Elance and Odesk can actually pay pretty well. I regularly find jobs which I know exactly what's required but are quoted really high by people who don't really

Elance and Odesk can actually pay pretty well. I regularly find jobs which I know exactly what's required but are quoted really high by people who don't really know what they are bidding on. I think what happens is that one bidder comes up with a number pulled out of thin air and then the rest of the bidders use that as a starting point and just bid a little lower. In this case I just bid the average of the top bids and then I'm usually able to get the job because I know the problem so well. A job under $500 is still a good one if you are able to knock it out quick and hit $100 / hour. The problem with this is that it takes more time to find the diamonds in the rough.