I'm sure everyone knows the situation well: your client asks for quote, you give one, then the invoice time approaches, or the PO comes when you're half-done, and it turns out that the client was thinking that spaces don't count. And you thought they do, and paragraph marks too. Of course, nobody is trying to rip anyone off, it is just a misundestanding, but now the argument goes on and on...
Moreover, many questions asked on this board concern rates, counts and related subjects...... See more I'm sure everyone knows the situation well: your client asks for quote, you give one, then the invoice time approaches, or the PO comes when you're half-done, and it turns out that the client was thinking that spaces don't count. And you thought they do, and paragraph marks too. Of course, nobody is trying to rip anyone off, it is just a misundestanding, but now the argument goes on and on...
Moreover, many questions asked on this board concern rates, counts and related subjects...
Therefore I thought it might be nice to draw up a standard, a document which would enumerate every possible option and more, so that you can point to the link and say - "my quote is this and that, according to the Unofficial Rate Standard no.1". Or the agency might specify the standard in their offer.
The rates might be divided into groups, e.g. translation into Word, PowerPoint etc., then Trados, ttx and other TM documents, DTP programs etc. Or there might be percentage mark-ups for delivering TM files, advanced editing, and other options.
I imagine the standards might be first drafted and then voted by ProZ members. Of course, every solution will have supporters and opponents, but the latter might simply disregard the standard, or make up their own.
Keep in mind that the purpose of the standard would not be "squeeze out more money from the customer", but rather simply create a common ground for negotiations. After all, it is up to the translator to declare how much to charge for a particular job. ▲ Collapse
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