opportunity of self-improvement. In other cases, sex became an integral piece of the agreement with Generous members and limits are clearly described by interviewed Sugar Babies.^[39]

Live Events

References

External links

• Official website