Building Trust in Sugar Daddy Relationships

Trust in sugar dating is essential to the success of a sugar relationship! It’s what ensures that both partners feel motivated to pamper each other without limits. And without it, neither one will be willing to put in their 100% effort.

But we get it. Trust is a fragile thing. When it comes to online dating, being too trusting can be dangerous. And especially if you’re new to sugaring, you might worry that trusting too freely can lead to being taken advantage of.

So, here are some tried-and-true tips for building trust the right way.

Be proactive about your boundaries

Before you start chatting with a potential partner, it’s always good practice to get familiar with your own boundaries. This will allow you to show up more authentically and honestly. Here are a few questions you’ll want to be able to answer before starting a sugar relationship:

• What kind of sugar relationship do I want? Short-term? Platonic? Ongoing?
• Do I want a monogamous or open sugar relationship?
• How many dates do I want per month?
• How much privacy do I want in my sugar relationship?
• How will I commit to protecting my partner’s privacy?
• What specific terms do I want in a sugar relationship?
• What are my red flags?
• How will I communicate if my partner isn’t following through on their end of the agreement?
• How much communication would I like to maintain with my partner between dates?

These questions seem basic, but your answers will help you build trust in sugar dating. In other words, by communicating your wants and needs clearly, you can charge ahead more confidently.

Spend time on your online profile

Having a full, thoughtful profile will accomplish two things: one, make you more trustworthy to potential partners, and two, weed out partners who don’t meet your criteria.

Always use good quality, recent photos in which you are your authentic self. In fact, contrary to popular belief, pictures in which you look at ease, happy, and comfortable will work better than pictures in which you are posing provocatively.

Being clear and concise in your bio is another great way to build trust and invite trustworthy people. Include genuine details about yourself, talk about the kinds of sugar relationships you’re looking for, and be clear about your availability.

Embrace the small talk

Small talk gets a bad rap, but the truth is, it has value in establishing trust and rapport. Think about it this way: you wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and start asking overly personal questions as a way to get to know them. So, you shouldn’t do it online, either.

Instead, start slow. Ask them how their day is going, what they do for work, whether they’re a coffee or tea kind of person. These questions will go far in helping you both verify that you’re talking to a real person and not a bot or scammer.

Look for green flags

Before you start investing time and energy into getting to know someone, it’s a good idea to double-check that they’re a real person. Here are a few green flags that will show you you can trust them:

• Their speech pattern feels genuine.
• They mention some unique details about their everyday life and location.
• They don’t pressure you for more details or personal information.
• They’re open to a video call.
• If you live in the same city, they’re open to an in-person first date.

These green flags aren’t a guarantee that you can trust someone. But they can provide you with the go-ahead to start opening up more with a potential partner.

Share, but be aware of oversharing

You’ll notice that one of the questions we had you ask yourself was how much privacy you expect in your sugar relationships. Some sugar partners prefer not to talk at all about their personal lives. And, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t share sensitive personal information like your home address or bank account details.

That being said, some sharing is a good thing for building trust. And if you’re not comfortable sharing specifics about your life, there are still a few things you can talk about, such as:

• What you do to relax and unwind
• Whether you’re an animal person
• Your favorite book, movie, musician, etc.
• Your hobbies and passions

You’ll notice that these topics allow you to share your authentic self without necessarily having to go into detail. You can talk, for instance, about the fact that you like to jog to relax without telling someone where your running trails are.

Even if you are comfortable sharing more personal information about yourself, such as your neighborhood and how many siblings you have, we would recommend that you be careful not to overshare. Talking openly about your struggles, family history, and other deeply personal things can create discomfort and a power imbalance in a sugar relationship. Keep things light with your sugar partner, and turn to other people in your life for those very vulnerable conversations.

Invite your partner to open up

One of the most basic ways to encourage a partner to talk about themselves is to start sharing, yourself. But, there are a few other techniques that can invite a more trusting connection with a partner, like:

• Asking open-ended questions. A good question invites elaboration and opinion-sharing. Instead of saying, “How are you?” for instance, you might ask, “What has been the highlight of your day?”
• Not interrupting or passing judgment. Even if you have a really good similar story to share or you don’t agree with what’s being said, it’s always best to let the other person finish their thought before jumping in.
• Asking follow-up questions. Stay curious with follow-up questions like, “What happened after that?”
• Repeating back what they’ve told you. This should be used sparingly, but it can be an effective way of showing that you’re listening and taking note of details. If a partner just told you about almost getting into a fender-bender, for example, you might say, “So you’re saying that they came into your lane out of the blue? That must have been scary!”

As you can see, building trust in sugar dating really can be as simple as learning how to be a better listener.

If you’re still not sure, ask

Not all of us are great at reading people. And it’s okay to ask for clarification. Once you’ve built some rapport, don’t be shy about asking what their expectations are for a sugar relationship and how they plan on providing the benefits you’ve agreed to. Be honest and if it feels like you’re not getting honest responses, ask more direct questions. Someone with good intentions will have no problem being clear with you.

Give it time

The fact of the matter is, trusting someone takes time. And that’s even more true when meeting someone online. One of the best ways that you can protect yourself from being taken advantage of is to slow things down. Don’t make decisions under pressure. Carefully consider the facts. And don’t ignore your intuition. If you can give a relationship time and emotional clarity at first, you’ll be able to build trust in sugar dating!