Couple things that could really get things hopping.
Moderate users. Kick all 7’s,8’s,9’s,10’s 10 people think you’re too pretty or handsome then you’re gone. Final vote by a mod team member.
Until there is consistent activity everything should be free. Just limit size of photo to 1mb and number of photos to 3 to lower costs. Videos must be hosted somewhere else.
Have some sort of incentive program that people can earn free memberships for when you do start charging BUT credits for chat is a cash grab and is what scam sites do… the idea is it to create a safe, socially engaging community for
people to feel comfortable putting themselves out there, talking, dating and helping build community and confidence. This is a gold mine if the site doesn’t model itself after any other dating website.
Once the site goes pay you always offer a usable free option. Maybe 10 messages a day.
Monthly fees should be extremely low compared to other dating sites because you will have the numbers if you implement what I’ve suggested.
$2/month gets 20 messages/day 6 pics and 1 short video with a few premium services
$5/month get unlimited everything max 10 pics 5 short videos.
This would kill ALL other scam dating site and scale profits based on shear numbers. The pretty and handsome people should never be allowed and us ugly schmucks should never be rated or feel out of place.
Can ask for donations to help until the community is big enough to transition to the pay model. Could do it as a kickstarter campaign because ugly people would pay to be a part of something they can just be themselves.