Marriage Transactions

Once a Russian woman decides to seek marriage to a foreigner, she must provide marriage agencies with photos, physical measurements, personal information and a description of what she seeks in a mate. The companies then publish catalogs and web pages riled with information on hundreds, or even thousands, of women. American men seeking foreign brides need only flip or scroll through the pages to select those whom they would most like to meet or correspond with.

They target men who are seeking a "solution to the modern day lack of moral and family values" that the women's movement has created in the United States.

They market Russians as women with traditional values who seek to please men and who do not believe in divorce. The consumers are typically significantly older than the brides they seek, though some companies advise men to target women not more than twenty years their junior.
One typical customer explained that he chose to find a mail-order bride because he was unhappy with American women, whom he described as "extremely independent, not appreciative, and too competitive." Some companies sell their catalogs of potential brides for subscription fees. Others, particularly those based on the Internet, charge customers based on the number of women they wish to contact, often offering bulk rate discounts for customers who select numerous women.
Average prices range from two to ten dollars per woman for an address.The customers
are free to correspond with the women whose addresses they have purchased as they choose. Some agencies offer sample letters and letter writing tips to help their consumers win the hearts of the women they have chosen.

One bridal agency, Russian brides something something ru, offers a guarantee that all the women they advertise are "FRESH," that is, if a customer purchases an address of a woman who has been "taken off the market," the company will provide the customer with two new, "FRESH** addresses free of charge.

Thus, men in the United States or all over Europe can meet (either in person if he travels abroad or by mail) women in Russia. The male consumer provides all the financial input into the transaction. He pays for information about the women he wishes to meet and for the opportunities to contact them. The female, akin to a product, is marketed based on her personal information, and scrutinized based on the information demanded by consumers.