OOOOOOH! Thanks for this thread! An opportunity to sing the praises of SYAS! 🙂 One of the blessings that the internet brought about, B”H, when used properly, together with other sites like Torahanytime.
I will preface this by saying that I made a number of Shidduchim on SYAS, with my Shadchanus fees ranging from a Silverplate gift that costed about $100, that I got from a BT couple, to $2,000 total, from Heimish people. I was equally thrilled with all the Shidduchim I’ve made, whether I got Silverplate or Dollar$. I would imagine that my reward from upstairs was the same.
Non paying members get matched once a week, at most, and, true, they dont have the option of choosing a Matchmaker. Singles must become members if they want to accept a match.
The cost of membership is so ridiculously low, that its a non-issue.
I dont know what AZ was trying to say with his nonsense about BY girls and Kollel guys, but SYAS has a very wide range of members of varying frumkeit levels, as is the case with Shadchanim in general, throughout the world.