BigKeithO writes in with some more followup, including some more results numbers from the Humble Indie Bundle experiment that we've written about a few times, involving some indie developers bundling up a bunch of PC games in a "pay what you want" pricing scheme. The program went on for two weeks, bringing in a grand total of $1,273,588. $833,630.69 went to the developers (or $166,726.14 to each), while the EFF got $183,601.47 and Child's Play got $188,578.04. I'm sure some will knock these numbers, suggesting that they're significantly lower than what some big name EA game would get, but you have to remember that these games were a bit older and weren't likely to get that many new purchases. On top of that, in two weeks, that's a pretty good sum of money for some indie developers on older games.

The other interesting tidbit, as many noted, is that despite suggestions from some that the "open source" world are folks who "just want stuff for free," the average amount paid by Linux users ($14.52) was significantly higher than those paid by Mac ($10.18) or Windows ($8.05) users. Obviously, averages are only so useful, given that they can be skewed by outliers (anyone got the medians? standard deviations?) but it's still information worth pointing out. All in all, a very interesting experiment, with some great results for those who participated.

Popular restaurant chain Panera Bread has long been interested in experimenting with smart new business models. It was one of the first restaurants out there to push free WiFi in all its locations -- at a time when many thought fee-based WiFi was the future -- noting how much it helped bring in more business for the food. A bunch of folks are now submitting the news that Panera is testing out a pay what you want model in one of its new restaurants. There are "recommended" prices -- but you can pay more or less than those numbers. This seems to be a take on the trend that became popular last year of restaurants offering certain days or nights where you could get free meals, which some restaurants found actually resulted in much more revenue (along with more loyal customers).

While I'm intrigued with how this will work out, I'm not convinced it's going to be a success (though I'd be pleasantly surprised to find out I'm wrong). The whole thing is actually set up separate from Panera, via a non-profit foundation, which Panera is supporting. The restaurant won't use the Panera name, but St. Louis Bread Co. Cares, which apparently was the company's original name. I would guess that many people will feel guilty enough to pay the list price, though some will obviously pay less. I doubt very many (if any) people will really pay much extra, which puts the operation in a tricky position. Since we're talking about food and salaries, there are real scarcities to deal with in terms of expenses, so a "pay what you want" model seems like it would have difficulty scaling.

Still, as business models go, it's one worth watching.