I've been emailing back and forth for about a week with a guy online. He's very nice, but I initially had reservations because of an age difference (he's 9 years older), and also because I'm not super attracted to him based on pictures. At first I figured I'd give him a chance, but I'm just not feeling it.

A few days ago, I didn't respond to his last message, and now he wrote a second time. So what should I do, politely decline, or just don't respond?

Honestly it feels rude to say, eh, on second thought I'm not that into you, and it also seems unnecessary given we haven't even scratched the surface. On the other hand, I hate when someone doesn't respond at all, and then I overthink about why they lost interest.

He didn't do anything wrong and seems like a good guy. But I also think I'm wasting his time by continuing to respond. But how would I say that without sounding like an @ss?

I've just gotten started with OLD and I'm already considering deleting my profile over this kind of stuff.

Edit: I sent a brief moving on, best wishes response, which I feel good about. Thanks for the replies.