A lonely bachelor has revealed he will pay an online cupid $25,000 to help him on his ‘quest’ to find a girlfriend this Valentine’s Day.
Jeff Gebhart, 47, from Prairie Village, Kansas, said he found the online dating community ‘toxic’ and wanted to have the chance to date a women who he might not normally meet.
He has launched DateJeffG.com which is dedicated to finding the perfect person, and he’s willing to pay matchmakers who help him to find his ‘soul-mate’ a healthy ‘reward’.
The entrepreneur, who boasts of ‘running with bulls and jumping out of planes’ online, said he has a ‘zest for life’ and is looking for someone who is ‘fun, driven and goofy’.
Jeff Gebhart, 47, from Kansas, is offering $25,000 to matchmakers who help him on his quest for love to find a soulmate
Online, Jeff describes himself as a 5’7′ optimist who has never been married or had children.
The adventurous romantic writes: ‘I’ve run with the bulls in Spain, jumped out of a few airplanes, and have been known to snowboard wearing my pink bunny costume.’
Speaking in a promotional video on his website, which has been watched over 41,000 times in the past week, he explained: ‘I’m a little nervous but also excited. I’m excited to get this thing going.
‘I’m single, and I don’t want to go back to this “at base” dating stuff. I think a lot of people treat each other pretty poorly through that and it’s a toxic community.’
‘I have a choice there, so I’m choosing not to do that.’
He added: ‘We all try Bumble, Tinder, Hinge but we only do it because that’s all that’s available to us. I’m trying to develop a better way and I think this is it.’
Speaking about the kind of woman he’d like to meet, he explained: ‘I know ‘at base’ dating is so bad that there’s a certain section of the demographic that’s not even entered into it.
The entrepreneur said he finds the online community ‘toxic’ and just wants to find someone ‘fun and goofy’ who will enjoy relaxing with him and his dog Gunner (pictured together)
‘I would never have the opportunity to meet these women. Not at the gym, not at the grocery store, not anywhere.
‘This is my effort to reach out to those people, who are a little bit like me.’
Discussing his motivation for adding a $25,000 referral fee for those who help him on his quest, he acknowledged: ‘It’s a little weird, I get it, adding money into something where I’m honestly interested in finding a soul mate.’
But he explained that ‘dating is expensive’ and he would normally spend a lot on dates each month.
He said he landed on the $25,000 figure because he ‘took what dating costs each month and how long it takes to find a significant other through the current means and we offered a reward for that.’
Saying the money was merely ‘re-appropriated’ he added that he would ‘rather it went to someone helping him on the quest for love’ than a business.
Jeff said he was fed-up with online dating, calling the community ‘toxic’ and said he wanted to find a better solution
Matchmakers will be rewarded with $25,000 which Jeff said he would otherwise spend on dating
The entrepreneur also said he would donate a further $25,000 to an animal shelter if he successfully finds love.
Jeff’s website leads visitors to a ‘personality matching’ survey, which they can take to see if they might be compatible with Jeff.
Once he’s narrowed it down, he’ll then go through the list of potential women and make his choice.
He noted that women who nominate themselves will not be eligible for the $25,000 referral fee.
Online, he wrote: ‘I don’t need a person to complete me, but I’m looking for a person with qualities that will allow us to complement each other.’
The entrepreneur said he was keen to find someone who had a ‘zest for life’ but who would also like to relax and hang-out with his dog Gunner.
He added: ‘I’d like to find someone who is fun, easy to spend time with, someone who is confident, driven, shares the same interests as I and has a zest for life. Funny, goofy, and doesn’t take themselves too seriously.’