| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Flat rate or rate range/tiered rates? Thread poster: Tom Stevens
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Tom Stevens
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:10
Chinese to English
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I usually quote a standard flat rate for agencies.
However, I find this encourages some new agencies I work for to take advantage and send the most complex PDF texts my way which take up to 40% longer.
So I'm thinking of moving to a rate range for new agencies, possibly quoting a rate range per topic or document type, or even a higher rate for shorter texts and a "volume discount" down to my standard rate.
I fear this might be an overly complex pricing mo... See more I usually quote a standard flat rate for agencies.
However, I find this encourages some new agencies I work for to take advantage and send the most complex PDF texts my way which take up to 40% longer.
So I'm thinking of moving to a rate range for new agencies, possibly quoting a rate range per topic or document type, or even a higher rate for shorter texts and a "volume discount" down to my standard rate.
I fear this might be an overly complex pricing model and might scare off agencies who want one rate in their system, or those that consider it a hassle to get a quote from a translator for every potential project instead of just checking availability.
I must say I generally avoid large agencies, and work more with small to medium boutique agencies who I find much more flexible.
What strategies have you tried? Any tips on what has worked and what hasn't in terms of flat rate vs rate ranges/tiered pricing? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 21:10
German to English
| Keep it simple | Mar 7, 2019 |
I fear this might be an overly complex pricing model and might scare off agencies who want one rate in their system, or those that consider it a hassle to get a quote from a translator for every potential project instead of just checking availability.
I must say I generally avoid large agencies, and work more with small to medium boutique agencies who I find much more flexible.
I've avoided large agencies and have done quite well (although some of the initially medium-sized agencies have grown a bit over the years).
In my experience, recruiters/project managers aren't the most sophisticated business folk. The trick is to find a pricing strategy that will get you a decent rate while attracting customers. The less confusion you sow, the better.
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 03:10
Czech to French
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| It will be mainly complicated for you | Mar 7, 2019 |
...and may lead to discussions about what is or isn't complicated, technical… I used to have first a system of extra charges for speed, technicality etc., then one of bulk discounts. I abandoned both.
| | | | Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 03:10
English to German
| Customized flat rate? | Mar 7, 2019 |
With any client (agency or otherwise), I first ask for a few representative text samples and then quote one rate based on those. Then I track effort and pay to make sure it's fine on average: Every client has easier and more difficult texts, and my goal is finding a rate that works in the long run.
One exception I have is an agency that sends me work for several different end clients, and I did have to set rather different rates for those. But that evolved over time, and it's still ... See more With any client (agency or otherwise), I first ask for a few representative text samples and then quote one rate based on those. Then I track effort and pay to make sure it's fine on average: Every client has easier and more difficult texts, and my goal is finding a rate that works in the long run.
One exception I have is an agency that sends me work for several different end clients, and I did have to set rather different rates for those. But that evolved over time, and it's still quite simple, as the agency manages different end clients separately anyway.
Even if you work directly with one single end client, they might send a website text today, a job advert tomorrow and three white papers next week, and maybe even those white papers are of very different complexity or style. So all we can really do is work with averages. (Unless we want to bill by the hour, and that is not something I would want to do, because tracking my activities is almost impossible.) ▲ Collapse
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| "quote quotes" | Mar 7, 2019 |
My quotes for individual projects are based on a minimum rate as guideline, but everything involved is taken into consideration. I quote a fee for the project, not a rate for the project. This would solve your problem of being sent files that require more work because of their nature. Translation involves more than "number of words", but rather, what needs to be done with those words.
| | | | | Keep it simple | Mar 7, 2019 |
Individual quotes are fine for real customers, but agencies haven't got the time or brainpower to deal with anything beyond a flat rate, not even that for the most part.
You have two options:
1. Work out an average rate where you win some, you lose some, but overall you're sorted
2. Work out a rate for the hardest jobs and then charge that for everything
I favour option 2.
| | | | | Flat rate + hourly rate | Mar 7, 2019 |
For some agencies I do the following: I have an agreed flat rate, and then an agreed hourly rate in case a particular project requires more time (due to the format, the complexity of the text or other tasks involved). So for those hardest jobs I apply both, flat rate + hourly rate (only for the "extra time").
| | | | | I charge what I can get - but go for the customised flat rate | Mar 7, 2019 |
I charge my highest rate to an agency that only sends medical work. In fact they usually pay the full word count, without Trados discounts, and it is usually hard work!
