| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Specifying rates with repetition breakdown - feedback needed Thread poster: Monika Gregan/Boenisch
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I want to apply for a recurrent user guide in Health and Beauty sector ( Canadian Outsourcer )
I am supposed to send my rates with repetition breakdown rates. What would be the acceptable span within to determine these figures?
Thanks in advance for your support
Monika Gregan
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Hi Monika,
I just sent today my rates to someone and they are like these:
Repetitions and 100% matches - 30% of the rate
99%-75% - 50% of the rate
74%-No match - 100% of the rate
I hope this helps.
Best,
Cristina
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Dear Christina,
Thank you very much for your immediate reply in detail. That was really helpful.
It is not easy to get a foot in the door. All what I got so far in reply to my attempts to obtain work was a scam...."please submit within 24 hours the test translation ....:-) I'm still trying to work out how to land my first payed assignment....as a "newbee" but not a newbee at the same time (if you like)as it is my second career and I can offer over10 years of bilingual work exp... See more Dear Christina,
Thank you very much for your immediate reply in detail. That was really helpful.
It is not easy to get a foot in the door. All what I got so far in reply to my attempts to obtain work was a scam...."please submit within 24 hours the test translation ....:-) I'm still trying to work out how to land my first payed assignment....as a "newbee" but not a newbee at the same time (if you like)as it is my second career and I can offer over10 years of bilingual work experience in the background without having continual exposure to the translation industry. Since last year I have completed several CPD courses ,SDL Trados Studio 11 training Dip Trans,I just applied for MA in legal Translation....and yet no success in practical terms.Sometimes...I feel a bit demotivated....but I am dedicated to reach my goal...it is never too late to try again the saying goes....:-)
Kind regards
Monika ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 06:57
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Rates and terms | Jul 19, 2012 |
My breakdown that keeps life simple.
Repetitions and 100% matches - 100% of the rate
99%-75% - 100% of the rate
74%-No match - 100% of the rate
Minimum rate = $100.00. No job under three pages (except for regular clients).
Minimum return = no job returned in under 48 hours (except for VERY good clients).
No weekends. No holidays.
No volume discounts.
No birth certificates. No divorce documents. No school transcripts.
No gmail,... See more My breakdown that keeps life simple.
Repetitions and 100% matches - 100% of the rate
99%-75% - 100% of the rate
74%-No match - 100% of the rate
Minimum rate = $100.00. No job under three pages (except for regular clients).
Minimum return = no job returned in under 48 hours (except for VERY good clients).
No weekends. No holidays.
No volume discounts.
No birth certificates. No divorce documents. No school transcripts.
No gmail, no hotmail, no yahoo mail.
Absolutely NO tests.
No phone calls.
No editing. No proofreading (except my own work). No CAT tools. No glossaries.
Payment in advance or within no more than 15 days.
It's your business, you set the terms!
[Edited at 2012-07-19 21:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| specifying rates and subrates | Jul 19, 2012 |
Thank you very much Jeff for your consice and comprehensive answer nothing but straight to the point. I really like and much appreciate that....actually,very helpful!
Kind regards
Monika Gregan/Boenisch
| | | | | The rate for repetitions is the same as for regular translation | Jul 19, 2012 |
Professional translators who know the essence of translations don't charge any different rates for repetitions. Repetitions may only cause confusion in translation if you take them for synonyms. Everything depends on the context, and there are no repetitions in translation really. Even articles are not repetitions.
| | | | Elke Fehling
Local time: 12:57
Member (2005)
English to German
+ ...
| Everybody is different | Jul 19, 2012 |
Repetitions and 100% matches - 25% of the rate
99%-75% - 75 % of the rate
74%-No match - 100% of the rate
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 06:57
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Discounts make no sense | Jul 19, 2012 |
I cannot see any logical reason to offer any discount for repetitions or "matches".
The arbitrary per-word rate we set already takes into account that there may be repetitions or matches in any given document, so why grant a discount? You may as well grant a discount for ever instance of the word "the" or "a" or every time there is a name. How about a discount for translations done on Thursdays?
[Edited at 2012-07-19 23:07 GMT]
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Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:57
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Jeff, I don't quite follow your reasoning here.
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I cannot see any logical reason to offer any discount for repetitions or "matches".
The arbitrary per-word rate we set already takes into account that there may be repetitions or matches in any given document, so why grant a discount? You may as well grant a discount for ever instance of the word "the" or "a" or every time there is a name. How about a discount for translations done on Thursdays?
But I think that the problem might be due to the fact that you don't translate using a CAT tool.
I think that it really depends on the type of job, as well as your relationship with the client.
