Man offers $10,000 to would-be Cupid

Sarah Fowler | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

Ren Lu You is looking for love. So much so, that he's willing to pay $10,000 to find it.

You, a 29-year-old Harvard business grad, moved to Birmingham, Ala., last August. He's dated since, but his 12-hour workdays in finance make it difficult to find "The One."

"I moved down here basically not knowing anybody, which may explain why I'm resorting to odd measures here," You said Tuesday.

So, You did what any millennial would do. He created a website, www.dateren.com and asked people to set him up with their female friends and relatives. The winning matchmaker gets $10,000. The catch? You has to date the girl for six months. And women can't submit themselves.

"I'm at the right age where going on tons of dates doesn't sound like much fun in and of itself anymore," You said. "I'm also at the right place in my life where I have more money than I need and less time than I'd like."

You created the website last weekend, but the majority of the activity happened in the last 24 hours after a friend posted it on Facebook. The response has been overwhelming.

"It got out of hand a little faster than I was expecting," You said.

While he hasn't had time to reply to all the emails, the response has been positive.

"When you do something like this, you're opening yourself up to a lot of ridicule," he said. "I haven't really spent any time following up, I do have a job during the day, but based on descriptions and links to Facebook pages, it's pretty promising."

The website, which You said he created in an hour, gives an insight into You's interests, favorite movies, books, hobbies and childhood photos. A picture of a tiger hugging a man and a quote from his mom proclaiming, "He is nice boy," rounds out the page.

In his home state of Virginia, You said none of his friends are married. In Alabama, however, most of his friends have coupled off.

You said many of his friends will say, "Why don't you just meet some people," but, he says, "that's harder than it sounds."

"Around here, a lot of people get married fairly young and by the time they're in their mid- to late 20s, they've got a couple of kids," he said. "Maybe people assume that if you're past 25 and you're not married something is wrong with you."

After years of experiencing the single life, You said he's had enough. He's tried multiple dating sites but You said he hopes to meet women who haven't "self-selected into anything."

"I'm sufficiently experienced now that I know what's out there," he said. "I've seen good and bad relationships and I've seen all the single life I need to. I've seen enough friends find someone really amazing to think, 'Hey, that seems pretty good. Maybe I'd like that too.'"

The women do not have to live in the Birmingham area, but You said close proximity is preferable.

You doesn't have a particular type when it comes to what he wants in a partner but said he appreciates women who are "smart, attractive, energetic, open-minded and a little bit nerdy."

Describing himself, You said, "I'm young, I'm intelligent, I think I'm funny. I don't think that I could convince just anybody that I'm awesome for them."

You said if women are interested in "somebody that a little bit nerdy, thinks way too much about everything, is physically active and a generally pretty normal guy," he just might be the man for them.

On the site, You tells would-be matchmakers that they can first meet over Skype or a cup of coffee to "mutually assure each other that we're not crazy people."

You said he doesn't have so much as an unpaid parking ticket.

While some have questioned why he's willing to pay $10,000 to find love, You shrugs it off. Comparing dating to a market, You said people should be willing to pay for what they want.

Noting real estate commissions when someone buys a house, You said, "Finding a spouse or long-term girlfriend, that's a lot more important than buying a house." He added, "We should be willing to pay the amount equal to a really crappy car."

If You finds the right girl, he promises he will fork over the $10,000.

"If I found somebody that I'm really into, am I really going to break it off just to save myself ten grand? I don't think so. Me knowing me, that would just be ridiculous to give up on that because I want to save a few thousand bucks."