| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Should beginning translators/interpreters charge lower rates? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| The problem with using low rates... | Aug 14, 2012 |
To get going, or for any other reason, it is bad news to start with a really low rate. If you have ever done so, do you recall having tried to push your rate up later?
I once accepted to work on a project with a small budget. I accepted bottom-of-the-barrel rates. It was early days. Inexperienced in business, but not lacking in ability in the particular field. On the next project, the client has a mega-budget. I knew that as I was working for the company at the other end of the lin... See more To get going, or for any other reason, it is bad news to start with a really low rate. If you have ever done so, do you recall having tried to push your rate up later?
I once accepted to work on a project with a small budget. I accepted bottom-of-the-barrel rates. It was early days. Inexperienced in business, but not lacking in ability in the particular field. On the next project, the client has a mega-budget. I knew that as I was working for the company at the other end of the line too! My original client proudly announced that he had a good budget this time round. I tried to upgrade my rate. It was a real hassle, not really accepted and thankfully the client went elsewhere. He was a slow payer anyway.
Once you write yourself into a low rate, for whatever reason, it is too tough to get out of it with the same client. The same is true of future clients if they come to you from word of mouth.
Justifying a good rate for a good job is relatively easy. Does a bad rate justify a bad job? Probably not. Morally, a bad job might justify a bad rate but do you want to do a bad job? New or experienced, you are already holding yourself out to have marketable skills. Market them correctly. Expect your clients to pay correctly. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | yes, but within reason | Aug 14, 2012 |
I charged a slightly lower rate for translation when I started out. I'm not certified so I kept that in mind but also didn't charge ridiculous rates like 0.02 CAD. I was realistic. I since then I've raised my rate to the average for my language type. I accept a slightly lower rate for some clients and flat rates, etc. Maybe if you're just starting out, it's better to be a bit below average for your pair and raise your rates after a year or so.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 04:32
English to Spanish
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| I said yes...I'm ready for the rain of tomatoes | Aug 14, 2012 |
What a lively conversation! And with such a simple question!
When I migrated to New York, I had a degree in translation studies and English. Concerned about what I could or should charge per word, I did what any rookie would do in my situation: I started calling experienced translators and interpreters using the phone book and specialized directories.
Most of the respondents were indignant, some were rude, as if I had no business asking what their going rates were. I di... See more What a lively conversation! And with such a simple question!
When I migrated to New York, I had a degree in translation studies and English. Concerned about what I could or should charge per word, I did what any rookie would do in my situation: I started calling experienced translators and interpreters using the phone book and specialized directories.
Most of the respondents were indignant, some were rude, as if I had no business asking what their going rates were. I didn't want to charge exactly what they charged —how could I, with a degree and next-to-zero experience? But I discovered that week that most seasoned professionals resent being compared to newbies, or even a hint of comparison.
And here I am, twenty years later, charging per-word and per-project rates like any seasoned linguist.
Nobody but the local market can determine what anyone who is inexperienced can charge. Language students at universities charge (or are paid) much less than the local going rate for their language pair because they are students and because, I suppose, the university setting promises a good job with a cheaper price attached to it. I am not sure.
Now, some colleagues here have shrewdly pointed at the "should" part of the question. Right on! The "should" reveals an entire attitude, as if charging a given rate were a matter of social justice, or fairness, or something else. Only the poll's author knows.
In the end, the client looks at the rate and the excellence of the service being provided. He could be charged more or less for the same level of excellence, but that'll depend on the initiative, experience, expertise and gumption of the market players, the other translators vying for business.
The rookie translator or interpreter will charge whatever he/she can, not whatever he/she should. ▲ Collapse
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It's not necessary or required but it may bring them more work and allow to faster create a customer base.
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 04:32
Spanish to English
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| It's called getting your foot in the door | Aug 14, 2012 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
The rookie translator or interpreter will charge whatever he/she can, not whatever he/she should.
Indeed. And, given their inexperience and limitations, as well as market realities, it will often be in their best interests to charge a significantly lower rate than their more seasoned colleagues, especially in the more common language pairs.
It's called doing what you can--what you must--to get your foot in the door.
