[patio11]

Have you worked with a freelancer before who produced exceptional work? If so, ask them to do the work or recommend a friend with availability to do the work. Great freelancers are cheap, reliable, and available: pick any two.

If you're wondering why clients like you meeting developers like your previous contractor is virtually an inevitable outcome of freelancing sites, I recommend reading "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism." It was published in the 70s and basically won the authors a Nobel Prize. The example they use is about used cars, but it maps fairly directly to freelancing sites.

[sarciszewski]

I'd like to chime in with this message for the OP: listen to patio11 (and tptacek if he chimes in); they both know the industry like the back of their hand. :)

Alternatively, OP, send me an email and I'll see if I have the available bandwidth to help complete your project.

[unreal37]

Interesting paper, Patrick. I understand that markets with asymmetric information drive out good sellers and so only bad sellers remain, but I wonder why the markets themselves don't go out of business? We don't see places like fiverr and odesk failing. Any theories as to why?