I think that if you live in certain areas of the USA there are realistically no other viable options that are safe and get you something better than a cracked out SW.
I have been on Seeking Arrangement for 7 years and pretty much it's been my exclusive way of meeting ladies in the last 4 years. I have had good success with it but it's a huge time commitment. Just as with SPs, there are hits and misses. One thing I should warn all of you about is that while most trans gender women disclose their gender identity in their profiles, some do not. I did get snookered by one and she sure looked like a very attractive woman to me. Things advanced to a second date but at this point (1) I learned "her" first name which is both unusual and gender neutral, and her home town and then (2) I did a Google search after the date, found a newspaper article on "her" when she was a high school senior. In 2018. She was a he back then and apparently had a sex change between 2018 and 2021. I was shocked, although on the second date there were some clues, such as her/his undue interest in our gay waiter's story about his Drag Queen exploits when off duty. I thought she was being nice but it was more than that.
Maybe my Gay-dar sucks but she looked 100% female to me, and I suspect that 90% of MERBistes would have been similarly snookered. I am just glad things didn't go further than a kiss on the cheek. I am shuddering thinking about almost having a Crying Game situation like Forest Whitaker. Although I presume that a post op transsexual has female equipment that doesn't look natural. I don't frankly understand how you cut off penis and balls and end up with clitoris and vagina, but I have to imagine the end result doesn't look the same as a natural born female's equipment.
Anyway I had many other adventures with Seeking Arrangement but also great results and didn't spend a ton of money. Anyone who draws simplistic conclusions doesn't understand that it's a massive population on that site - all demographics are represented - and if you think that all the women are out of your price range or more than an SP, then it's flat ignorant, stupid, uneducated thinking. The women on there are all over the board on price and looks and sexual ability. But here is a major news flash: THEY HAVE FACIAL and BODY PICS SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING. Plus I have done video calls with some girls before seeing them. Do you ever have that before seeing an SP? In most cases no facial pics and no chance to talk to and video chat screen them before spending a cent. Which matters to me. There are also many girls on there who live by the code no sex on the first date, and it's because they want to get comfortable with someone and determine they aren't a creep before jumping in bed. Which is fine if that is their code.
A lot of posts in this thread by people who have never been on SA are beyond ignorant. I have been on probably 100-150 SA dates over 7 years and the conclusions that are drawn in this thread are not conclusions I would draw. It's all over the board, plain and simple, and there is something for everyone if you have the time and energy to look for it. On that note, SA does require a time commitment. If you view it as a dating game then it will serve you well because you try to play any game the right way. It's almost like playing Jeopardy, there are rules, strategies etc. that you learn and apply. And your success rate improves when you do.