Problems with such contests kind of come from two places though, through a potential personal fault with either the contest creator or the entering artist.
In the case of the creator, it is a common issue of people being cheap. But I don't think being cheap alone is problematic, but cheap enough to want to actively mislead or manipulate others. It is also quite possible for the creator to simply not understand the nature of the contest they offer and various associated issues that fall short of what many would call a scam (if assuming it is determined purely by monetary value and ignoring other reasons to enter/offer a contest). Is it a scam for someone to list too expensive of a price when selling something in the classifieds/ebay/garage sale because they didn't know the proper value?
In the case of the artist, it is more complex because this relates to a much larger issues I've seen with many artists: misjudging the value of their work and drawing (or otherwise creating) for the wrong reasons. Many artists will create art of subjects they don't care about and respond to suggestions/requestions in the hope to generate popularity, get noticed, or trying to buy friendship with art. Others might undercharge for their commissions because they think it will give them a more positive image. These are all cases where an artist can easily underestimate what they are getting in return for their art. And there are cases of very clearly not scam contests, e.g. based on around fun and themes that are not getting free commissions for one person, that still lead to a lot of drama due to regret from an artist or two about the time they spent.
I don't think you can categorically call such contests a scam, even in the case where a few artists might underestimate their return and regret it afterwards. It really depends on the situation, and still ends up risking being a blame game of accusations. Part of the problem with that, is there are artists that don't underestimate their work, and people who create contests intended for fun or various other purposes than saving money. Labelling all such contests scams, and thinking of participants as having been scammed, can come down as insulting by assuming such people can't decide the worthwhile of such things for themselves. Over-generalisation and assumptions like that tend to be the source of a lot of drama instead of helping people out...
(And I am not sure the extra math helps. It is not like explaining probability and the odds would empty a casino. While a few people should learn such things and would leave, others wouldn't because they are not there just on the basis of profitability. After all, quite a few mathematicians still gamble and such, and just claiming it is lack of maths and understanding of probability to blame for why they were there is not going to win any favours.)
Problems with such contests kind of come from two places though, through a potential personal fault with either the contest creator or the entering artist.
In the case of the creator, it is a common issue of people being cheap. But I don't think being cheap alone is problematic, but cheap enough to want to actively mislead or manipulate others. It is also quite possible for the creator to simply not understand the nature of the contest they offer and various associated issues that fall short of what many would call a scam (if assuming it is determined purely by monetary value and ignoring other reasons to enter/offer a contest). Is it a scam for someone to list too expensive of a price when selling something in the classifieds/ebay/garage sale because they didn't know the proper value?
In the case of the artist, it is more complex because this relates to a much larger issues I've seen with many artists: misjudging the value of their work and drawing (or otherwise creating) for the wrong reasons. Many artists will create art of subjects they don't care about and respond to suggestions/requestions in the hope to generate popularity, get noticed, or trying to buy friendship with art. Others might undercharge for their commissions because they think it will give them a more positive image. These are all cases where an artist can easily underestimate what they are getting in return for their art. And there are cases of very clearly not scam contests, e.g. based on around fun and themes that are not getting free commissions for one person, that still lead to a lot of drama due to regret from an artist or two about the time they spent.
I don't think you can categorically call such contests a scam, even in the case where a few artists might underestimate their return and regret it afterwards. It really depends on the situation, and still ends up risking being a blame game of accusations. Part of the problem with that, is there are artists that don't underestimate their work, and people who create contests intended for fun or various other purposes than saving money. Labelling all such contests scams, and thinking of participants as having been scammed, can come down as insulting by assuming such people can't decide the worthwhile of such things for themselves. Over-generalisation and assumptions like that tend to be the source of a lot of drama instead of helping people out...
(And I am not sure the extra math helps. It is not like explaining probability and the odds would empty a casino. While a few people should learn such things and would leave, others wouldn't because they are not there just on the basis of profitability. After all, quite a few mathematicians still gamble and such, and just claiming it is lack of maths and understanding of probability to blame for why they were there is not going to win any favours.)