They found pilots Han Solo and Chewbacca in a seedy little cantina and after negotiating, Han set a price for 10,000 credits in advance. But Obi-Wan managed to convince Han that they could pay him 2,000 upfront and will give him 15,000 once they got to Alderaan.
To me that doesn't seem like a good deal but Han agreed to it. I've seen where some fans have said that Obi-Wan used a Jedi mind trick on Han to get him to take the offer. I don't see it that way, I see it as Han being greedy and made a bad business deal in order to get more money. The mention of more money was all it took to convince Han to accept the deal. He figured he could make a little extra money off Luke and Obi-Wan and have more than enough to pay off Jabba the Hutt and still have some left over for him and Chewie.
I don't think Obi-Wan and Luke set out to scam Han and Chewie but they did. Initially, they didn't even have the 2,000 but they were able to get most of it by selling Luke's speeder and I believe Obi-Wan had enough money to cover the rest. So the problem is with the 15,000. They simply don't have it. They are relying on the possibility that the Alderaan royal family will give them the money for Obi-Wan's help and them returning C-3PO and R2-D2. But what if the royal family didn't want to pay the money then what would they have done?
Luke and Obi-Wan's plans were immediately changed once they realized Alderaan was destroyed. However, payment was the last thing on anyone's mind after Han's ship the Millennium Falcon was caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. While Luke, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 were on the Death Star waiting for Obi-Wan to destroy the tractor beam so they could leave, Luke thanks to R2 found Princess Leia Organa who was being held on the ship. In order to get Han to help him save the Princess, Luke said that she's rich and that saving her might get Han a reward. That was a risky move for sure.
With the Alderaan situation, Luke and Obi-Wan had hoped that they could get the 15,000 from the royal family. And in their new situation, Luke was hoping that suggesting that the Princess was rich and could lead to a reward would be all that was needed to get Han to help him. Yet again, it worked because of Han's greed. Luke is continuing to scam Han and Chewie but if it wasn't for Han being so greedy he wouldn't be able to.
After saving Princess Leia but losing Obi-Wan (he sacrificed himself so they could escape), they were finally free from the Death Star. Han and Chewie did eventually get paid after taking Princess Leia, Luke, R2-D2 and C-3PO to the Rebel base on Yavin. However, it wasn't by Luke. He was supposed to pay Han and Chewie 17,000 but only paid him 2,000. I can't believe Luke left the Rebels footing the bill. While the Rebels along with Luke were preparing for battle against the Empire's Death Star, Han and Chewie were loading up their payment/reward. It's not fair that the Rebels had to pay Han when it was Luke and Obi-Wan who owed him the money.
I know I said it before but I don't think Luke and Obi-Wan set out to scam Han and Chewbie but that's what they ended up doing. I understand, they were in a hurry to leave Tatooine especially with the Empire searching for the droids. But they never had the large amount of money they said they would give Han and Chewie and regardless of their intentions, Luke and Obi-Wan totally scammed them.
Without a doubt, Luke Skywalker is a hero but it's hard not to see that in A New Hope he displayed an ability to be a little dishonest, although, it was for a good cause.
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