I did not mention “hundreds of hours”, nor even one “hundred hours” quote me if I did. But what I can tell you is that’s possible.
Again, if you feel someone is trying to cash grab you, don’t buy and get in touch with him for more info. It’s not the stone age where you can never ever find out who has made what content pack and you are just buying it knowing it’s like shooting an apple in the dark. The content pack has no proper information? either contact the artist or Epic. Prices can’t just drop for such little issues where you can solve them just by dropping an email or asking on the forums. There are also ratings and comments to get aware if a pack is doing well or not.
I think you are probably hurt badly at some point from the marketplace to put this kind of attitude on us here. I don’t want to fight with you on that.
On a side note, I think Epic should make it a requirement for artists to have a very detailed description for their content packs. Information regarding Tri-Counts, Wireframes, Are they using roughness map or it’s driven from a diffuse? Are they using an AO map or they have not taken care of eliminating shadows from the diffuse? Are the collisions setup properly and efficiently? many things like these should be made clear for buyers.