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Word count fees
Thread poster: Christine HOUDY
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 00:36
English to Spanish
+ ...
source word Oct 4, 2006

My fees are always based on source words. This way, my client knows in advance what the cost is going to be, and so do I.

Besides, I never run into anybody asking to be charged based on target words.

I think this is common practice, at least in my language pair (Enbglish to Spanish).


 
Daniel Bird
Daniel Bird  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:36
German to English
Evolution over time Oct 4, 2006

When I started out some years ago I was accustomed to using the target word count - gradually I found more and more agencies started using the source word (or line) count, often understandably, because for straight text the agency can quote a job to the client and raise a PO at a known rate.
On those occasions when target count is required, I just multiply my source rate by 110% as this is more or less the ratio of English words to German in a text of a reasonable length. With me?
So
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When I started out some years ago I was accustomed to using the target word count - gradually I found more and more agencies started using the source word (or line) count, often understandably, because for straight text the agency can quote a job to the client and raise a PO at a known rate.
On those occasions when target count is required, I just multiply my source rate by 110% as this is more or less the ratio of English words to German in a text of a reasonable length. With me?
Sorry if this repeats anything already covered by the thread -main rule of course as you pointed out at the top is to know from the outset what basis you're working from.
Cheers
DB
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Anne Brackenborough (X)
Anne Brackenborough (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 04:36
German to English
German system Oct 4, 2006

Ara Mkrtchyan wrote:
a line can contain a word or 15 words and you have to charge the same in both cases.


Well, one line is defined as 55 characters (usually), so really you're charging per character: you count the number of characters in the translated text and divide it by 55 to find the number of lines.

Peter Linton wrote: When you go to a hairdresser, would you prefer to pay an agreed sum -- or to pay depending on how many hairs the hairdresser actually cuts?


I agree that customers would probably prefer to have a fixed sum up front. But instead of the "hair" comparison, how about a "sink" comparison? A workman comes to fix your sink and charges you for what he actually needs to fix (spare parts, time) not what he guesses he'll probably need to fix.

I usually give clients an estimate, which is often just a few cents different to the actual price. I also make sure my translation is not too wordy: usually the English target text is slightly shorter.

Of course, if the client wanted to base it on the source wordcount, I'd have no trouble with that either. It's like Alison said: make it clear up front.

[Edited at 2006-10-04 16:54]


 
Sophia Hundt (X)
Sophia Hundt (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:36
Russian to English
+ ...
Agree with Lindsay Oct 4, 2006

I've been doing exactly the same since I started doing this half a year ago.

Lindsay Sabadosa wrote:

Hi there,
I thought that everyone used the source word count. It's not really a way to cheat you (in some cases, it even works to your advantage); it's a way to know how much the project is going to cost prior to beginning so that the end client, the agency, and the translator all know what they are going to have to spend/what they are going to make. For me, the only time that isn't the case is when the text is in a PDF, JPEG, etc. file.
Best,
Lindsay


 
Paul Merriam
Paul Merriam  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:36
Russian to English
+ ...
Both work. Both are used. Oct 5, 2006

There are clients who pay by source word and others who pay by target word. Others pay by character count and others pay by standard line or standard page (the standards differing from one country to another). I see nothing wrong with charging based on any of these structures. You should be able to provide rates based on any of these structures (of course, in the case of the standard page or line, you should agree on definitions).

It is not dishonest for your clients to pay by so
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There are clients who pay by source word and others who pay by target word. Others pay by character count and others pay by standard line or standard page (the standards differing from one country to another). I see nothing wrong with charging based on any of these structures. You should be able to provide rates based on any of these structures (of course, in the case of the standard page or line, you should agree on definitions).

It is not dishonest for your clients to pay by source count. What would be dishonest would be to agree on a rate for target text and then pay you by source word count because that's smaller. You don't appear to be accusing your clients of doing that.

There is nothing wrong about asking your client whether the payment is based on source or target text before agreeing to take on work. There is also nothing wrong with charging different rates per word depending on whether the count is source or target.
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Dr. Chun Biao Li
Dr. Chun Biao Li
United States
Local time: 23:36
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Definitely agree Oct 5, 2006

Lindsay Sabadosa wrote:

Hi there,
I thought that everyone used the source word count. It's not really a way to cheat you (in some cases, it even works to your advantage); it's a way to know how much the project is going to cost prior to beginning so that the end client, the agency, and the translator all know what they are going to have to spend/what they are going to make. For me, the only time that isn't the case is when the text is in a PDF, JPEG, etc. file.
Best,
Lindsay


Definitely agree!
The word count is very different in English into/from Chinese translation, but if you count on the source word, you know how much time will be costed, so you know how much you should charge. If this case, you should have different charge standards for English into Chinese and Chinese into English. In my case, I charge more for Chinese into English translation, because it is kind of difficult for me and I must have my translation proofreaded by native English speaker, such as the English editors in BioMed Proofreading.
Best wishes,

[Edited at 2006-10-05 03:12]


 
Ara Mkrtchyan (X)
Ara Mkrtchyan (X)  Identity Verified
Armenia
Local time: 07:36
English to Armenian
+ ...
Charging for design separately Oct 5, 2006

But there's more to translating than typing! In fact, word-based pricing is a crude method: e.g. I did 30 or 40 works from a marketing leaflet and charged my usual rate, yet I spent a lot of time persusing the images and assessing word choices, which would have justified an hourly rate or double my typical word rate.


When I translated Power Point slides, for instance, I raised my rates a bit because the job involved formatting/design as well. But this was done after discussing it with the client, naturally.


Rgrds,
Ara


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 04:36
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yes and no Oct 5, 2006

Lia Fail wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
As a translator, you want to get paid for the work you do. And what better way to calculate the work you've done by counting the words you've typed, after all?

But there's more to translating than typing! In fact, word-based pricing is a crude method...


Yes, of course. But if you know of a way to calculate a rate for the "work" done which is not based on typing, let me know. For most jobs I do, the biggest influence on my translation capacity is the speed of my typing. In fact, it would be nice if I could charge for the number of keystrokes typed.


 
Marie-Hélène Hayles
Marie-Hélène Hayles  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:36
Italian to English
+ ...
character count is best, whether of source or target Oct 5, 2006

that way you get paid for everything you've typed!

Anyway, my experience with Italian agencies is that they generally use target, although one I've started working with now uses source. Personally I don't care - the important thing, as others have said, is to agree in advance and adjust your rate accordingly (I charge less per cartella for source, as English translations are always less wordy than the Italian originals).


 
Christine HOUDY
Christine HOUDY
France
Local time: 04:36
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
word count fees Oct 5, 2006

As far I am concerned when there's a post from a Translator Agency which doesn't mention source to target words: XXXX I will keep on charging the target words by using the MS Word statistic. I've always done this way and I have had no complaint from the Agencies as thet are still asking me to work for them.

Thanks for your interesting points of view and I am now aware of this is an usual practice of counting the source words to be paid...
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As far I am concerned when there's a post from a Translator Agency which doesn't mention source to target words: XXXX I will keep on charging the target words by using the MS Word statistic. I've always done this way and I have had no complaint from the Agencies as thet are still asking me to work for them.

Thanks for your interesting points of view and I am now aware of this is an usual practice of counting the source words to be paid
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