Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4]
Early payment discount
Thread poster: Sonja Biermann
Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 04:34
Dutch to English
+ ...
As I've said ... Jun 8, 2008

Lexical: as I've said, your business model is your prerogative. You don't view 60 days as being screwed - fair enough - but as is evident from the comments here and on other threads, there are many others (including me) who do.

That doesn't make us 'butch', a bunch of whingers or poor souls unable to wait another 30 days for payment. Far from it.

Nobody suggested you're not good. I'm sure you're quite brilliant. But the fact is nobody actually knows how good they are u
... See more
Lexical: as I've said, your business model is your prerogative. You don't view 60 days as being screwed - fair enough - but as is evident from the comments here and on other threads, there are many others (including me) who do.

That doesn't make us 'butch', a bunch of whingers or poor souls unable to wait another 30 days for payment. Far from it.

Nobody suggested you're not good. I'm sure you're quite brilliant. But the fact is nobody actually knows how good they are unless they remove the safety net and enter a more competitive league.

After all, it's not that difficult for anyone providing consistently adequate translations to source work in the PT»EN language pair, if they offer 60 days. Of course the work flows in.

But if you're that good, guess what .... it does if you invoice 30 days too.


Take care
Debs
























[Edited at 2008-06-08 19:02]
Collapse


 
lexical
lexical  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 05:34
Portuguese to English
last word because I'm bored with this Jun 8, 2008

Lawyer-Linguist wrote:

Lexical: as I've said, your business model is your prerogative. You don't view 60 days as being screwed - fair enough - but as is evident from the comments here and on other threads, there are many others (including me) who do.

That doesn't make us 'butch', a bunch of whingers or poor souls unable to wait another 30 days for payment. Far from it.

Nobody suggested you're not good. I'm sure you're quite brilliant. But the fact is nobody actually knows how good they are unless they remove the safety net and enter a more competitive league.

After all, it's not that difficult for anyone providing consistently adequate translations to source work in the PT»EN language pair, if they offer 60 days. Of course the work flows in.

But if you're that good, guess what .... it does if you invoice 30 days too.



[Edited at 2008-06-08 19:02]


I'm sorry to see that this subject irritates you so much that you are still nagging away at it - so much so that you actually came back to this post and re-edited it. Your implication that I only have a regular stream of work because I have partnership agreements with customers that are, in some cases, longer than 30 days - and by implication that if I shortened my payment terms I'd find myself out of work - is unworthy of someone claiming to be a professional, as well as being inaccurate.

I'd always gained the impression in the past that you were quite sensible, and I hope I wasn't wrong.


 
Ralf Lemster
Ralf Lemster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 05:34
English to German
+ ...
Back to topic, please Jun 8, 2008

Folks,
The issue being discussed - as posted by Sonja Biermann - is whether early payment discounts are worthwhile.

Can we please get back to this topic, leaving personal issues aside?
Thank you.

Best regards,
Ralf


 
Deborah do Carmo
Deborah do Carmo  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 04:34
Dutch to English
+ ...
Setting the record straight Jun 8, 2008

lexical wrote:

I'm sorry to see that this subject irritates you so much that you are still nagging away at it - so much so that you actually came back to this post and re-edited it. Your implication that I only have a regular stream of work because I have partnership agreements with customers that are, in some cases, longer than 30 days - and by implication that if I shortened my payment terms I'd find myself out of work - is unworthy of someone claiming to be a professional, as well as being inaccurate.

I'd always gained the impression in the past that you were quite sensible, and I hope I wasn't wrong.


@ Ralf - this is my last word on the off-topic subject too, but I feel the need to respond and not leave Lexical under the false impression he/she is obviously labouring under.

@ Lexical - I was not implying anything, other than perhaps you are underselling yourself. If you are as good as you say you are - and there is certainly no evidence to suggest otherwise - there is no need to work on a 60-day basis for the PT»EN language pair. You have chosen - for some reason - to draw negative conclusions from this but I was actually trying to do you a favour by chipping in to say the 60-day issue within the Iberian Pensinsula is not necessarily the business culture anymore as your earlier postings suggest. If you test the market, you'll get it.

Now if you find the imparting of that valuable information to be unprofessional, so be it. Forgive me for trying to share some good news and/or boring you. It was not my intention either way.


