Pay What You Want is a business model in which the customer determines the price of a product or service. The vendor commits to accepting the customer's price, even if it is zero or significantly less than the offering's actual value. Occasionally, a buyer is guided by a price floor or a suggested price. This model is applicable to a broad customer base, but is most effective in competitive marketplaces that deal in low-margin products, have a strong relationship between the parties, and have a fair-minded customer base. Contrary to popular belief, customers rarely take advantage of this business model: research has revealed that the prices paid for Pay What You Want services are statistically significantly different from zero. Social norms such as fairness act as a type of price control mechanism. Additionally, customers' prices are typically determined by the cost of comparable products. They frequently regard such pricing schemes as advantageous because they enable them to manage incidental costs. A benefit of the Pay What You Want model for the vendor is the increased likelihood of positive press, which results in a significant increase in customer traffic.

When and how to apply Pay What You Want:

Pay What You Want presupposes those customers understand the value of a product and will compensate appropriately. Although this pattern originated in the B2C consumer market, it is also applicable to the B2B sector. Often, it is applied to only a portion of the offering, rather than the entire product or service. For example, some consultants allow customers to pay a percentage of the consulting fee in exchange for their level of satisfaction with the services rendered.
University of the People is one example for this Pattern.