Comments on: Everyone’s talking about rates these days

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:59:52 +0000

I understand that reasoning, but you are still physically typing the words in (unless you use Trados and have lots of 100% matches, and in that case I have been willing to make concessions). In my particular case the translation is input online without the benefit of Trados – and really, without the benefit of proper grammar or well-written sentences. Each response is an entity unto itself. They are survey responses that often don’t make sense or have spelling that requires that I look at the word and know what they were trying to say despite the terrible misspelling. Everyone has to make their own decision based on the factors of the job. I translated (and typed) 30,000 words in one week. I earned every cent.

By: Alejandro Moreno-Ramos

Alejandro Moreno-Ramos — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:43:11 +0000

I’m always surprised to hear that volume discounts make no sense from an economic standpoint. Maybe it just happens on my field (I only do engineering translations), but I find large jobs to be very much profitable, as I spend less time (proportionally) trying to understand the source text.

By: Effie

Effie — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:58:46 +0000

In Greece there are agencies who are asking their translators for a 20% reduction in their rates, and of course asking for higher rates is a large no-no.

By: Loreto Riveiro

Loreto Riveiro — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:39:26 +0000

You are so right about exchange rates.

The company I work for keeps playing with exchange rates instead of agreeing payment in euros. Being the situation as it is, most of the time we end up losing money (curiously, we hardly ever have benefits caused by fluctuation in exchange rates). At least, both parts know what they are going to pay, and there are no surprises.

By: jillsommer

jillsommer — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:11:25 +0000

@Tom Ellett – welcome to the translation blogosphere! I checked out your site tonight and subscribed on my feed reader. It looks promising.

I also charge my European clients in euros and have a German bank account, so I know exactly what you mean. I know what the going rates in Germany are and charge my clients accordingly. I don’t base it on the exchange rate. I too figure it will all balance out over time.

By: Tom Ellett

Tom Ellett — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:08:25 +0000

During a quiet spell a couple of weeks back, I briefly considered effectively cutting my rates by asking clients to pay me in pounds sterling rather than their local currency (although based in Canada, I keep a bank account in the UK for the convenience of European clients). Then work picked up again and I didn’t take the idea any further.

On reflection, I realize this would have been very short-sighted. Exchange rates have been all over the place in the past year. The kind of clients I like to work with probably value a stable rate in their own currency more than a short-term cost saving that could well be wiped out in the next round of currency fluctuations.

The exchange rate is currently moving in my favour again, but the cost to clients of my services remains the same. So the moral of the story is not to gamble with your rates in response to a slight downturn in work.

By: Corinne McKay

Corinne McKay — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:36:20 +0000

Yes, you were definitely part of the inspiration for my post, thanks I agree that the rate pressure is lower at the higher end of the market. My rates aren’t stratospheric but they’re high enough that I’m sure that price isn’t the client’s only, or even main, concern. I know, it’s hard to sit on your hands when work is slow, especially if you don’t have a spouse’s income or a large savings cushion to fall back on. But I think that the real answer is to dust off your marketing materials and go after higher-paying clients instead of joining the race to the bottom.