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Some who are reluctant to try dating services say one is "buying" a date. Not true. What you are actually buying is exposure-exposure beyond one's circle of friends, beyond the holiday parties and barbeques and well beyond the local drinking establishments. In effect, dating services can create a pseudo-venue much like the downtown house parties at which we mingle and bump into each other over the months, winking, ice-breaking, ignoring, and stepping outside for fresh air.

Should you desire this exposure, current pricing depends upon three factors: your pocket book, your level of readiness and/or desperation for a mate, and your preferred venue.

 "How I feel about the cost depends on the result at the time," says a single, 37-year-old woman. "When I don't have much luck or activity from the online dating site I feel it's a waste of money. When I have better luck or activity, of course I feel it's a good value compared to going out to bars and spending money on alcohol."

"The cost was reasonable. I ended up with six free dinners out of it and a lifetime of great stories about the men I was on dates with," says one thirty-three-year-old woman, who met her fiancé on Match.

A middle-aged Sacramento man claims that the cost is "unfavorable." Although now in a relationship, he has found that most of his dates resulted from meeting through friends or by chance.

"We want to get you out there, get you exposed," said one membership consultant for Table for Six Adventures. Face-to-face dating services such as Table for Six Adventures and It's Just Lunch provide a more filtered venue for those truly serious about finding a life partner.