However, when they sent a batch of fairly easy information leaflets about minor issues in pregnancy, with large sections that were more or less identical, I gave them a good discount anyway.
Some agencies are more demanding than others - I try to work out an average for the mixture of work each one sends. It ca... See more I charge my highest rate to an agency that only sends medical work. In fact they usually pay the full word count, without Trados discounts, and it is usually hard work!
However, when they sent a batch of fairly easy information leaflets about minor issues in pregnancy, with large sections that were more or less identical, I gave them a good discount anyway.
Some agencies are more demanding than others - I try to work out an average for the mixture of work each one sends. It can be quite difficult, as I am a generalist and take on a wide range of texts.
I have three rates and an hourly rate with one agency - one end client shoves all its terminology into Multiterm, and sends small, easy jobs, so they only pay a basic rate. One end client is a non-profit organisation, so the agency and I agreed on a slight discount for them. (Their translations range from museum opening hours and standard restaurant menus to information to the public and serious academic papers about the research they carry out, in short from easy to highly demanding...)
And then I have a flat rate for all the other jobs I do for that agency, where I definitely earn well on some, while others are barely worth my time, except to keep a good client happy.
My rates tend to be lower for the clients I have worked for longest… but they all pay!
Flat rates are practical, or perhaps a necessary evil, but we should never lose sight of the fact that each translation is in fact tailored more or less to a unique situation. Translations are not like groceries that you can sell for a fixed price per kilo, even though agencies like to pretend they are. ▲ Collapse
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Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 18:10
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| Variable rate | Mar 7, 2019 |
I ask to see the document before quoting a rate.
| | | | | agencies (Chris) | Mar 7, 2019 |
Chris S wrote:
Individual quotes are fine for real customers, but agencies haven't got the time or brainpower to deal with anything beyond a flat rate, not even that for the most part.
All my clients, including agencies, receive individual quotes. There is no time consumption on their part. It goes like this:
agency: What is your fee and turnaround time for this translation?
me: My fee is XXX, turnaround YYY.
agency: Let us check with our client before giving you a go ahead.
(later)
agency: Please go ahead.
This is typical of all my transactions. Actually the only person spending extra time is myself, for examining the text, figuring out what is involved, and coming up with the fee.
My world.
[Edited at 2019-03-07 21:37 GMT]
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Maxi Schwarz wrote:
All my clients, including agencies, receive individual quotes. There is no time consumption on their part.
That’s a good world to be in and not dissimilar to mine, but we’re well established and I think that makes a big difference.
Even then, most agencies won’t really want to wait for translator after translator to produce a quote that suits their budget when they can have all the prices in front of them at the start.
| | | | AndersonT (X)
United States
Local time: 21:10
German to English
| Tiered rates are a must ... for various reasons ... | Mar 7, 2019 |
Let me say first, I perfectly understand the hassle and frustrations associated with maintaining complex rate structures and individual quotes.
However, in terms of simple economics, it is vital that we have them. Let's just turn it around for a moment. Do you think that any agency worth its salt will charge their end-clients the same price for a highly complex and technical text consisting of a demanding file format, that they would charge for some rather simple just-for-informatio... See more Let me say first, I perfectly understand the hassle and frustrations associated with maintaining complex rate structures and individual quotes.
However, in terms of simple economics, it is vital that we have them. Let's just turn it around for a moment. Do you think that any agency worth its salt will charge their end-clients the same price for a highly complex and technical text consisting of a demanding file format, that they would charge for some rather simple just-for-information business letter on a *.docx?
No, of course not. At least not if they want to survive the market for more than a year or two.
This prevalence of agencies always asking "what's your best rate?" is, in my humble opinion, not really the fault of agencies, but it's our fault, the translators'.
In any other industry out there, even the apprentices would laugh if one were to suggest to sell the top-of-the-line labor-intensive product for the exact same price as the run-off-the-mill automated basic product. The idea defies even the most basic tenets of business economics. Or to be even more blatant, will your car dealership give you the top model for the same price as some entry-level starter car? Of course not.
The problem is, especially when you start out in this industry, to identify what your true core specializations are, and which ones do indeed warrant higher rates. Case in point, many junior project managers at agencies cannot quite grasp why a mechanical maintenance manual for some machine is usually much less demanding to translate than the patents describing that very machine. The whole thing gets complicated even more by the fact that, for example, some patent lawyer with decades of experience whom has now decided to become a translator will likely find the patent easier to translate than the maintenance manual.
