How it works

SeekingArrangement displays a photo gallery of different men and women with the words “Pick your SugarDaddy” and “Pick your SugarBaby,” written over each. Adjacent to these photo galleries are lists of perks to being either a “SugarDaddy” or “SugarBaby.” Amongst benefits listed for being a “SugarDaddy” is having eight “SugarBabies” per “SugarDaddy,” putting the “odds in” their “favor.” The advantages listed for “SugarBabies” include financial stability and being “pampered” by getting an “allowance,” and gifts, ranging from fancy clothing to vacations.

The average “relationship” on SeekingArrangement lasts about six months. The couples “date,” with “SugarDaddies” picking up the tab as well as providing other financial support.

“Boyfriends in the past, if I have gone gambling with them, gave me $5,000 just because they won it,” Laura says. “I don’t ever have to wonder who is paying the bill at dinner, or if I’m going to have to pay for my half. Even though I have a job, I make less than men. As long as I am making 70 cents to a man’s dollar, he should be paying. They’ll go shopping and pick stuff out for me just to present it.”

Though the website also has services for gay “SugarDaddies” and “SugarMamas,” male “SugarDaddies” and female “SugarBabies” make up the majority of its membership.

To create an account, “SugarBabies” must fill out a profile and assign themselves a number — between 0 and 5 — indicating how much money in allowance they seek from their “SugarDaddies.” The higher the number, the more financial support “SugarDaddies” are expected to provide.

“At first I selected 1-3, as I was not desperate for money or anything,” one “SugarBaby” says. “But this brought in a lot of the $200-per-day kind of guys. They don’t have genuine wealth. You can tell by the way they were speaking. The 3-5 men will be mature, a little older, more quality.”

Once either the “SugarBaby” or “SugarDaddy” sees a potential partner, they can contact each other through messages on the website to discuss the allowance and a date.

“There are a lot of guys on there who want a traditional ‘SugarBaby’ relationship, where it’s a much older guy who wants to hang out with a younger,” Laura says. “Some guys will want you to accompany them to some party, or they want to go and gamble. They’ll say ‘I’ll give you this much, hang out with me for the night,’ and I don’t really want a one-time transaction.”