BBW Cupid Reviews

Editor's Star Ratings:

Costs:

• Standard membership:
  • Free
• Gold membership:
  • £17.99 for one month
  • £11.66 per month for 3 months
  • £10.00 per months for 6 months
  • £6.67 per month for 12 months
• Premium membership:
  • £21.99 for one month
  • £14.00 per month for 3 months
  • £10.50 per months for 6 months
  • £7.08 per month for 12 months

Features:

• 98,000 members
• Nearly 16,000 members in the UK
• Count of how many members are online at the same time as you
• Site tour pre and post registration
• Join for free
• Testimonials given
• Blog on lifestyle and dating advice
• Men's and women's galleries
• Help available over email
• Chat room
• See who's new
• Video gallery
• Video email
• Block members
• Excellent help section
• Most Popular section
  
• Standard Membership offers the following features (for free):
  • Create own profile
  • Send an interest
  • Add 5 photos
  • Read messages from paying members
• Gold Membership offers all the features of Standard Membership plus the following perks:
  • Read messages from free members
  • Instant messaging
  • Allow free members to read your messages
  • Add a personality profile
  • Include personal information in messages
  • Rank profile above standard
• Premium Membership offers all of the features of Gold Membership plus the following perks:
  • video profile
  • video mail.

Performing a Search:

• Gender
• Age
• Location
• Region
• Interested in
• Ethnicity
• Nationality
• Smokes
• Drinks
• Height
• Weight
• Last activity on site

Editor's Verdict:

This site is visually very appealing with color-coded areas of the site for different features: search, profile, who's interested and membership activity.

The basic search allows you to find a partner by gender, age and exact location. You can also specify what you're interested in, from pen pal and friendship to romance/dating and marriage, so you can be as casual or serious as you choose to be.

It's free to join the site as a standard member and there are two higher subscription membership types available: Gold and Premium. There is little difference between these two other than video contact, which is a key benefit if you're seriously looking for "the one" and want to know what the person looks and sounds like in real time.

When you've run your search the results are incredibly easy to browse. The site is creative and neatly designed with a professional look and feel. Each result shows the membership status (Standard, Gold or Premium) of the member, so you'll know straight away how you can communicate with them.

All profile pictures seem to be good quality, bright close-ups, as the moderators insist upon these. This makes the person seem much more open and you can more clearly see who you're attracted to and who really doesn't float your boat. Members appear to be listed by their first name, rather than usernames, which also makes the person seem more real and less of an internet statistic.

Results show you when the member last logged in, which is really handy if they've already found the love of their life and don't log in to the site any more. It also tells you what they're looking for if they're still active, so you know how suitable or unsuitable you are to their needs. Importantly, it also shows you where they are based. All of this is listed in one small and perfectly formed member box profile.

If you're in a hurry you can make searches even more compact by showing only photos and a key for your response, e.g. clicking on the heart indicates you want to show interest or clicking on the tick adds the person to your favorites.

If you've got more time then you can see more detailed searches with a little teaser of what the member has written about themselves and if you're really into them you can open their full profile in a handy tab format. As you're looking at member profiles there are discreet and friendly safety reminders highlighting the dangers that can be presented online, especially when discussing personal information.

In the center of your home page is a tally of how many new messages you have and a copy of sent and received emails. You can also see who's expressed an interest in you. From the home page you can also search or look for members currently online or in the chat room, so it's easy to get straight to the key places you might find that special someone.

In an inconspicuous right-side menu you can easily manage your membership when you need to - perhaps you want to check the status of your subscription or change your password. There's also easy access to your favorites, missed instant messages and a blocked list if there's someone you don't want to be in contact with any more.

For all members there's a Most Popular section and for Premium members a video gallery. We had a quick look at the Most Popular section and weren't quite sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing! It's essentially the best looking members registered on the site, so it does make you wonder how much people actually read about a potential partner or whether looks are all too important!

If you decide to use the site and want to comment on this kind of observation there's a very well-designed feedback box that takes a matter of seconds to complete and send off, but the thing we like most about this site is the blog.

The BBW Cupid blog is useful to all new site members, but also to anyone not quite sure about internet dating or in fact, dating in general. It helps not just to your current situation, which is trying to find a mate online, but also with self confidence and common problems around attraction. Latest topics include How to Dress According to Your Body Shape, How to Get Over Your Ex and How to Give Yourself a Makeover.

There are more categories in the blog, including Competitions, Current Events, People and Society, so the blog is of general interest too if you want to take your mind off dating for a short while. You can also send in your own question and subscribe to the feed to receive blog updates or have them emailed to you.

The site has a fantastic help section, which is well laid out and easy to use. It's comprehensive and covers everything you could possibly want to know about using the site and online dating. The help starts instantly when you join - your welcome email contains loads of help and hints on how to get started.

If you're looking for a professional, user-friendly, enjoyable site then this is the one for you. It offers a holistic approach to BBW dating, lifestyle and personal aspirations. It doesn't have quite has as many features as some other sites we've seen and it's less flirty. However, this makes it seem less blatant and less crass than some other sites.

Click the button below to check out BBWCupid.com for yourself...