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How can I negociate higher translation rates?
Thread poster: Catherine Meunier
Catherine Meunier
Catherine Meunier
France
Local time: 21:47
English to French
+ ...
Oct 14, 2020

Hi everyone,

An agency offered me 0.045 euros per word translated (english to french). I asked if they could consider a higher rate. They now offer 0.065 euros per word.

The proz average translation rate for this language pair is 0.10 (and 0.08 the lowest rate accepted by most translators).

This new rate of 0.065 euros is still quite low, isn't it? Should I accept this offer or Is there any way I could get a higher rate?

Thank you for your hel
... See more
Hi everyone,

An agency offered me 0.045 euros per word translated (english to french). I asked if they could consider a higher rate. They now offer 0.065 euros per word.

The proz average translation rate for this language pair is 0.10 (and 0.08 the lowest rate accepted by most translators).

This new rate of 0.065 euros is still quite low, isn't it? Should I accept this offer or Is there any way I could get a higher rate?

Thank you for your help.

Catherine
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Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 21:47
English to German
In memoriam
What makes you special? Oct 14, 2020

Catherine, the fact that there are clients and agencies offering low or even ridiculous rates is just a fact of life and should not disturb you. These are the bottom fishers who simply try to get the lowest entry price so that they can turn a higher profit. In many cases, it will not be possible to negotiate professional rates with them, but that should not keep you from trying, sometimes it works. You should set yourself a rate that you never go below and that will provide you with a decent inc... See more
Catherine, the fact that there are clients and agencies offering low or even ridiculous rates is just a fact of life and should not disturb you. These are the bottom fishers who simply try to get the lowest entry price so that they can turn a higher profit. In many cases, it will not be possible to negotiate professional rates with them, but that should not keep you from trying, sometimes it works. You should set yourself a rate that you never go below and that will provide you with a decent income.

But how can you succeed in the long run and get enough work at sustainable rates? Look at it this way: If you just offer what everyone else offers, your only chance to beat other translators is the rate you offer. In other words, you compete on rates with other translators who compete on rates and nothing else. This is a downward spiral.

What you need to command higher rates is something that not every other translator in your pair(s) can offer. Only when you belong to a smaller group of providers you have real negotiation power for higher rates, and the client/agency cannot simply go away and choose the next translator on their list. So, think about what makes you special, or what you could do to be special. Knowledge, experience, specialization, subject matter expertise, those are the things that could set you apart.
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Mr. Satan (X)
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Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 21:47
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Catherine Oct 14, 2020

Catherine Meunier wrote:
An agency offered me 0.045 euros per word translated (English to French). I asked if they could consider a higher rate. They now offer 0.065 euros per word. ... This new rate is still quite low, isn't it? Should I accept this offer or is there any way I could get a higher rate?


It is unlikely that this particular agency is going to offer you more. I suggest you accept their new higher rate and do a couple of jobs for them, to see if you can make a living from their current rate. Who knows, maybe the work they send is so simple and easy that you can make the same amount of money as you would have made with another agency that sends more difficult work.

The ProZ.com average translation rate for this language pair is 0.10 (and 0.08 the lowest rate accepted by most translators).


The ProZ.com average rate represents the rates that translators would like to get, and not the rates that they are willing to work for. After all, every job is different, and not all jobs can be reduced to a single per-word rate. Also, the so-called "lowest rate" that you see on that list is not the lowest rate that they are willing to work for, but the lowest rate that they want to receive semi-automated job offers for. Few translators will tell you their real, actual lowest rate on their profile pages.


Jorge Payan
Josephine Cassar
Johannah Morrison
Edward Potter
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Janina Wittmann
Janina Wittmann
Germany
Local time: 21:47
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
ProZ.com average rate Oct 14, 2020

Hi all, I'm quite new at ProZ and just wanted to ask where I can find this ProZ.com average rate? Is there actually a list on the ProZ-Platform for that? Many thanks in advance, Janina

 
Adam Dickinson
Adam Dickinson  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 16:47
Member (2016)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Tools > Proz.com tools > Community rates Oct 14, 2020

Janina Wittmann wrote:

Hi all, I'm quite new at ProZ and just wanted to ask where I can find this ProZ.com average rate? Is there actually a list on the ProZ-Platform for that? Many thanks in advance, Janina


You can find them using the path above, or at this URL: https://search.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 04:47
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
What average means Oct 15, 2020

...is that half of all people are below it.

(I know this is not what it actually means, but it's a simple way to get to the point)


Jorge Payan
Christopher Schröder
Johannah Morrison
Michele Fauble
P.L.F. Persio
Adieu
 
Catherine Meunier
Catherine Meunier
France
Local time: 21:47
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Oct 15, 2020

Thank you all !

[Edited at 2020-10-15 06:49 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-10-15 06:49 GMT]


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:47
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Averages can disguise skew Oct 15, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:
...is that half of all people are below it.

