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  3. Business/Commerce (general)

ristournes arrieres

English translation: oustanding rebates (discounts)

11:58 May 20, 2005
French to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general)
French term or phrase: ristournes arrieres
I've never done this before so I am not quite sure of the protocol. I have several French terms that I understand but don't have a clue how to translate. They all come from a business document I am translating. Any help would be welcome. Thankyou.
nicholas josephs
France
Local time: 14:13
English translation:oustanding rebates (discounts)
Explanation:
I believe this is it.

Oxford Business French Dictionary

Mike :)
Selected response from:

Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
Local time: 08:13
Grading comment
Thankyou for this reply. Although Christopopher's reply was extremely thorough I chose this reply as the company whose translation I was doing are involved in this practice and I wanted to avoid any implication of shady dealing in the translation.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1oustanding rebates (discounts)
Michael Powers (PhD)
3 +2discounts given to supermarket chains by suppliers
Conor McAuley
3 +1deferred rebate / kickback / dissociated rebate / inverse rebate
Christopher RH
3 -1discounts in arrears
dholmes (X)


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
oustanding rebates (discounts)


Explanation:
I believe this is it.

Oxford Business French Dictionary

Mike :)

Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
Local time: 08:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 10
Grading comment
Thankyou for this reply. Although Christopopher's reply was extremely thorough I chose this reply as the company whose translation I was doing are involved in this practice and I wanted to avoid any implication of shady dealing in the translation.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
0 min
  -> Thank you, Vicky - Mike :)
agree  Loubna Benkirane: But I would say only rebates :)
4 mins
  -> Thank you, and I agree. It is the rebates that are oustanding, and these are simply the type of discount that is being offered. - Mike :)
disagree  df49f (X): see Connor's and Christopher's answers
2 hrs
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
discounts in arrears


Explanation:
seems likely - context missing

dholmes (X)
France
Local time: 14:13
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  df49f (X): see Connor's and Christopher's answers
2 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
discounts given to supermarket chains by suppliers


Explanation:
Very dubious practice - the big supermarket chains squeezing the last centime out of suppliers.

Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 14:13
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 135

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  df49f (X): (yes, see my note to Christopher)
2 hrs
  -> Yep, valid comments from yourself and Christopher. Retail dark arts.
agree  Christopher RH: Heh :D I was interested to see that they are blamed for high DVD prices in France too..;
3 hrs
  -> I don't buy CDs or DVDs (renting costs €1.50) any more, rip-off. There's a problem with the price of glasses too. (It may be time for a little import-export business!)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
ristournes arriere(s)
deferred rebate / kickback / dissociated rebate / inverse rebate


Explanation:
I think the main problem is the actual meaning is variable in French.

The standard definition is given here: http://www.digitalairways.com/tbf/Lettres/2.rtf
"ristournes arrière: des rétrocessions financières de la part des industriels en fonction des quantités vendues, en fin d'exercice ou à des dates prédéterminées"

This is therefore a deferred rebate based on total sales made. It is viewed by many as being equivalent to a kickback (i.e. a bribe for choosing a given supplier).

It can also be made conditional, or somehow dissociated from the original sale.
Eg French Competition Council decision concerning Texas Instruments: http://www.finances.gouv.fr/DGCCRF/boccrf/03_16/a0160030.htm
Since, under French law, a shop can't sell at less than cost price (it is illegal), Texas Instruments charged a high unit price for the product, then organised a system of "ristournes arrières" which were dissociated from the sales and so couldn't go to reduce the unit cost price. The distributor was therefore obliged to maintain an artificially high retail price.

And finally, it appears to be used at times to refer to a form of commission paid in the form of a rebate... an inverse rebate of sorts.


Christopher RH
Local time: 14:13
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  df49f (X): pratique habituelle en France, aussi appelé "marges arrières" dans la grande distribution - intraduisible autre que litéralement ("back-margins" is used by English financial analysts when describing this French practice)//or euphemism "commercial rebates"
1 hr
  -> Thanks - and great info there. I was very surprised that no dictionary seems to include the phrase. Not even my (recent) Robert 1 // You might like to make this a level-5 answer in its own right. The question deserves a good glossary entry.
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