Question: A shadchon (matchmaker) offered an arranged marriage for my son, Baruch Hashem, the match progressed and closed to get married, and after the closing, the matchmaker asked for her salary and told my wife that her matchmaking fee was NIS 5,000. We didn’t know about it, and the matchmaker didn’t let us know it before either, the question of how much we had to pay.?
I’ll point out that 2 of my previous kids, I paid a matchmaid fee of $1,000, and my other children I didn’t pay at all because the matchmakers were friends who didn’t want to take payment..
Answer: When a matchmaker or any other professional does not announce the amount of salary he requires, Halacha states that the payment due to him is as is customary in the market to pay a similar professional.
The charge of matchmaid fees is not uniform everywhere, but is a payment that varies according to the specific sector to which you belong, as I understand you belong to a customary that pays $1,000 matchmaid fees, so even this matchmaker must get payed $1,000 as is customary. Although she claims that she usually demands a higher payment, since she did not inform you first about the amount of her salary you do not have to pay her beyond the practice in the sector to which you belong as stated.
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