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Rates: How to decide what to charge?
Thread poster: Sophia Hundt (X)
Astrid Elke Witte
Astrid Elke Witte  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:54
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
Your rate is healthy Sep 2, 2006

Sophia, in my opinion your rate is healthy. However, you keep adjusting it as you go along, for different clients. Presently you will get a feel for how much you can ask of a particular client. Then in due course you will know your average rate. However, adjusting your rate should be a continual process, all the time, partially going along with fluctuations in the market.

There is a big problem, however, with the concept of charging different prices according to the job in hand or i
... See more
Sophia, in my opinion your rate is healthy. However, you keep adjusting it as you go along, for different clients. Presently you will get a feel for how much you can ask of a particular client. Then in due course you will know your average rate. However, adjusting your rate should be a continual process, all the time, partially going along with fluctuations in the market.

There is a big problem, however, with the concept of charging different prices according to the job in hand or its level of difficulty/time consumption. The problem is called "greed". Once you have set a price for a particular client, that client will never agree to pay a penny more than that, even if they sometimes give you a job that consumes twice as much time. If you, on the other hand, drop your rate when that client gives you an easy job, the client will in future always stamp its feet for the new low rate. It is the same with translators, anyhow. If an agency gives you a job at a particular rate, you will not be pleased to take a lower rate the next time, even if the job is easier; and the agency would not dare give you too high a rate, in the event of a difficult job, for fear that you would always then ask for the high rate.

Keep battling with your rates, like all the rest of us - preferably pushing them gradually upwards in the process of gradually changing clients.

Astrid
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Marian Greenfield
Marian Greenfield  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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depends on the client Sep 2, 2006

My best translation company clients pay me different rates based on their margin on a given job, the degree of rush, and the quality'and difficulty of the original. There is often a 5-cent spread for the same client and sometimes more. A lot of this has to do with building good relationships with my clients. And if they can't pay the max on a given job, if they're a good client, I'm happy to take a little less, knowing they'll still pay the max when they can (or have to).

Sophia wro
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My best translation company clients pay me different rates based on their margin on a given job, the degree of rush, and the quality'and difficulty of the original. There is often a 5-cent spread for the same client and sometimes more. A lot of this has to do with building good relationships with my clients. And if they can't pay the max on a given job, if they're a good client, I'm happy to take a little less, knowing they'll still pay the max when they can (or have to).

Sophia wrote: "There is a big problem, however, with the concept of charging different prices according to the job in hand or its level of difficulty/time consumption. The problem is called "greed". Once you have set a price for a particular client, that client will never agree to pay a penny more than that, even if they sometimes give you a job that consumes twice as much time. If you, on the other hand, drop your rate when that client gives you an easy job, the client will in future always stamp its feet for the new low rate. It is the same with translators, anyhow. If an agency gives you a job at a particular rate, you will not be pleased to take a lower rate the next time, even if the job is easier; and the agency would not dare give you too high a rate, in the event of a difficult job, for fear that you would always then ask for the high rate."



[Edited at 2006-09-03 12:52]
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Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
She did not ask "what to charge"... Sep 3, 2006

Marian Greenfield wrote:

Hello Rosa María,

I did not answer the question that Sophia asked, which is illegal in the United States. Rather, I suggested ways she could figure out the answer for herself.

Telling someone what to charge is clearly price fixing and that may be legal in other countries, but not in the U.S.



... she asked "HOW TO DECIDE what to charge". That is why I, myself, suggested the ATA compensation survey. And this just confirms my experience: every time an ATA executive hears or reads the word "rate" they hurry to hush the topic, invoking the anti-trust law.

