You don’t need to seek out the services of a fancy design firm, or risk wasting hours of time communicating with an online freelancer to get the best logo, website and other graphics you need for your business.

In fact, after using an online design marketplace for the first time, you’ll soon realize that the traditional method of requesting samples (which can easily be copy/pasted – ie., stolen) to attempt to identify if a designer has the skill-set you’re looking for – then picking a designer or firm you think might work out – then going through the hassle of waiting on delivery and revisions – potentially ending up with something that you’re not happy with, but which you’re so often expected to pay for nonetheless!

Here’s a few great reasons why you need to give a marketplace environment a shot for your next design project.

You choose the price you’re willing to pay…

This benefit always gets budget-minded folks feeling all gooey inside, doesn’t it? It’s all about saving the Benjamins! While you can set the budget for the project you’re asking for, make sure you understand the time, creative effort and overall complexity of the design before throwing a low-ball offer out to a crowd of designers. The site hosting the contests will typically take a 15% commission too.

If you just want a crappy logo for an affiliate site you don’t care about very much, head over to Fivver. Why, you ask? Because if you want to attract the best designs possible, you need to make it worth the designer’s while. Keep in mind that they don’t get paid unless you choose their design and if the reward isn’t worth their time, you’ll be lucky to even attract low-quality bottom feeders to your project.

You set the deadline…

Yes, it is true that you’ll find freelancers willing to offer a two or three day project completion. However, you’re typically working with just one designer, and this is where time (and money) can get seriously wasted. And that’s not the only problem.

What if they don’t get the design right, requiring serious (time consuming) revisions or even an outright redo? Design marketplaces let you set the deadline, not to mention the fact that you’ll have a wealth of creative designs to choose from.

Unlimited design choices…

This is the single best advantage offered by these kinds of services. A wealth of upfront designs to choose from. This is particularly useful if you’re not a creative type and just don’t quite know what you’re looking for – or you are a (picky) creative type yourself and find yourself rarely pleased with what you receive upon initial delivery.

Using highly regarded, well established sites like DesignCrowd, you simply post your requirements and budget, then wait for all the submissions to start to come in. Your money is held in “escrow” until you select a design and agree to make a payment, then the payment minus commission, is paid out to the winning designer. Dealing with a reputable freelancer or agency, you’re often required to pay all or a portion of the project fees upfront and they may bail on you if you ask for multiple revisions.

Competition brings out the best in people

Since the designer hasn’t yet been given the job, and they’re spending time doing something they may never get paid for, most (not always all) will put their very best foot forward in each design they put out there. You will get the odd bad egg who offers up shoddy designs, but such people can’t thrive in a competitive design marketplace – they’re better off selling their crappy wares through discount sites like Fiverr and Freelancer.com.

Consider that the people who spend their time designing for a marketplace are pretty confident in their skills and enjoy the thrill that comes from crushing the competition. Yet another reason to set your budget fairly, according to the estimated time and effort involved with each project you post.

If you haven’t yet already, use a design marketplace for your next project and see just how much time it saves you and how much happier you are with the final design you end up choosing!

Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by Design Crowd, but the opinion expressed in this article is entirely mine.