Questions to ask before signing a matchmaking contract.
By Find Your Person · Published
Product-mechanics articles are checked against the current implementation and public policies.
A matchmaking contract is a real financial commitment, often thousands of dollars, and it is usually presented at the end of a sales conversation rather than in writing beforehand. Before you sign anything, get specific answers to these questions.
1. What is the total price, in writing, before the consultation ends?
Ask for the full number — not a starting price, not a range “depending on your needs.” If a package can scale up mid-contract, ask what triggers that and what the ceiling is. A price you cannot get in writing before you decide is not a price yet.
2. Does a declined introduction still count against my package?
Some contracts count a match toward your total the moment it is proposed, whether or not you or the other person agreed to meet. Ask explicitly: if either side passes before a date happens, does that still consume one of the introductions you paid for? Get an explicit answer, in writing, before you decide.
3. Who else is in the candidate pool, and did they pay to be there?
Ask whether the people you might be introduced to paid the same fee you did, or joined a separate free or low-cost tier. A pool that mixes paying clients with a passive, free candidate database is a different product than one where everyone cleared the same bar.
4. What happens if my matchmaker leaves or is reassigned?
Matchmaker turnover happens. Ask what the contract guarantees if the person who interviewed you is no longer available partway through — do you get a new matchmaker who has read your file, or do you start the intake conversation over from nothing?
5. What is the refund policy, in writing, if the service does not deliver?
Ask what happens if you receive fewer introductions than promised, or none you consider reasonable. Get the refund terms in the document you sign, not a verbal assurance — and ask whether disputes go to arbitration and what that means for you.
Why we ask these questions of ourselves too.
We publish our pricing, so there is no consultation call where terms can shift. Every member — on every plan — completes the same interview and the same screening, so there is no separate free candidate pool. There is no individual matchmaker to lose, so there is no reassignment risk. We think a checklist like this one should be unnecessary to ask of us; that is the standard we are trying to hold.