[Edited at 2006-09-03 01:30]


 
Steffen Walter
Steffen Walter  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:54
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
I beg to differ, Astrid Sep 3, 2006

Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
There is a big problem, however, with the concept of charging different prices according to the job in hand or its level of difficulty/time consumption. The problem is called "greed". Once you have set a price for a particular client, that client will never agree to pay a penny more than that, even if they sometimes give you a job that consumes twice as much time. If you, on the other hand, drop your rate when that client gives you an easy job, the client will in future always stamp its feet for the new low rate. It is the same with translators, anyhow. If an agency gives you a job at a particular rate, you will not be pleased to take a lower rate the next time, even if the job is easier; and the agency would not dare give you too high a rate, in the event of a difficult job, for fear that you would always then ask for the high rate.


My opinion differs from yours. I am not sure what type(s) of client(s) you were referring to here (translation companies, direct clients?) but, according to my experience, reasonable, quality-driven clients are willing to pay higher rates if jobs are more demanding. This is all a matter of project-specific negotiations that take into account the nature of the job at hand.

Steffen


 
Marc P (X)
Marc P (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:54
German to English
+ ...
Rates: How to decide what to charge? Sep 3, 2006

Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:

There is a big problem, however, with the concept of charging different prices according to the job in hand or its level of difficulty/time consumption. The problem is called "greed".


I agree that there is some resistance to charging a different rate for every job. At one time I tried to get customers to accept quotes on a per job basis, but most seemed to find it unnecessarily complicated, so I went back to fixed rates.

On the whole, though, my customers don't have a problem with differentiated pricing provided it is comprehensible and predictable, e.g. surcharges for troublesome file formats such as PDF and Powerpoint, different prices for different languages, etc. The main problem I have encountered is that some customers, particularly large agency customers, have difficulty keeping track of complex pricing. Some of them have a database of supplier data which only allows for one price, for example.

Marc


 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 22:54
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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Agencies also differentiate Sep 3, 2006

Many agencies keep online forms for direct clients, where you can specify the compexity of the job and recieve a quote accordingly.
So I generally refuse to cite fixed rates, only minimal rates.
Regards
Heinrich


 
Marian Greenfield
Marian Greenfield  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not so... Sep 3, 2006

Rosa María,

The original was question was indeed what to charge... it has since been modified to an question is that is quite legal. As I said, you gave her good advice.

As for ATA's reticence about rates... the enormous amount of money dealing with the FTC investigation cost it (if I recall correctly it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) and the consent decree it signed gives ATA good reason to shudder about rate discussions in any ATA or ATA chapter forum.<
... See more
Rosa María,

The original was question was indeed what to charge... it has since been modified to an question is that is quite legal. As I said, you gave her good advice.

As for ATA's reticence about rates... the enormous amount of money dealing with the FTC investigation cost it (if I recall correctly it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) and the consent decree it signed gives ATA good reason to shudder about rate discussions in any ATA or ATA chapter forum.

However, it is perfectly legal for each person to discuss what he or she charges and I do that frequently with colleagues and students.

Folks who are not familiar with the terms of the consent decree and the ATA policy may be more reticent than those who are fully familiar with what can and cannot be done.

While this is not an ATA forum, I would hate for any rate discussion to result in an FTC investigation of Proz, which could very well shut the site down (since it is a U.S.-based company subject to U.S. law and FTC oversight). That was why I stepped in.

Rosa Maria Duenas Rios wrote:

Marian Greenfield wrote:

Hello Rosa María,

I did not answer the question that Sophia asked, which is illegal in the United States. Rather, I suggested ways she could figure out the answer for herself.

Telling someone what to charge is clearly price fixing and that may be legal in other countries, but not in the U.S.



... she asked "HOW TO DECIDE what to charge". That is why I, myself, suggested the ATA compensation survey. And this just confirms my experience: every time an ATA executive hears or reads the word "rate" they hurry to hush the topic, invoking the anti-trust law.

[Edited at 2006-09-03 01:30]
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Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
Thanks Marian! Sep 3, 2006

I find the following explanation more complete; it has a nuance that we not normally get to read or hear:

Marian Greenfield wrote:

As for ATA's reticence about rates... the enormous amount of money dealing with the FTC investigation cost it (if I recall correctly it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) and the consent decree it signed gives ATA good reason to shudder about rate discussions in any ATA or ATA chapter forum.

