What would be the minimum and average transcription rates ?
Thread poster: Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
France
Local time: 10:41
English to French
Aug 1, 2014

Hello,

I wonder what would be the minimum and average transcription rates for this type of ad?

Just to check what current transcriptors are charging on the market, in Europe particularly.

"We regularly have requirement of transcription services and hence
we are looking for French to French/English transcribers for long
term collaboration.

If interested in working with us please send us your costing per
hour of recorded audio i
... See more
Hello,

I wonder what would be the minimum and average transcription rates for this type of ad?

Just to check what current transcriptors are charging on the market, in Europe particularly.

"We regularly have requirement of transcription services and hence
we are looking for French to French/English transcribers for long
term collaboration.

If interested in working with us please send us your costing per
hour of recorded audio in USD (not per hour of your work) for the
following:

1. French to French transcription (Transcribing French
audios/videos into French text).
2. French to English transcription (Transcribing French
audios/videos directly into English text)."

I have no idea what to charge for French to French most of all.

Also, what are the PC softwares used most of the time for transcription?

Do you have any advice to give refarding transcriptions? (example: what are the pitfalls to avoide?)


Regards,
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Joseann Freyer-Lindner
Joseann Freyer-Lindner  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:41
Member (2014)
English to German
+ ...
rates for transcription including translation? Aug 1, 2014

Hello. I have the same question, only it's about German-English. Basically, a transcription German-English would be also a translation, not only a transcription, how do I charge for that? Regards, J.

 
Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
France
Local time: 10:41
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Nobody? Aug 6, 2014

"Joseann F-L": there is a similar thread to mine

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/272876-how_much_do_you_charge_for_transcription_services.html

I hope we will get an answer soon...

[Edited at 2014-08-06 12:39 GMT]


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:41
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
What more do you need from us? Aug 6, 2014

Alexandre Chetrite wrote:

"Joseann F-L": there is a similar thread to mine

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/272876-how_much_do_you_charge_for_transcription_services.html

I hope we will get an answer soon...

[Edited at 2014-08-06 12:39 GMT]

Between these two threads, and the many (hundreds, perhaps?) of others you will find if you search for them (both using the ProZ.com search function and Googling for terms in conjunction with the site name - as the search function here is not brilliant), you'll find about all the information possible on the subject. Will you discover how much you must charge for a particular transcription? No! That depends on a multitude of factors, most of which are highly variable, and which include:

- your education, experience, skill-set, marketing ability, web reputation...
- your country of residence and your client's country (both to a limited extent)
- your own aspirations in terms of income
- your language pairs (to a limited extent)
- your speed of working (which will depend to some extent on the software you use as well as experience)
- the audio quality and density of speech
- the number of speakers and how clearly they speak
- the requirements of the job (time-stamps etc take longer)
- your familiarity with the terminology used
- how desperate you are for the job.

In short
a) You charge however much it takes to earn a reasonable rate for every hour you work. For a transcription (i.e. monolingual) that's often expressed as a per audio minute rate, and translation as a per word rate, but both need to be tailored to give you an adequate per hour income. If the client doesn't want to see the transcript (i.e. just the translation), then you can save yourself a little time and the client a little money by not polishing the transcript; but you MUST charge for the two services and not let the client push you into thinking you can do it all in one go.
b) Because of the above you can't quote anything at all until you've listened to at least a good-sized sample.

Personally, I use ExpressScribe, which I find very useful as you can alter the speed without altering the audio quality and pausing/rewinding (if that's the term to use now cassettes are long gone) are very quick and easy. If I did more transcription I'd invest in a foot pedal but I haven't needed one enough so far. I know there are other products on the market.


 
Alexandre Chetrite
Alexandre Chetrite
France
Local time: 10:41
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Sheila Aug 7, 2014

Thank you Sheila for your answer. I understand your point of view.

Please allow me to give you mine:


Sometimes you don't have time to take into account all the factors/parameters of an offer (when the client wants a quick answer). Sometimes too you don't have all the information needed from the customer.Sometimes too you don't have time to listen to a 1 hour audio sample.


How do you deal with this situation? (when time is of essence)
... See more
Thank you Sheila for your answer. I understand your point of view.

