So Humble has some pretty awesome bundles - but of course, almost entirely geared towards Steam.

They have a "pay-what-you-want" model for their lowest tier, however, that will unlock DRM-free copies of the games in that tier. I decided to take them at their word and try buying a bundle for a penny.

It worked.

The last couple of weekly bundles I've paid one penny - that actually is deducted from my bank account via paypal - and I get the DRM-free copies of the games I wanted.

I'm thinking about doing it again with this week's bundle, just so I can get The Novelist, as that's the only game I don't have that's DRM-free in that tier.

But I feel bad. I'm basically stealing the game. I don't even know what kinds of fees are paid - or by whom - on a one cent paypal transaction. The developer gets nothing, the store loses money as I use their server to download the game... it's just mean.

But they intentionally let me do it. They set it up that way.

Is this weird? Is this wrong?

It's only wrong if you feel it is (and it seems you do). But they set it up that way, so if people take advantage of it, then there's no one to blame but themselves. It all comes down to one thing though: pay what you want, and I take that to mean 'pay what you think it's worth'. So, if you really only think it's worth 1 cent, then don't worry about it. If you think the bundle is worth more, then I encourage you to assuage your conscience and cough up what you think it's worth to you. :)

Ehhhh... both. You could at least pay $1 (that should at least cover the fees), as for if it feels like stealing or not, well, if you weren't going to buy the game anyway then at least you're giving something ($1 > 0$).

Well Humble has been set up from the beginning as a combined charity and mass sale store so you could feel at least a bit bad for that. At the moment money goes to Direct Relief the biggest medical non profit organization helping out in Nepal + Wikimedia foundation that maintains Wikipedia. But at the end Humble gives you a choice what you wan't to do with your money so its your choice. Most people don't even notice that they are buying charity bundles on Humble eitherway.

The main problem I would have with it (as it is allowed) is that you are actually making a net loss for Humble after PayPal have taken it's minimum fee (which is 5p?) and cost of bandwidth. So it depends on whether you really want services like Humble to survive or not.

edit: the way I try to do it, is to put $5 minimum for each game in the bundle I want.

It's an option, so there's no need to feel guilty about it.
Buying a ton of bundles for pennies and then selling them or giving them away, that's a bit douchey IMO.
But for yourself, just go for it.

If you really like a game, you could probably also go directly to the developer's website and contribute to them as well, or buy other games from them. You'd even be leaving out the middleman.

For most of these games, I'd think of these bundles as a games promotion. Whether its a penny or a dollar, they are doing it for the exposure more than the direct money. In essence, its a new version of shareware. The only reason Steam keys are $1 probably is the Steam fee for putting a game up on that service anyway.

So, if you that a game was really worth it, repay them later.
Those are my thoughts...

Steam take no fees.

The $1 minimum is to stop key re-sellers

Steam charges something like a $100 submission fee from my understanding. At least for first time publishers...

Remember you can always increase your order amount later, if you feel you are too much of a cheapass. Honestly, if one penny is all you're going to pay then just pirate, at least you won't cost them money due to transaction fees.

They wouldn't do this if it wasn't profitable for them, that payment of $0.01 implies some loss but don't forget that the PWYW thing is also a marketing hook.

I'd say if you're happy with the game/service then you could always see about donating some cash to the developers or whoever handles Humble, or even just give some money directly to charity.

I understand your concern as I've gotten games for free or on sale and often worry about how much the developer is actually getting out of the deal.

that's only to be in Greenlight.

And the $100 goes to charity, Valve do not keep it. It is to minimise all the joke submissions. If you want to have a joke submission, at least you are also giving $100 to charity. Win win.

This. If they were bothered about it then they would make a set about like other sites do and say you have you have to pay £1/$1 or more.

If you cannot afford more at the moment and want to try the game, go for it! Later, when you can, you can pay out to the dev, if you liked the game, it's way better than piracy imho.
Btw I've bought a bundle from there for less than a dollar, that contained Thomas Was Alone which I liked so much that when learned about the expansion I couldn't wait and bought it on Steam for me, and again on steam to gift it to a friend of mine :) One may say it was a karma, the game that I bought for 10 cents at the end I liked so much I bought it not one but two times :D