[Edited at 2012-08-14 14:03 GMT]
| | | | Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 10:32
Italian to English
In memoriam | Pushing rates up | Aug 14, 2012 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
To get going, or for any other reason, it is bad news to start with a really low rate. If you have ever done so, do you recall having tried to push your rate up later?
The safest way is to charge new customers higher rates and drop the old ones if they refuse to pay more. You'll lose some of the old customers, of course, but it won't matter if your order book is full anyway.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 09:32
Member (2007)
English
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Mario Chavez wrote:
What a lively conversation! And with such a simple question!
It's ridiculous to ask for yes/no answers to such a question. I can't imagine why the response hasn't been 100% "other". I can only suppose that most people like to be seen to have an answer to such things.
I have an answer too, but it isn't yes and it isn't no and doesn't bear going into here. I prefer to discuss it in front of said newbies who can maybe profit from the discussion.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 04:32
English to Spanish
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| How about passive customer turnover? | Aug 14, 2012 |
Giles Watson wrote: Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
To get going, or for any other reason, it is bad news to start with a really low rate. If you have ever done so, do you recall having tried to push your rate up later?
The safest way is to charge new customers higher rates and drop the old ones if they refuse to pay more. You'll lose some of the old customers, of course, but it won't matter if your order book is full anyway.
I didn't have to charge higher rates to lose lower-paying customers. Those customers stopped calling me because they found alternatives in other countries for half the price.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 10:32
Spanish to English
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| It's not a question of "should" | Aug 14, 2012 |
It's rather more a question of the point in your career experience you feel comfortable with saying "no" to certain rates, conditions, jobs in which you have your limitations... there are any number of factors, not just rates. I'd say rates are also part of a more complex learning curve in terms of optimums (which is simply not learned overnight).
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 16:32
Chinese to English
| It's one strategy among many | Aug 14, 2012 |
To summarise what I wrote on another thread:
The biggest issue in our world is the difficulty of gauging quality when you hire a freelancer...Quality is unknowable, so we use proxies. One of the most common proxies is experience...The one thing that works reasonably well as an indicator of quality is length of time someone has managed to hack it as a translator....It's reputation by implication - clients apparently haven't gotten so fed up with me [after 10 years] that they'l... See more To summarise what I wrote on another thread:
The biggest issue in our world is the difficulty of gauging quality when you hire a freelancer...Quality is unknowable, so we use proxies. One of the most common proxies is experience...The one thing that works reasonably well as an indicator of quality is length of time someone has managed to hack it as a translator....It's reputation by implication - clients apparently haven't gotten so fed up with me [after 10 years] that they'll refuse to work with me.
When a client works with someone who doesn't have those years of experience, they take a quality risk. And they will always try to drive down rates to compensate for that risk.
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I started out working at Chinese rates (that's less than GBP 0.01 per Chinese character/GBP 0.015 per English word), and I've worked my way up from there... I know from personal experience that one of the ways you can develop in the industry is by starting low...and working up. It's not the only way, but I don't think it's anything to be worried about/scornful of. ▲ Collapse
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Parrot wrote:
It's rather more a question of the point in your career experience you feel comfortable with saying "no" to certain rates, conditions, jobs in which you have your limitations... there are any number of factors, not just rates. I'd say rates are also part of a more complex learning curve in terms of optimums (which is simply not learned overnight).
Pertinent remark.
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The quick answer is that it leads to undercutting, which hurts us all. The more complicated answer is that it's against the ethics of the profession, as espoused by many translator associations. I would rather see a client disappointed than discriminate against colleagues.
The cream rises to the top. The best work will always be there for the best translators. In the meantime, it's already happening that newbies and poor translators are charging less, and this has resulted in less w... See more The quick answer is that it leads to undercutting, which hurts us all. The more complicated answer is that it's against the ethics of the profession, as espoused by many translator associations. I would rather see a client disappointed than discriminate against colleagues.
The cream rises to the top. The best work will always be there for the best translators. In the meantime, it's already happening that newbies and poor translators are charging less, and this has resulted in less work available at the higher rates. The current challenge is to raise rates, and that will never happen if we recognize a second category of translators. ▲ Collapse
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