Please allow me to give you mine:


Sometimes you don't have time to take into account all the factors/parameters of an offer (when the client wants a quick answer). Sometimes too you don't have all the information needed from the customer.Sometimes too you don't have time to listen to a 1 hour audio sample.


How do you deal with this situation? (when time is of essence)

Do you set a fixed transcription rate beforehand for all similar transcriptions or do you systematically analyse the offer on a case-by-case basis ?

I will check Express Scribe.

[Edited at 2014-08-07 13:34 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:41
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Good clients know our needs; bad ones are best avoided Aug 7, 2014

Alexandre Chetrite wrote:
Sometimes you don't have time to take into account all the factors/parameters of an offer (when the client wants a quick answer). Sometimes too you don't have all the information needed from the customer.Sometimes too you don't have time to listen to a 1 hour audio sample.


How do you deal with this situation? (when time is of essence)

If the client is so pressed that I can't be allowed time to make the necessary checks to minimise my business risk and ensure that I'm capable of delivering a quality product, within the deadline, while making a reasonable hourly income, then I can only suspect one of two things:
a) the client isn't managing their own business correctly - in which case I'd rather stay away from them; or
b) the client has tried to give this job to others, who have refused it, and this process has eaten into the time available - in which case it would certainly be best for me to refuse it, too.

Of course you may not be able to listen to the audio in its entirety, but you can skim through it and listen to sections at random - just a few seconds each time will serve to demonstrate whether (more or less) all of the audio is clear and OK for transcription.

Do you set a fixed transcription rate beforehand for all similar transcriptions or do you systematically analyse the offer on a case-by-case basis ?

I'd do the analysis for every case unless I'd built up a solid relationship with the client and could trust them to have checked it and/or to accept a higher rate if problems are encountered.


 
andreakaroos
andreakaroos  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 10:41
Danish to German
+ ...
Thanks a lot for this discussion!! Aug 18, 2014

Very useful information.

 
Paulette Romero
Paulette Romero  Identity Verified
Colombia
Local time: 04:41
English to Spanish
+ ...
Formula for figuring out your transcription rate Sep 12, 2014

Try this formula:

How much per hour of work do you want to make? Multiply that by four (4). Most transcription work has a ratio of 4:1 (it takes 4 minutes to transcribe every 1 minute of audio on average).

Let's pretend I want to make $35 per hour of work.

35 x 4 = $140

Divide this number by 60 for 60 minutes.

$140 / 60 = $2.33 USD

To make this number more attractive I lowered it and rounded it to $2.00 per audio mi
... See more
Try this formula:

How much per hour of work do you want to make? Multiply that by four (4). Most transcription work has a ratio of 4:1 (it takes 4 minutes to transcribe every 1 minute of audio on average).

Let's pretend I want to make $35 per hour of work.

35 x 4 = $140

Divide this number by 60 for 60 minutes.

$140 / 60 = $2.33 USD

To make this number more attractive I lowered it and rounded it to $2.00 per audio minute and that's my rate.

You should also take into account how many speakers are on the audio file, whether they are native speakers of the language and background noise plus whether the agency or client wants you to due a rush job or work nights and weekends. You should be charging a few more cents per audio minute for things like this.

Your years of experience as a transcriptionist should also come into play here. I have 11 years of transcription experience as a legal secretary in law firms plus a couple of extra years as a freelance transcriptionist. If you're very experienced, sure feel free to charge more. If you're not, you may want to charge less.

[Edited at 2014-09-12 02:04 GMT]
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Arianne Farah
Arianne Farah  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 05:41
Member (2008)
English to French
Slightly off-topic Sep 12, 2014

But in response to Paulette.

Whatever your rate or quote may be, don't round it down. I came across this data while reading Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink' almost 10 years and it has served me well over the years. Even when it's really really tempting - I've actually sent a quote for 2500.50$ once because that's just what the number ending up being based on my analysis of the document to t
... See more
But in response to Paulette.

Whatever your rate or quote may be, don't round it down. I came across this data while reading Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink' almost 10 years and it has served me well over the years. Even when it's really really tempting - I've actually sent a quote for 2500.50$ once because that's just what the number ending up being based on my analysis of the document to translate!

See :

http://www.vinh.ly/exact-numbers-how-to-look-more-informed/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/05/31/a-quick-trick-for-getting-a-big-raise/
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What would be the minimum and average transcription rates ?







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