Are Tinder Boosts and Super Likes Refundable?

No. Tinder's Terms of Use call Super Likes, Boosts, Live Credits and Gifts virtual items, and they state that all purchases and redemptions of virtual items are final and non-refundable. If an account closes, whether you close it or Tinder does, you get no money or other compensation for the ones you never used. Once you have bought them, the only way to get value back is to spend them well.

Tinder sells two different kinds of thing. A subscription, such as Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold, is a plan that renews each period. A virtual item is a one-off: a Boost, a Super Like, Live Credits or a Gift.

The Terms put the virtual items in their own category and close it off. Buying them is final, and so is using them. There is no refund for a Boost that ran while you were asleep, and none for a Super Like sent to a woman who never answered.

They behave differently in one more way. Tinder's help page says consumables such as Super Likes and Boosts are meant to be used once, and they cannot be restored the way a subscription can.

Some men sit on a stock of unused Super Likes and assume it is worth something if they leave. It is not. The Terms say you get no money or other compensation for unused virtual items when an account closes. That holds whether you close it or Tinder does.

So if you are thinking of deleting your account, use what you have first, or accept that it is gone. And do not buy more on the night you are deciding whether to quit.

Since nothing comes back, the size of the purchase matters more than it looks. Buying a large bundle before you know whether something works for you is the most expensive way to find out.

Buy the smallest amount on offer, use it properly, and look at what it did. a dating coach's rule for any paid feature is the same: test it while the cost is small, keep it if it makes a real difference, and drop it if it does not.

Of the four, Boosts have the most support from people who have studied the app closely. a dating coach says they are worth it. When the a dating program community put questions to a former Tinder programmer, he was asked which paid option gave the best value. His answer: "I would say that boosts are the only good idea."

A Boost is only as good as the hour you spend it in. Start one when you can stay on the app and answer the women it brings in. A Boost that lands while you are at work gives you matches you answer hours later, when her attention has moved on.

Stay selective while it runs. The same programmer was asked whether to like a lot of women or be choosy, and he said to be selective. A Boost is not a reason to like everyone on your screen.

Super Likes are where a dating coach parts company with the app. He is philosophically against them, and the few times he tried them the results did not impress him. He is not convinced they get you many more matches than an ordinary like.

His bigger worry is what they do to the conversation. A Super Like tells her you picked her out as special before you have said a word. She starts the chat on a slight pedestal, and you start it with more to prove. Given his view of the two, the Boost is the better use of the same money.

If you already own Super Likes, spend them on women whose pages give you something real to open with. Then your first message can carry the conversation instead of the Super Like doing it for you.

A Boost puts you in front of more women for a while. If your first photo is dim, far away or cropped out of a group shot, it puts that photo in front of more women. A Super Like makes her look at you more closely, which helps only if what she sees holds up.

So before you buy another virtual item, look at the first photo and the first line she reads. If they are strong, the items can add something. If they are weak, fix them first. That costs nothing, and it is the one purchase you never have to worry about getting back.