Q:

Concerned, freelancer I don't know may run off. How should I pay a freelancer?

I've found an illustrator, who's work I really like. I saw his work online so have never met the person in 'real life'. He's named his price which is quite a lot of money. Therefore, I have concerns about paying someone who I don't really know. The last thing I'd want is for them to take off with my money without doing the work.
I've proposed half now and half on completion, although half is still quite a lot of money. If possible, I don't want to go through one of those freelancing sites, like Elance, as I can imagine they'd probably take quite a large cut.
How can I tackle payment safely so that I know the freelancer won't run off?

A:

For fixed price projects, depending on the size of the contract I always did 50% up front and 50% upon delivery. For larger contracts (+1500 euros) I took 30% up front. The freelancer thinks the same way: "I'm not going to do work if there is a chance the client just runs off with my work and doesn't pay me!".
There is always a risk, but if the freelancer has decent references there is no reason he would want to run off: if he just does his job he gets another 50% or 70%. 
I never worked with escrow services, it just costs extra and I never heard of a freelancer taking half and just running off. Which of course doesn't offer any certainty, and I should mention I never worked with freelancers or clients that where more than a few hundred kilometers from me.  

A:

This service seems like it offers the protection you require and gives a third party the funds until the freelancer has completed and delivered the product
https://www.escrow.com/

Escrow.com reduces the risk of fraud by acting as a trusted third-party that collects, holds and only disperses funds when both Buyers and Sellers are satisfied.

A:

So you want a feast without spending an ounce of flour? If you find a solution I would like to hear it as well :). 
Working with a remote freelancer is always risky. That's why you always start with small and in time increase amount of work. Why don't you give him to do only a part of a job?! Paying 50% of the small part is worth of risk. If you however started with a large project, then you're probably not so good with money planning and you will eventually be hurt. You have to build trust with the remote freelancer first. 
Next, web services like odesk or elance offer clients a great comfort since you can review freelancer's portfolio and your money is pretty safe in fixed-price projects. And they charge you for that safety. 
Lastly, services like Skrill offer money escrow so you may take a look at that as well. 
PS. I am writing this thinking that you two cannot sign a liable contract e.g. you cannot sue him efficiently. If you can sign a good contract where he can financially be responsible for bad work, then sign it. 

