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Translation - art & business » Money matters »
Rate-setting question for agency staff/outsourcers
Thread poster: Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 10:18
English to Polish
+ ...
May 16, 2013

Thank you for sparing me a moment of your time. I'm wondering if there are any approximate, intuitive guidelines for setting rates between the agency and the translator in reference to the agency's standard posted fees for its end clients? And yes, I know some agencies put stress on the mark-up while others on the turnover, so this is a bit hard to assess. Basically, I'm looking for some kind of Aristotelian golden middle where both are earning and both are reasonably happy, with minimum tension... See more
Thank you for sparing me a moment of your time. I'm wondering if there are any approximate, intuitive guidelines for setting rates between the agency and the translator in reference to the agency's standard posted fees for its end clients? And yes, I know some agencies put stress on the mark-up while others on the turnover, so this is a bit hard to assess. Basically, I'm looking for some kind of Aristotelian golden middle where both are earning and both are reasonably happy, with minimum tension in the relationship.

Bonus question: I believe that an agency should pass urgency bonuses to the translator and CAT discounts to the client unless those are the only areas where the agency gets any decent mark-up (which is sometimes the case, and it's obviously different then), and I feel bad about our relationship when the opposite is true. I'm also somewhat partial to the idea of my rates varying in accordance with how the agency's negotiations go with the end client, which sometimes results in: "I'll take X but please try to negotiate Y if possible." This is something I sometimes mention when I sense I can be somewhat open with the agency worker. From an agency's point of view, how should a translator communicate this without appearing to intrude on the agency's internal ground? ▲ Collapse
 


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Rate-setting question for agency staff/outsourcers


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