However, it is perfectly legal for each person to discuss what he or she charges and I do that frequently with colleagues and students.

Folks who are not familiar with the terms of the consent decree and the ATA policy may be more reticent than those who are fully familiar with what can and cannot be done.



[Edited at 2006-09-03 16:47]


 
Marian Greenfield
Marian Greenfield  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:54
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I forgot to mention AIIC..... Sep 3, 2006

And by the way, while ATA was never found to have done anything wrong (the investigation was instigated by anonymous complaint about ATA publishing State Department rates) but signed a consent decree so as to stop running up legal bills, if I remember the details correctly, in a later case, AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) actually had to admit to price fixing (it had recommended or required rates, I don't remember which) and had to pay huge amounts of money in a settl... See more
And by the way, while ATA was never found to have done anything wrong (the investigation was instigated by anonymous complaint about ATA publishing State Department rates) but signed a consent decree so as to stop running up legal bills, if I remember the details correctly, in a later case, AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) actually had to admit to price fixing (it had recommended or required rates, I don't remember which) and had to pay huge amounts of money in a settlement with the FTC.

To quote from http://www.sice.oas.org/cp_comp/english/dae2/rdeUSA.asp

"The Commission in March 1997, issued a final decision finding that the International Association of Conference Interpreters ("AIIC") and its U.S. affiliate members conspired to fix or stabilize the fees for interpretation services performed in the U.S. The final order prohibits AIIC and its U.S. affiliate members from entering into agreements that fix or suggest fees for the provision of interpretation, translation, or language services performed within the United States. The order also requires the association to amend its rules and bylaws to conform to the Commission’s order provisions and further requires the elimination of association rules regarding, among other things, fees, travel expenses, pro bono work, and commissions. International Ass’n of Conference Interpreters, Docket 9270, 5 Trade Reg. Rep. (CCH) ¶24,235."

I can't find the amount of the settlement anywhere, but it was pretty crushing....

Rosa Maria Duenas Rios wrote:

I find the following explanation more complete; it has a nuance that we not normally get to read or hear:

Marian Greenfield wrote:

As for ATA's reticence about rates... the enormous amount of money dealing with the FTC investigation cost it (if I recall correctly it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) and the consent decree it signed gives ATA good reason to shudder about rate discussions in any ATA or ATA chapter forum.

However, it is perfectly legal for each person to discuss what he or she charges and I do that frequently with colleagues and students.

Folks who are not familiar with the terms of the consent decree and the ATA policy may be more reticent than those who are fully familiar with what can and cannot be done.



[Edited at 2006-09-03 16:47]
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Pavle Perencevic
Pavle Perencevic  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 13:54
Member (2002)
Serbian to English
+ ...
Rule of thumb Sep 7, 2006

I think your rate, whatever it is, should provide a comfortable balance between feeling too miserable for charging too low and feeling too afraid you are pricing yourself out of the market.

 
Sophia Hundt (X)
Sophia Hundt (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 15:54
Russian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Obviously Sep 7, 2006

Pavle Perencevic wrote:

I think your rate, whatever it is, should provide a comfortable balance between feeling too miserable for charging too low and feeling too afraid you are pricing yourself out of the market.


Thanks for your comment, Pavle,

That's where I am at right now. What I am trying to find out is how low is too low and how high is too high.


 
Maria Itati Encinas
Maria Itati Encinas  Identity Verified
Argentina
English to Spanish
+ ...
Help with Trados rates Oct 20, 2006

Hi, I would like to know how to charge for New, Fuzzy and Repetitive words when using Trados.

Example : new : 100% , Fuzzy 80%, Repetitive 50%, but I would like to receive your opinion.

Regards,
Itati

[Edited at 2006-10-20 21:27]


 
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