[cstavish]

To play devil's advocate: hiring a less-experienced freelancer is a riskier investment than hiring an experienced freelancer with a big portfolio and many references. Even if the two candidates are of equal skill, the hiring party can't know that. Thus, price is a function of what you can reasonably expect to get from a candidate.

Being an inexperienced freelancer is akin to being a borrower with an under-established credit rating. Regardless of whether the borrower is sitting on a mattress full of millions, he or she will still pay higher interest rates until his or her credit is better established.