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I'm starting out. How much can I charge?
Thread poster: Tiago Moita (X)
Charlie Bavington
Charlie Bavington  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:52
French to English
Charge the same but (perhaps) earn less May 21, 2013

Not unrelated to the direction Edward and Texte were moving in.
If you are producing the goods, as it were, charge the rate the market will bear for those goods.

How much of what you charge is entirely yours to keep depends on your productivity and quality - explained in more detail here: http://cbavington.com/blog/2011/06/28/article-beginners-rates/
... See more
Not unrelated to the direction Edward and Texte were moving in.
If you are producing the goods, as it were, charge the rate the market will bear for those goods.

How much of what you charge is entirely yours to keep depends on your productivity and quality - explained in more detail here: http://cbavington.com/blog/2011/06/28/article-beginners-rates/

I have to say that the older and uglier I get, the less impressed I am with the pricing approach of "work out what you need to live on and add a bit". Instead, I recommend working out what "the market" (bearing in mind it is highly fragmented and covers the entire gamut of standards) is prepared to pay for your quality of output and level of service. If that's enough for your standard of living - hurrah.
(Course, that's not quite so easy as the "costs plus a bit" approach!) ▲ Collapse
 
XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:52
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Agree May 21, 2013

Charlie Bavington wrote:
I have to say that the older and uglier I get, the less impressed I am with the pricing approach of "work out what you need to live on and add a bit".

The market doesn't give two hoots what your living costs are. Your skills vis-à-vis the competition is what dictates your rates.
 
Chloe Parise (X)
Chloe Parise (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 07:52
English to French
+ ...
The right balance... May 23, 2013

Hi Tiago,

I find myself in a similar position to you - I have started working as a freelance translator in January and do sometimes find working out rates a tricky one!

The minimum rate for my language pair (English-French) is 0.08€/word, according to the Proz table. However, loads of jobs advertised (here and on other job boards) do offer a lot less than that (as some people stated, people do translate for 0.01USD/word). It is tempting to take these jobs to start wit... See more
Hi Tiago,

I find myself in a similar position to you - I have started working as a freelance translator in January and do sometimes find working out rates a tricky one!

The minimum rate for my language pair (English-French) is 0.08€/word, according to the Proz table. However, loads of jobs advertised (here and on other job boards) do offer a lot less than that (as some people stated, people do translate for 0.01USD/word). It is tempting to take these jobs to start with and build up experience - however an experienced translator once told me that taking such low-paid jobs can harm your career more than anything else: some employers can see it a lack of confidence and/or might question your ability to do the job properly. Either way, it won't play in your favour!

As other people mentioned, if you have decided to make a living out of it, you have to go for minimum acceptable rates; luckily there are people out there willing to pay a decent price for your work!

Good luck,

Chloe ▲ Collapse
 
Tiago Moita (X)
Tiago Moita (X)  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 06:52
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I'm convinced May 23, 2013

You've all convinced me! I won't charge much less than a professional translator, just a little bit.
I settled on 0.04 - 0.06 EUR per word / 15 - 19 EUR per hour, which is €0.02 less per word, and roughly €2 less per hour for standard rates.

Many thanks to everybody who replied!
 
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I'm starting out. How much can I charge?







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