This is an important point, but it's probably even more than "half". An average rate can cover up really significant differences within the group.

This might be easier to envisage if we use annual incomes instead of rates. Take eight freelancers, five of whom have incomes of £20,000, two of whom have incomes of £35,000 and one of whom has an income of £70,000.

The average of that group is £30,000, but 62.5% of that group (5 of the 8) have incomes that are below the average. (Of course, if you take the median of that group - and this is probably what Lincoln was implying - then by definition that is the mid-point and so you get £20,000.)

However, medians are not always used. When research companies such as Common Sense Advisory publish estimates on linguist income, they often use averages. For example, they recently estimated that average linguist income is $29,000 before taxes. The reality is probably that more than half of linguists earn less than this $29,000, because there are proportionally more linguists at the low end due to the lack of barriers to entry.

As CSA puts it "One in five respondents (21%) earn less than US$5,000 annually, making translation a source of supplemental income more than a career." Grim.

Regards,
Dan


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Dr. Matthias Schauen
Dr. Matthias Schauen  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:47
Member (2007)
English to German
Community rates filter does not work Oct 15, 2020

Adam Dickinson wrote:

Janina Wittmann wrote:

Hi all, I'm quite new at ProZ and just wanted to ask where I can find this ProZ.com average rate? Is there actually a list on the ProZ-Platform for that? Many thanks in advance, Janina


You can find them using the path above, or at this URL: https://search.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates


Be aware that the filter for fields of expertise on that page does not work, so the ProZ community rates for specialist translations might actually be higher than what the page suggests. You can see that the sample size does not change no matter which field of expertise you choose.
(I have been reminding ProZ.com of this bug about once per year since 2015. My suggestion from 2019 to at least deactivate the broken function if they cannot repair it was "passed on to the developers", too.)


Inna Ivanova
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 21:47
Member
English to French
Baseline considerations Oct 15, 2020

Just a note for comparison purposes.
Catherine Meunier wrote:
...per word translated (english to french)

This unit rate is not common, because the agency doesn't know how much your piece will cost until you deliver it.

Given an expansion rate of about 15-20% from English into French, their latest offer is not far from €0.08/source word.

But whatever the unit, what ultimately matters is how much you earn per working hour.

Philippe


Jorge Payan
 
Khadhé
Khadhé
Local time: 13:47
English to French
Not really... Oct 17, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:

...is that half of all people are below it.

(I know this is not what it actually means, but it's a simple way to get to the point)


Hi Lincoln,
Actually, this true for the "median" value, not for the "average" value. So, it's not a "simple way to get to the point", it's a wrong way to get to the point. An average can be skewed by outsiders values and moreover, most distributions are not symmetrical with respect to the average value.


 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:47
German to English
+ ...
state, don't negotiate Oct 18, 2020

Catherine Meunier wrote:

Hi everyone,

An agency offered me 0.045 euros per word translated (english to french). I asked if they could consider a higher rate. They now offer 0.065 euros per word.

I tell clients what my fee is for a project, after examining the whole project. I definitely don't ask if they could consider anything. I state my fee.


CATHERINE MARCHAND
Katalin Horváth McClure
 
eman_m (X)
eman_m (X)
Australia
Tips of price negoition Oct 18, 2020

I am new to freelance work and need your advice.

what strategies would you use to negotiate a fair rate of payment for your services especially if it seems that you will have ongoing business with this client? Do you agree for the offered rate even it's below your rate as a start and increase it after the client see the quality of the work or do you stick to your rate and offer discount in case of ongoing cooperation?


 
TTilch
TTilch  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:47
English to German
+ ...
Look at proper cost calculatation - there's no way around it if you want to earn real money Oct 19, 2020

Hi there,

If you want to earn $50,000 per year after deducting taxes, social security contributions, operating costs etc. and do not know how to go about setting prices, you should take classes in cost calculation - there is no way around it if you are self-employed.

There are enough examples on the web is you search for it. Any line of business will tell you how you need
... See more
Hi there,

If you want to earn $50,000 per year after deducting taxes, social security contributions, operating costs etc. and do not know how to go about setting prices, you should take classes in cost calculation - there is no way around it if you are self-employed.

There are enough examples on the web is you search for it. Any line of business will tell you how you need to go about, e.g.
https://jenniferbourn.com/calculate-freelance-hourly-rate/

Best regards,

Tanja
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Christel Zipfel
Jorge Payan
 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 04:47
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
. Oct 19, 2020

Khadhé wrote:

Lincoln Hui wrote:

...is that half of all people are below it.

(I know this is not what it actually means, but it's a simple way to get to the point)


Hi Lincoln,
Actually, this true for the "median" value, not for the "average" value. So, it's not a "simple way to get to the point", it's a wrong way to get to the point. An average can be skewed by outsiders values and moreover, most distributions are not symmetrical with respect to the average value.


This is the point.



This is your head.


 
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How can I negociate higher translation rates?







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