Book Bundles: Why Bother?

Book Bundles have become a HUGE deal. Some of them are at what seems ridiculous prices like under a dollar or even free for several books. Made me wonder how the author is making any money. So I took a closer look. Not all book bundles are the same. What do I mean? Well, take a look.

1. First Books: Some authors are putting the first books from all their series in one bundle and giving it away for free. This gives readers a chance to see what they think of the author's writing. It also gives authors the chance to hook a reader. If the reader loves a series, they can continue to read them. If they don't, they haven't lost anything. So far, I haven't tried doing this, mainly because I only have first books in two series at the moment. But I am thinking that maybe down the road I'll give it a try.
2. Different Authors: Some authors are getting together to offer one book from each of their series in book bundles. That way the reader can try several different authors at the same time. Problem is, it would be a hassle to split the money, unless you are putting it for free. That would be an okay idea. I did do this one. Another author gathered our books, formatted them, and put them into a bundle. She set it at free. Has it helped me get more readers? Well, I'm sure it hasn't hurt.
3. First Several Books in Series: An author can also take the first few books in a particular series and offer them at a lower price than it would cost if a reader bought them all separately. This, I also did. Recently, I uploaded Vampires Rule, Werewolves Rule, Shifters Rule, and Wizards Rule in what I call the Rule Series Book Bundle. Only available on Amazon, if you get it, you are getting two books free. Then, the only book let in the series to get is Mortals Rule. Since I just did it, I don't have anything to report. I don't know if this will be a good thing for me as an author or not.      AMAZON LINK
4. Last Books in Series: You can do the opposite and offer books 2 to 3, 4, or however high your books go. Give the first one free and then offer a bundle for the rest at a lowered price than if people got them separately. Haven't done this one, but I may try it someday.

Seriously, I'm not sure where I stand on book bundles. As a reader, I like them. They cost less than buying the books separately, and they only use one thumbnail instead of several, so it doesn't take up as much of my screen. As an author, I'm still on the fence about it. Seems to me it would be a good idea if there weren't so many. Go to Amazon and type in Book Bundles. 400 plus pages will come up. That is a ridiculous amount of bundles. As an author, I think it would be hard to make a bundle stand out. What do you think?