Crowdsourced design work -- worth it? Anybody have experience on the client end?

[ztirffritz]

I have a friend who tried to do the work on one of the crowdsourcing sites and found that, though his work was well received, the people commissioning the work were more often flakes than the people submitting it. Other designers complimented his work, but he couldn't get people to pay him despite being selected the winner several times. I don't know if he's still trying to do it or not. I'm guessing not.