You are probably correct in thinking the .01btc fee minimum is a bit much with the price being where it is but using the trusted guys makes your transaction safer. Escrows also have to deal with alot of bullshit with most transactions. I personally have been involved in deals that take half a day or longer because 1 party logs off, then replies and other party is offline. It's just too much a mess to deal with half the time.

Monbux, SebastianJu, and a handful of others listed in the escrow thread(I am not searching the link) are the way to go in most cases. You can try to speak with 1 of them and ask for a lower fee.

**EDIT** 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0