Translation - art & business » Money matters »
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Tiny jobs paid per word – demand a minimum fee. Seriously.
Thread poster: Thomas Deschington (X)
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:00
Member (2004)
English to Italian
I just ask the client... Oct 14, 2021

how viable would be for their business to work without making any profit... actually losing money.
 
Inga Petkelyte
Inga Petkelyte  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:00
Lithuanian to Portuguese
+ ...
Always Oct 14, 2021

I also have found out, a long time ago already, that there are jobs requiring more time around them than for doing hem. Well, one must not value their time at all to be willing to accept such jobs at per word rate.
Yet I was most surprised by an agency, my long-term client, with this: "Minimum fee??.. But we have already made calculations and told the client it's 6,++ Euros."
I don't remember the figure of cents here; it stroke me that an agency sells something at all for such prices... See more
I also have found out, a long time ago already, that there are jobs requiring more time around them than for doing hem. Well, one must not value their time at all to be willing to accept such jobs at per word rate.
Yet I was most surprised by an agency, my long-term client, with this: "Minimum fee??.. But we have already made calculations and told the client it's 6,++ Euros."
I don't remember the figure of cents here; it stroke me that an agency sells something at all for such prices. Let's see: if 6 Euros includes my/translator cost, what is the price of a labour hour in that agency? ▲ Collapse
 
Abba Storgen (X)
Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 09:00
Greek to English
+ ...
The other ones are the problem Oct 14, 2021

The 10 words here and there you can send them the translation in the body of an email right away and charge nothing (I'm assuming they are frequent customers).
The worst are not those. The worst are about 50-200 words, buried in an older 5,000 word project, in the form of changes or additional text, and priced per word.
PMs are not aware that translators pay taxes etc. They know very well that their local plumber has a minimum just for the visit of $70 (which is always charged, regar... See more
The 10 words here and there you can send them the translation in the body of an email right away and charge nothing (I'm assuming they are frequent customers).
The worst are not those. The worst are about 50-200 words, buried in an older 5,000 word project, in the form of changes or additional text, and priced per word.
PMs are not aware that translators pay taxes etc. They know very well that their local plumber has a minimum just for the visit of $70 (which is always charged, regardless of the total bill, as a surcharge), but the translator is considered a remote robot at no cost. No electricity cost, no equipment cost, nothing of that sort.
It's an over-supply of translators which will become worse as "working from home" intensifies. Then it will start pulling back, but it'll be too late. ▲ Collapse


Adieu
Thomas Deschington (X)
Matthias Brombach
Robert Forstag
 
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Tiny jobs paid per word – demand a minimum fee. Seriously.







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