 
Sonja Biermann
Sonja Biermann  Identity Verified
Local time: 05:34
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Ralf Jun 8, 2008

The spins this discussion took (the more personal comments left aside) were quite interesting.

I have come to the conclusion that translators as contractual workers don't give early payment discounts. That would be like telling an employee or project temp "We pay your wages a few days early, therefore you get less."

I am quite happy to receive the invoiced money within 30 days, because I pay all my bills on a 30-day basis and a monthly inflow strengthens your position
... See more
The spins this discussion took (the more personal comments left aside) were quite interesting.

I have come to the conclusion that translators as contractual workers don't give early payment discounts. That would be like telling an employee or project temp "We pay your wages a few days early, therefore you get less."

I am quite happy to receive the invoiced money within 30 days, because I pay all my bills on a 30-day basis and a monthly inflow strengthens your position with your bank. (Some customers pay within 14 days which is, of course, fine too.)

As translators we already give volume discounts and repetition discounts, so IMHO an early payment discount is only a way to cut rates further. If I'm ever going to give an EPD, I make sure that I'll take a premium rate.
Collapse


 
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 05:34
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I used to but not now. Jun 14, 2008

There indeed was a time when I offered 2/10 net 30 as there is in many other kinds of business. Naturally you want to be paid as soon as you can and some customers did take advantage of it and appreciated the courtesy.

These days, I use a billing company which pays me within 1 day of me submitting the invoices while granting my customers whatever terms (30,60,90 days) convenient to them. Of course, the billing company takes 5% so I in turn raised my rates accordingly.

... See more
There indeed was a time when I offered 2/10 net 30 as there is in many other kinds of business. Naturally you want to be paid as soon as you can and some customers did take advantage of it and appreciated the courtesy.

These days, I use a billing company which pays me within 1 day of me submitting the invoices while granting my customers whatever terms (30,60,90 days) convenient to them. Of course, the billing company takes 5% so I in turn raised my rates accordingly.

So naturally, there is no longer an incentive for me to offer 2/10.
Collapse


 
Alex Eames
Alex Eames
Local time: 04:34
English to Polish
+ ...
Tried it to no effect Jun 19, 2008

Several years ago we did an experiment. We offered 2% discount on any invoice paid within 7 days.

Guess what?

Not one client took us up on it. So after a while we dropped the offer.

Conclusion? Clients generally prefer to pay as late as possible, even if offered incentives to pay earlier. People often get stirred up about payment times. It's something we've always been really laid back about (perhaps even a bit too much)....
See more
Several years ago we did an experiment. We offered 2% discount on any invoice paid within 7 days.

Guess what?

Not one client took us up on it. So after a while we dropped the offer.

Conclusion? Clients generally prefer to pay as late as possible, even if offered incentives to pay earlier. People often get stirred up about payment times. It's something we've always been really laid back about (perhaps even a bit too much).


Alex Eames
http://www.translatortips.com/
helping translators do better business
Collapse


 
Joy Xu
Joy Xu
Local time: 12:34
English to Chinese
+ ...
I won't do that Jun 20, 2008

It doesn't make sense that translators should get less payment because clients can pay them earlier. The amount of work doesn't change at all.

 
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 05:34
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
It is a matter of liquidity Jun 20, 2008

Joy Xu wrote:

It doesn't make sense that translators should get less payment because clients can pay them earlier. The amount of work doesn't change at all.


You are totally correct. The amount of work is the same.

The reason behind offering a small discount was an attempt to increase the translator's own liquidity. It may be in the translator's interest to have 98% of the money in 10 days rather than needing to wait 30-60 days or more to get just a little more. Therefore the discount is wholly in the interest of the translator, not the client.

If a translator does not feel that he benefits from offering a discount, then by no means should he offer one.


 
Haluk Levent Aka (X)
Haluk Levent Aka (X)
Local time: 07:34
Japanese to Turkish
+ ...
Early Payment Discount is a good idea Jun 25, 2008

Especially when more and more agencies approach freelancers as means of AP financing...

"I accept the payment term of 60 days after the end of month of the invoice…"
Hell sure. What else do you want? Do you want long-term business loan? Maybe I can chip in for your auto loan? How about I pay for your children’s college tuition? 3rd grader? No problem, I’LL WAIT…


 
Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4]


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Early payment discount







Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »