Thinking out loud is something I do a lot of. Many ideas get tossed around and many of them go nowhere, but some end up being great.
I kind of like the idea of listing the payout amount to see the effect....but fear it might send the wrong message. While adding to the post rewards is important it's not the only thing that those visiting the posts can add. The comments add a ton of value too and don't want people to think if they can't move the payout value they aren't helping by visiting posts. Might be something to think about to use in some way for a future contest...now you have me thinking ;) .