Well there are a few benefits to upgrading your POF membership. I don’t personally believe that most of the benefits on the site are worth it but you may disagree.
First the cost of POF (Plenty of Fish)
If you choose to pay over a 12 month period it means you pay less per month. About £6.78/$8.35 per month, £8.50/$10.46 for a 6 month Plan and a significant increase to £12.90/$15.88 for a 3 Month Plan.
If you’ve already been on the site awhile and have had a positive experience already I would recommend the 12 month payment for less per month. If you think it might be a flop just go with the cheaper alternative
The Benefits of Upgrading your Membership:
Being able to Upload more images to your profile: This isn’t much of a benefit. The only profile pic that really matters is the main one. You have more than enough on the free account.
Unlock every user’s extended profile: Not really that important since there’s rarely much to see.
See if your emails were read or deleted: This is a somewhat better feature although it can be discouraging to find out just how many dismiss your emails. However at least you know whether they’ve seen it or not. This can save you sending another message just in case they missed the last one
Experience POF ad-free: Not a significant benefit if you’re on a PC but if you use the site on a mobile the ads can be a bit intrusive.
Find out the date and time someone viewed your profile: Not that important. What matters is that they’ve seen your profile in the first place.
Send three gifts per day: I’ve never really seen any benefit in sending gifts. Sending a gift is pretty pointless and looks rather cheezy. They either like you or not and sending a gift can make you look desperate.
Some unpaid members who’ve paid for the pleasure of sending a gift consider it a bit of a bullying technique into getting someone to pay more attention to you then they originally would have.
See who viewed your profile and you voted yes/maybe on: Can be demotivating when you find out someone viewed your profile but never bothered to respond positively. I’d actually rather not know.
The only two benefits of signing up with POF are:
Stand out in all searches: This is much more important. The whole point of the site is to find a date. Standing out in all searches does increase your chances quite considerably, but only if you’re a women, or a great looking guy!
Why?
Because on POF, men significantly outnumber women. Therefore it tends to be men who search and initiate a conversation. Women can afford to just respond.
Show up first on Meet me: Showing up first on Meet me will benefit you considerable if you’re attractive, not so much if you’re a less attractive guy. If you’re an attractive guy you will get a lot more opportunities to respond, knowing that they’re attracted to you. If you’re an attractive female you will get a ton of meet me notifications.
The downsides of upgrading are two fold. Firstly the cost, secondly upgrading may make you look desperate. A long term member should be able to tell whether you’re a paid member or not, on the other hand it can make you appear more serious.
Conclusion
The site claims becoming an upgraded member can double your chances of meeting someone. However, I would say this is somewhat of an exaggeration. It really depends on whether you visually stand out and make a great first impression.
Upgrading does increase your chances of finding a date – marginally if you’re a not so attractive guy, significantly if you’re an attractive female.
[author-details=Sarah Johnson]