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0.03 rush rate + over 100 great BlueBoard reviews??? Thread poster: Jeff Whittaker
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Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 04:49
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Today I was contacted by an agency via Proz who had a rush project and was offering 0.03 euros per word.
I told them they would have to multiply their rates x 4 before I would even consider any project.
I checked the BlueBoard entry expecting to find a disaster and instead I found 103 ratings - all 5s and glowing reviews from translators. Not a single negative review and nothing mentioned about rates. In fact, reading most of the reviews, you would think they would gl... See more Today I was contacted by an agency via Proz who had a rush project and was offering 0.03 euros per word.
I told them they would have to multiply their rates x 4 before I would even consider any project.
I checked the BlueBoard entry expecting to find a disaster and instead I found 103 ratings - all 5s and glowing reviews from translators. Not a single negative review and nothing mentioned about rates. In fact, reading most of the reviews, you would think they would gladly cut off their left arm just to get another translation project from this company.
The email was very amateurish (misspelled words, "i" written with a small letter), etc.
Something has to be amiss here, 0.05 is a joke, but at 0.03 (including PayPal fees and taxes), I'd be better off selling newspapers on the street corner.
I guess it depends on where you live and your country's social welfare programs because at 0.03 a word, you are better off collecting free rent, utilities, food etc. from the government. Even if you worked your fingers to the bone every single day, you will still be at poverty level and with no savings or retirement either.
[Edited at 2015-04-06 13:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:49
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
Something has to be amiss here
Indeed. I think I know what it is.
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| Last week I got an even lower offer | Apr 6, 2015 |
EUR 0,015!!!
But we should remember there are some countries where these figures are reasonable...
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 04:49
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
it should be remembered that some countries have the mindset "it's logical to charge as much as you possibly can; to charge any less doesn't make sense and would be completely stupid", while other countries seem to have the mindset "only charge what you absolutely need in order to remain alive for this week and don't even think about trying to elevate your economic status or current living situation".
Still, it's hard to understand why someone in that situation wouldn't have higher ... See more it should be remembered that some countries have the mindset "it's logical to charge as much as you possibly can; to charge any less doesn't make sense and would be completely stupid", while other countries seem to have the mindset "only charge what you absolutely need in order to remain alive for this week and don't even think about trying to elevate your economic status or current living situation".
Still, it's hard to understand why someone in that situation wouldn't have higher aspirations or why a company in India would even bother contacting someone in the U.S. for those rates.
It makes you wonder what translators and interpreters in India, China, etc. were earning pre-Internet when they could only work locally.
mónica alfonso wrote:
EUR 0,015!!!
But we should remember there are some countries where these figures are reasonable...
[Edited at 2015-04-06 13:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Diana Obermeyer
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:49
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
| Entitlement culture? | Apr 6, 2015 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I guess it depends on where you live and your country's social welfare programs because at 0.03 a word, you are better off collecting free rent, utilities, food etc. from the government. Even if you worked your fingers to the bone every single day, you will still be at poverty level and with no savings or retirement either.
[Edited at 2015-04-06 13:04 GMT]
That's actually my standard reply to these "offers":
"I'm really sorry, but I don't work for less than the social security benefits in my country."
To be fair though, the total welfare package with all benefits and discounts equates roughly to a 40-hour week at 0.035/word, so it's not that much less than signing on
May we not forget, however, that those who collect free rent, etc. and earn some pocket money on top also exist...
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| Great Blueboard reviews now seem to mean | Apr 6, 2015 |
1. They gave me work
2. They paid for the work
In any case, if someone accepts a job at a low rate, it makes no sense to turn around afterwards and complain about/criticize the rate that was knowingly accepted. Saying no to low rates does however remain a viable option.
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 04:49
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | True except... | Apr 6, 2015 |
some of them also write things like "I would gladly accept ANY projects from this terrific company", "Working for this company has been my best experience".... really??
