Design Outpost is a new approach to web design services. People needing designs (as much as a full website, or as little as a banner or logo) post contests which members of the design team then enter. The design team members will post entries and the contest holder gets to pick which one they like best. The winner gets paid the prize and a 10% fee is paid to the site. The average contest is around $200 but they get as high as $500. Obviously the more you pay the better chance you will attract better designers. This is a cheap way to get a custom design from scratch. Payment is via Paypal.
I just used them to get a site designed (which ironically will compete with a site that the owner of this site owns), and within 2 days of posting the project I got a perfect, utterly perfect, design made, beyond my wildest dreams... I love this site, I HIGHLY recommend them!
From what I have seen designed there, such as this site, the designers are capable of very high quality graphics and markup, and there are threads of tips for contest holders, as well as easy payment. The prices seem good, however they have been going up recently and I worry that a $250 contest won't get much attention.
This website's design was made at design outpost, which is very different from my sites design, but it's still extremly good, which shows how different styles they can make.
If you want a really good design, try to give them as much information as possible.