Do shadchanim take money upfront?
Are the charges for both men and women the same?
Do they do free consultations?
…PJ: I did not verify your statement as fact.
Even so, if there are shadchanim requesting $10,000 up-front, perhaps they have some guarantee that they will help you get married within a certain amount of time or etc warranty.
Perhaps they only cater to a select crowd and match people from around the world.
Some hair stylists also charge several thousand per haircut or style. That’s also a lot. Maybe by charging so much, they make themselves 100% committed to their clients.
I don’t know.
Technically the payment for a shadchan, I thought, comes after marriage. But perhaps the shadchan or shadchanit is protecting himself or herself from having the couple marry and then not pay anything for his or her services.