I don't get it. Even if I were absolutely DESPERATE for money, accepting a 0.03 job (or even double that) from a country on the other side of the world would not even be an option to consider.
writeaway wrote:
1. They gave me work
2. They paid for the work
In any case, if someone accepts a job at a low rate, it makes no sense to turn around afterwards and complain about/criticize the rate that was knowingly accepted. Saying no to low rates does however remain a viable option.
[Edited at 2015-04-06 13:55 GMT]
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| I always take "rave BB reviews" with a grain of salt | Apr 6, 2015 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote: some of them also write things like "I would gladly accept ANY projects from this terrific company", "Working for this company has been my best experience".... really?? writeaway wrote:
1. They gave me work
2. They paid for the work
In any case, if someone accepts a job at a low rate, it makes no sense to turn around afterwards and complain about/criticize the rate that was knowingly accepted. Saying no to low rates does however remain a viable option.
[Edited at 2015-04-06 13:46 GMT]
I always think that OTT raves are there in the hopes of getting more work. Plus, some people figure that lots of work at a low rate is better than no work at all and as Dianaft suggests, there are people who translate to earn pin money, to top up their pensions, welfare benefits etc. Not everyone on Proz actually has to rely just on their translation income.
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sans22 (X)
Sweden
Local time: 10:49
| My standard response | Apr 6, 2015 |
My standard response is you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
I've had several of these sorts of offers of late and each time I tell them what my rate is and how I would never work for such an insulting rate. Obviously someone out there is prepared to do so otherwise this company wouldn't have such glowing blue board comments.
All I can say is I know my worth and am not prepared to work for less than I am worth.
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| This just means | Apr 6, 2015 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
...I found 103 ratings
this just means that they have difficulties in finding translators.
My best clients even don't figure in this BlueBoard.
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| Not reasonable anywhere | Apr 6, 2015 |
mónica alfonso wrote:
EUR 0,015!!!
But we should remember there are some countries where these figures are reasonable...
Charging such an amount is not reasonable anywhere. Neither are 0.03 nor 0.05/word.
And literally hundreds of glowing reviews for an agency proposing such rates shows where the problem lies.
[Edited at 2015-04-06 15:37 GMT]
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Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 02:49
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam | Fabricated 5s? | Apr 6, 2015 |
I don't see how it would be so hard for an agency to fabricate a lot of "5" ratings just to look good. I would suspect that Proz would not have much if any control over that.
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| Not reasonable anywhere? | Apr 6, 2015 |
Bernhard Sulzer wrote: mónica alfonso wrote:
EUR 0,015!!!
But we should remember there are some countries where these figures are reasonable... Charging such an amount is not reasonable anywhere. Neither are 0.03 nor 0.05/word. And literally hundreds of glowing reviews for an agency proposing such rates shows where the problem lies. [Edited at 2015-04-06 15:37 GMT]
I am sure that you can make the net average monthly salary in quite a few countries in Southern and Eastern Europe if you work full-time and charge EUR 0.05 per word. Have a look at the map in the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage
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Also interesting is a map of living costs like this one:
http://www.movehub.com/blog/living-costs-world-map
If you live in India or China, you should be able to make quite a comfortable living out of translating full-time for $0.05 per word. Seen from the agency's point of view, why would they care if the translator lives a place with twice as high living costs as lon... See more Also interesting is a map of living costs like this one:
http://www.movehub.com/blog/living-costs-world-map
If you live in India or China, you should be able to make quite a comfortable living out of translating full-time for $0.05 per word. Seen from the agency's point of view, why would they care if the translator lives a place with twice as high living costs as long as they get the quality they want? Another question is: do they get the quality they want for these rates and from such countries? I've seen some terrible garbage suggesting machine translation when someone has asked me to tell them if a translation is acceptable, and then they just have to spend more money on editing/proofreading if their client won't accept garbage. ▲ Collapse
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| Nothing surprises me anymore! | Apr 6, 2015 |
I have just seen a translation job EN-PT for 0.009 EUR to 0.018 EUR per word and so far it has received 33 answers...
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