All the above is true but this is not what is being discussed here... apart from maybe the multimillionaire example with the spare accounts...

The set up is simply that someone who claims to be a Domme sets up a website and subs pay tribute for what amounts to little or no service (no e-mails are sent, no active domination is given by the people involved). This can go from a few pounds a month to giving over complete control of the finances.

I guess some people here are finding it hard to understand why someone would pay money to someone who may not even be real (just a photo on a website) for what amounts to nothing in return.

Several of the comments here have been along the lines of considering that many Dommes who ask for gifts or tribute often give something in return for that - a session of webcam BDSM, a selection of personal photos, an e-mail with tasks in and these are a different situation. Also, many lifestyle and professional Dommes often have wishlists which show potential gift buyers what they would like to be bought should someone happen to be in the mood to buy them a gift but they do not, at any point, demand gifts - merely suggest that they would be nice to get.

I suppose this fetish does hark back to the concept of keeping a Mistress in a flat near where you work and buying her nice things and visting her there while you are working in the city. Also to the days of courtesans who often got paid in dresses, jewellry, carriages and so on rather than cash.