I've used a service like 99designs (logosauce, I think it was), and I was relatively happy with the results. I will probably use a crowdsourcing service for upcoming projects as well.

I can understand why designers hate it, because the industry becomes a race to the bottom, and devalues the profession by making it seem like a commodity. The same thing happened with professional photography, especially in the wedding photography segment.

But I don't have a lot of money to spend on design. I can mock a piece of crap myself, or pay what I can afford to someone willing to do the work (or in the case of a crowdsourced service, compete) for it.

A higher priced designer isn't really losing revenue from me, because I was never able to afford him/her in the first place - and at least a designer is getting some money from me.

Having said that, you do typically get what you pay for. For $300, you're typically not getting as well thought out a design as you would for $10,000.