Ah - so now you have an idea!
Well, it's not like I am totally ignorant of it. The only Domme I have dated (non-exclusively as I am poly in my relationships, even D/s) came from the Fin rather than Pro side. I remember laying in bed with her one evening and literally saw her make about 1k while we watched a Harry Potter movie marathon on TBS by just messaging a little (no call or cam, just texting). Guy (from England) just randomly contacted her & started sending (she was relatively prominent in the findom world at the time but retired in the late 2010s because of burnout).
He literally blew his wad (of money) & then never contacted her again (which is exactly what she predicted would happen during his binge). The whole thing didn't phase her & she told me that every couple of months some random finsub would binge like that & then disappear. But, I had no involvement in it (other than being called her Alpha in one taunting message) so I didn't "feel" his need the way that I did with that friend a few months ago.
I also once had a session with a Domme who truly had a financial kink. We were talking after the session & she literally told me that she would charge me less or even nothing if I was willing to beg & offer her money to be allowed to do certain things during the session (with the unsaid understanding that the finances would still end up being the same). She just got off on driving a guy so insane he would do that (it was way too close to topping from the bottom for me).
However that conversation did give me a different view of financial fetishists & the power dynamics involved. Which is why I use the findumb term to refer specifically to the subject of this thread. I always want to separate the valid kink, and even those who are just as real within it as a Spanker or Rope Domme are in their subculture, from the mean girls / sugar babies who call themselves Dommes online.
More prominent where? The UK?
That's my understanding from both the woman I dated & from the Domme I had in London for several years. I spoke about that incident with her at one point & she told me financial Domination was a huge thing over there and much bigger in the BDSM world than here in the US (this was pre-2020). Those experiences/conversations are anecdotal rather than being truly evidence based but they both told me the same thing like they were schooling my ignorant ass about a fact rather than it just being an opinion they both held. Although I hesitate to generalize to all of the UK because my conversations were specifically about England. Its sort of how Rubber/Latex is also a much bigger part of the kink world in the UK & Germany than the US... different regions just seem to have certain fetishes more prominently (I don't even want to know half of what goes on in Japan).
Why? By the time I explain it to them I could have done it myself, and probably done a better job. smile
That's actually true of most Pro Dommes I know & do serve in those capacities, Alpha or not. As you well know, most clients aren't actually subs & may even intentionally screw something up for the added attention (which disgusts me but I've seen it). Even the ones who "get it" (pro or lifestyle) are not perfect when performing tasks (myself included) so for those, like yourself, who are so particular about the way they like things it rarely seems to work. In my experience there are Dommes, even Alphas, who are laid back about certain things so they are just happy not to have to do a particular chore themselves & it absolutely works when they find "a good one" but that ain't easy.
I made that joke because I have been behind the scenes enough to know how annoying it is when others make that statement to Dommes for the specific reason you said, in a lot of cases its easier to just do it yourself. Going back to the subject, its also part of why non-findumbs tend to do financial stuff (imo). Its so much easier on a Domme to say "go to this wishlist and buy this thing I have already specified if you want to help me" than the work & stress it takes to give them a real-life task.