If you are translating a technical manual or a software-related text, in a CAT tool, and there are many 100% repetitions in the text, I think it is more than fair to offer them a discount for these types of repetitions. I mean, imagine a 20,000-word text, which consists of around 4,000 100% (or 101%) repetitions. All you have to do is click Ctrl+ Enter and you are done with the first 4,000. Of course, there might be small adjustments due to tags that need to be made, but that's why people generally charge 20-30% for them.
Michael
[Edited at 2012-07-19 23:16 GMT]
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 12:57
Danish to English
+ ...
| It's entirely your choice | Jul 20, 2012 |
I agree entirely with Jeff, that it's YOU who sell a product, so YOU determine the terms under which you are willing to provide the service of translation. It would be impossible to say what is the perfect solution or a 'reasonable' or 'best' practice when it comes to rates for repetitions / fuzzy matches.
I presume that you are using a CAT tool, as the whole idea of a charging scale is futile if you don't. Then you should go with Jeff's outline, how else would you know what fuzzy m... See more I agree entirely with Jeff, that it's YOU who sell a product, so YOU determine the terms under which you are willing to provide the service of translation. It would be impossible to say what is the perfect solution or a 'reasonable' or 'best' practice when it comes to rates for repetitions / fuzzy matches.
I presume that you are using a CAT tool, as the whole idea of a charging scale is futile if you don't. Then you should go with Jeff's outline, how else would you know what fuzzy matches there are in the texts?
If you do use a CAT tool, the next thing to consider is whether the amount of repetitions etc. in the texts you want to translate actually warrants a discount, i.e. does it speed up your work (save you time) for the job as a whole, or not? If you can do the job faster and more efficiently due to the amount of fuzzy matches, then maybe a discount is fair enough. (Some would say 'absolutely not!' because you have invested in the CAT tool and need to recover that expense, and your clients should simply be happy/grateful that you are able to provide highly consistent translations because you can draw on your TM).
It is really up to you.
My choice is to charge as follows:
Repetitions and 95-100 % matches: 25 % of my standard rate
Everything else: 100 % of my standard rate.
But I only use this rating system for agencies who operate with a sliding scale based on fuzzy matches / repetitions. End clients most often won't have a clue as to what 'fuzzy match' means. For such clients, I may, at the time of invoicing, give them some (minor) discount for 'text repetitions' or 'reuse from former translations'.
As Michael points out, some text types will always have a high degree of repetition or 'reuse', and it will be a selling point with the clients that 'you only have to pay the full price for the same translation once' etc.
But again, it's YOUR decision. Basically, you need to find out how much you need to / want to earn from your work and then set your fees accordingly. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:57
Spanish to English
+ ...
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I cannot see any logical reason to offer any discount for repetitions or "matches".
The arbitrary per-word rate we set already takes into account that there may be repetitions or matches in any given document, so why grant a discount? You may as well grant a discount for ever instance of the word "the" or "a" or every time there is a name. How about a discount for translations done on Thursdays?
[Edited at 2012-07-19 23:07 GMT]
I totally agree. The whole repetitions/matches thing to me is just a way for intermediaries (agencies) to claw away more of the translator's potential earnings for themselves. I see it as one of the more pernicious aspects of the whole approach to translation as an "industry" (see other related forum posts).
I offer a competitive basic per-word rate and to me everything else is just flim-flam, scammery and time-wasting, all designed to bamboozle and fleece.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:57
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Here's my reasoning | Jul 20, 2012 |
[quote]Michael Beijer wrote:
Jeff, I don't quite follow your reasoning here.
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I cannot see any logical reason to offer any discount for repetitions or "matches".
I want it to to be ME who decides any discounts or reductions I might allow, based on MY assessment of the job in hand, and not some intermediary chipping away at my hard earned cash, thanks very much. I will NOT be leveraged or bullied.
PS: I understand how hard it is for a newbie to break into translating and the desperation that you may feel waiting for that first paying job to come along, but I think that if you cave in to agencies' demands, you will end up kowtowing to them for the rest of your career.
My advice is to seek out direct clients, however small, and try to build up a base of direct contacts. There is definitely work out there in the English-German pair - I just think agencies are not usually the best way to get it, although not all are are as grasping and exploitative as others. The big ones are usually the worst offenders.
[Edited at 2012-07-20 09:17 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-20 09:18 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-20 10:38 GMT]
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| Yes I absolutely agree with you Nelinat | Jul 20, 2012 |
How can people, administrative personnel of agencies who have usually education in business and marketing decide what is a repetition and what is not. Agencies should actually pay more if someone uses CAT tools, because they want people to use them. It does not matter CAT tools or not: there are no real repetitions in language -- only in typing, but this doe not really count for translation purposes.
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Just a joke. I just think wrongly understood CAT tools can just cause trouble to translators, instead of helping them, although this is for what they were designed.
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