Katie* started going on dates in exchange for money for one reason: she had just moved into a flat in south London with friends, and needed extra cash to pay her rent. As a 25-year-old playwright with no fixed income, it was difficult to make ends meet. She signed up to a website called WhatsYourPrice, which bills itself as “the online dating shortcut” for rich men looking to date attractive girls. The premise is simple: men send women cash offers for a date, which they can accept, decline, or counter. If they agree on a sum, the money is exchanged when they meet.
Unlike traditional escorting, the first date is a meet-and-greet of sorts and there isn’t meant to be any pressure to have sex — which is why it appealed to Katie. “It meant that you could go on first dates with these guys, they buy you dinner at a nice restaurant and give you something in the region of £200 in cash,” she explains. “Then you leave and never see them again.”