We as translators can be a sloppy bunch where business administration is concerned. It is perfectly common for some smaller agencies to throw badly scanned PDF files at us, to then expect perfect reproductions of the actual originating document. All for the price of a couple hundred translated words. And please add a clean TM while you're at it. Who hasn't spent endless unpaid hours just to get a document ready to be translated at all? How can they value our work properly, if we have so little respect for it ourselves? Why are we so content with throwing around hours spent working ... for free?
Some in this thread said "keep it simple," and I do very much agree. A clear-cut rate structure is absolutely vital. Don't get too elaborate. Three price levels like easy, moderate and difficult are more than enough. Once that is established, think about which areas of your specializations are more demanding than others. It should come naturally just by looking at the text. In my personal case, for example, I don't mind doing a simple correspondence for € 0.08 or 0.09, but I will never touch a document whose content could harm life or limb of people for less than € 0.12 simply because I need to take more time to be extra-careful (and yes, technically speaking we should always and in any circumstance have the same level of attention to detail, but lets be realistic here. The QA procedures for manufacturing pillow casings aren't the same as the QA procedures for building an aircraft either).
In my personal opinion, this prevalence of being content with 1-rate-for-1-word, no matter what, contributes to many ills we face in this industry. Some types of text simply demand more attention to detail and more preparatory work than others. It is absolutely debilitating to our morale, work ethic and even awareness, if all labor is treated as if it were the same. Today I earn € 300 before lunch and with a smile, tomorrow's € 300 keep me up all night and make me wish I had never taken this job. Imho, this leads to many translators a) resenting their own work, and b) to arbitrarily take on whatever comes their way, even if they shouldn't. Hey, if it's all paid the same, what's the difference? ▲ Collapse
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Christine Andersen wrote:
I charge my highest rate to an agency that only sends medical work. In fact they usually pay the full word count, without Trados discounts, and it is usually hard work!
However, when they sent a batch of fairly easy information leaflets about minor issues in pregnancy, with large sections that were more or less identical, I gave them a good discount anyway.
This is what I do: charge a high rate as default and then, if the job turns out to be unexpectedly easy, offer a discount.
I've never had a client complain about this policy.
| | | | | Not understanding (Chris again :) ) | Mar 10, 2019 |
Chris S wrote: Maxi Schwarz wrote:
All my clients, including agencies, receive individual quotes. There is no time consumption on their part. That’s a good world to be in and not dissimilar to mine, but we’re well established and I think that makes a big difference. Even then, most agencies won’t really want to wait for translator after translator to produce a quote that suits their budget when they can have all the prices in front of them at the start.
I quoted my fee even when I was brand new. I don't understand the "wait for translator after translator" part, or even the "wait" part. My agency clients contact me, ask me fee, and often the go ahead is immediate or within half an hour. There is no "translator after translator" either. Thinking about the "translator after translator" -- That would mean the agency is picking translators by fee, and they also don't know these translators - so they are entrusting work to strangers (every time?). How reliable can that be?
"Budget" - Yes, I've had strangers contact me and then tell me my fee does not "suit their budget". That would mean they quoted before knowing the price which feels rather unprofessional. The only person who actually has a budget is the end client, because that is who, ultimately, is spending the money. The "budget" of the agency is the amount that agency has quoted - and that quote usually comes after contacting the person doing the work. That is what I know as a standard thing.
| | | | Brendan McNally
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:10
Member (Mar 2024)
French to English
+ ...
| Tarif pour moins de 15 000 mots - Tarif de 15 000 à 100 000 mots | Mar 10, 2019 |
Hi
I'm just starting out as a freelance translator, and filling in the forms with an agency for which I just completed an internship.
One of the sections asks:
1 Tarif pour moins de 15 000 mots
2 Tarif de 15 000 à 100 000 mots
3 Si minimum
For questions 1 and 3, my instinct is to go with the rates on the ProZ rates calculator for FR>EN, ie hourly rate €0.11, minimum €0.08 those. Does anyone have advice about this, or about whether to... See more Hi
I'm just starting out as a freelance translator, and filling in the forms with an agency for which I just completed an internship.
One of the sections asks:
1 Tarif pour moins de 15 000 mots
2 Tarif de 15 000 à 100 000 mots
3 Si minimum
For questions 1 and 3, my instinct is to go with the rates on the ProZ rates calculator for FR>EN, ie hourly rate €0.11, minimum €0.08 those. Does anyone have advice about this, or about whether to set a different price for the word count in question 2.
thanks
Brendan ▲ Collapse
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