SilverSingles Review
SilverSingles is an online dating service catering to people aged 50 and older who are looking for a serious relationship. The company operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany. Over 80 percent of members hold a university degree, making this online dating service especially attractive to those with a higher level of education. SilverSingles uses an accurate algorithm to make it easier to meet others with common interests who are looking for a more committed relationship.
Pros
- Website is easy to understand and navigate
- Supportive online forum secured by data encryption with dedicated customer service
- Detailed personality questionnaire backed by science links users with a high degree of similarities
- iPhone and Android apps
Cons
- Basic free membership has limited functionality and no photos of potential matches
- No phone number for customer service
How to Get Started with SilverSingles
New members create a SilverSingles profile by selecting their gender and whether they are interested in a man or woman followed by entering a few personal details, email address and a password. The profile begins to take shape when new members answer a few basic demographic questions such as birth date, relationship status, and education level. Members then select characteristics they are looking for in potential matches, such as age or education level. From there, the profile gets further defined:
- Complete a 15 to 30-minute personality questionnaire to assess personality traits, interests, hobbies, beliefs, relationship preferences — all those intricacies that create a unique user profile.
- A photo is recommended to personalize your profile, but this isn’t required.
- Indicate acceptable length of travel to meet potential matches.
- Create a biography, where SilverSingles suggests members be happy, funny, engaging, concise and most importantly, honest.
SilverSingles Costs
SilverSingles offers free memberships but critical functions are absent, such as the ability to view potential match photos and communicate with other members. This Basic membership is intended to be a trial period, during which users can complete the personality questionnaire and see limited information on potential matches. In comparison, a Premium membership provides unrestricted access to all SilverSingles features.
Premium memberships are for three-, six- and twelve-month periods with fees paid monthly. The longer the membership period, the lower the monthly payment.
| Features | Basic | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Basic user profile | Y | N |
| Premium user profile | N | Y |
| Unlimited potential matches with photos | N | Y |
| Unrestricted communication with matches | N | Y |
| Read receipts for sent messages | N | Y |
| See all visitors to user profile | N | Y |
| Full access with iOS and Android app | N | Y |
| Cost: 3-month/6-month/12-month | Free | $57.95/$34.95/$31.95 |
Navigating the SilverSingles Website
If you tried SilverSingles in the past but didn’t continue using the online dating service, take another look at the recently redesigned website and mobile app. This online dating service is straightforward to use, even if you are not technically-inclined. However, you’ll need a paid membership to get much use out of SilverSingles, even though there’s a free Basic membership.
- Dashboard: When first logging on to SilverSingles, members see the dashboard with a Messages section for private messaging and a Matches section revealing the top three potential matches with photos. You can click on the Visit Your Matches link below the photos to view all compatible members SilverSingles found for you.
- Find members not on the Match list: Click on the Cupid’s arrow icon at the top of the site to go to the Have You Met? Page. Here, you’ll see potential matches not on the Matches list but with things in common, like a shared interest or religion. View the profiles of these potential matches one at a time, and sending a message or a smile adds the member to the Matches list.
- Search with filters: Filter search results for other SilverSingles members by age, height, distance, similarities and other selections.
- Messages and who viewed the profile: Access messages from potential matches when not on the Dashboard by clicking on the envelope icon. Members can click on the magnifying glass icon to see others who have viewed their profile.
Profile options: Four sections divide the member profile:
- Member photo, first name, age, occupation, and city. This tab also lists other relevant information, such as height, religious beliefs, educational level, race, language spoken, smoking preference, and additional biographical data.
- Photo gallery for uploading additional photos.
- An in-depth explanation of personality assessment results in the areas of openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
- Enter more information here about interests related to hobbies, music and sports.
Viewing Matches on SilverSingles
There are a few ways to see potential matches on the SilverSingles website or in the mobile app. First, a heart icon at the top of the page indicates the number of potential matches you have. Click on the heart to see the Matches list. Each match is assigned a number to show the level of compatibility. The higher the score, the stronger the similarities between the two profiles.
Once on the Matches list, members can view the profiles of potential matches, send them a private message or a smile as a greeting, add them to a watchlist, or delete them from the Matches list. Members can use many filters for varying results on the Matches list, for example, to only see new matches or members they’ve communicated with previously.
SilverSingles Customer Support
SilverSingles offers no phone support, however, members can contact the Customer Care team via email, U.S. mail or fax, all listed on the website. Click on the privacy link, and you’ll see a phone number, but it’s an international number for the parent company, Spark Networks, located in Germany.
The Help Center on the website has plenty of information on creating a user profile, meeting potential matches, managing accounts, and understanding billing and membership issues. SilverSingles lists helpful dating articles about first date etiquette, romantic date ideas, online safety and more. There’s an FAQ section, and members can click on links to the parent company’s online dating services in 23 other countries outside of the U.S., although these aren’t all SilverSingles sites.
SilverSingles Complaints
DatingAdvice.com ranks SilverSingles 4.5 out of 5 and includes the site on its list of the best online dating services for 2020. DatingRankings.com gives SilverSingles a 9.8 out of 10 rating, and Mashable gives the dating service a nod for being the best dating site for those who are divorced, over the age of 60 and hesitant to start dating.
The few complaints we saw revolved around the Basic membership not letting you fully experience the service and the lack of being able to contact customer service via the phone.
SilverSingles Q&A
-
How did SilverSingles design the personality questionnaire?
The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of Personality Traits developed by psychologists Robert McCrae and Paul Costa in 1992 is the foundation of the SilverSingles personality assessment. The FFM contends a combination of the ‘Big Five’ factors determine all personalities: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. -
How many people use SilverSingles online dating service?
We found no confirmed numbers for SilverSingles monthly active members. Spark Networks, which owns SilverSingles and several other online dating services around the globe, welcomes a combined 65,000 new members and matches 2,000 couples each month. -
How many potential matches can I expect each day from SilverSingles?
You can expect between three and seven potential matches each day if you have a complete member profile and a Premium SilverSingles membership. -
Is there a way to see what a person looks like on SilverSingles if I get a potential match from a member with no profile photo?
If a potential match has not uploaded a profile photo, you can visit their profile and click on Ask for Photo. You will get a notification if they upload a photo. -
How long is my personal information stored on the SilverSingles website?
SilverSingles only stores your data as long as you have a membership. If you cancel your membership and delete your account, SilverSingles removes all your profile details and photos from the website. You can’t reactivate your account after you delete it, so you will need to create a new profile if you return to SilverSingles. -
How do I know if a potential match on SilverSingles is from a fake account?
The Customer Care team at SilverSingles manually reviews and verifies all user profiles to ensure members are honest about their identity. However, some online dating service users try to engage in scams by asking other users for money. The Federal Trade Commission found online dating scams reported to the FBI tripled from 2012 to 2016, with users losing over $220 million to scammers in 2016 alone. Never send cash, checks or gift cards to anyone on SilverSingles or another online dating service.
Conclusion
According to the Pew Research Center survey, 5 Facts About Online Dating, people aged 50 and older using an online dating service doubled between 2013 and 2016. If you are in that age group and want to meet individuals with common interests who are looking for a serious relationship, SilverSingles is an excellent online dating service.