Need a Friend? Rent One Online

Posted by samzenpus on Monday June 28, 2010 @02:19AM from the you-get-what-you-pay-for dept.

crimeandpunishment writes "Housewives, college students, and others are working for a website that charges users an hourly rate for their companionship. No, it's not an escort service — at least it's not one 'with benefits.' It's a site called rentafriend.com, that's trying to carve out a niche in the 'everything's available online' business world. The seven-month-old site, patterned after hugely successful sites in Asia, has nearly 2,000 members who pay either a monthly or yearly fee to check out the pictures and profiles of more than 160,000 potential pals." I thought Craigslist had already cornered the market on renting a friend for an hour or two.

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Counselling by Anonymous Coward · 2010-06-28 02:37 · Score: 5, Informative

This service isn't anything to do with being "friends". It's essentially a counselling service where anyone can volunteer to be a paid listener, and people who need someone to either talk to or simply to be there so they can overcome their social issues of going somewhere alone can pay them.
I actually think it's a good idea *if* the people on both sides of the transaction are being honest about what they want out of it.