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How much can our rates be reduced?
Thread poster: sylvie29
deleted. (X)
deleted. (X)
Australia
Local time: 10:40
English to Chinese
+ ...
A union Aug 28, 2014

sylvie29 wrote:
Setup a union maybe to impose our own rates, a fair one obviously and one that goes up rather than down like the cost of everything else?

Not sure about other countries, but price fixing is illegal in Australia.

A union, if its membership is a good representation of highly skilled translators who provide only the highest standard, can be a good marketing tool and help clients to identify those translators who can be trusted with important jobs. Then its members should be able to command a higher price without resorting to price fixing.


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 14:40
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Last December I suggested raising rates as a new-year resolution Aug 28, 2014

Did anybody do so?

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/260570-new_year_resolution_raise_your_lowest_agency_rate.html

Is it time for round 2 - raise them again, or renew your efforts with your lowest-paying clients?

There are so many users of this site that if we seriously resist the bottom feed
... See more
Did anybody do so?

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/260570-new_year_resolution_raise_your_lowest_agency_rate.html

Is it time for round 2 - raise them again, or renew your efforts with your lowest-paying clients?

There are so many users of this site that if we seriously resist the bottom feeders together, it just might have some impact.

I actually dropped my lowest paying client in January, and have been really busy all year working for rates at the better end of my scale.

I am going to ask my current lowest-paying client for a pay rise now I am back from a long break!
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Riccardo Schiaffino
Riccardo Schiaffino  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:40
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
Why "ask"? Aug 28, 2014

Christine Andersen wrote:

I am going to ask my current lowest-paying client for a pay rise now I am back from a long break!


You are a freelancer, therefore it's your rate.

Instead of saying "I'm going to ask" for a pay rise", which is something appropriate for an employee to do ("...I'm going to my boss and ask for a pay rise"), it should be

"I am going to inform my current lowest-paying client that I'm increasing my rates."

Until translators realize that it is us who set the rates, and not our customers, futile questions such as "How much can our rates be reduced?" will continue to appear with depressing regularity.


 
sylvie29
sylvie29  Identity Verified
Morocco
Local time: 13:40
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
setting the rates Aug 28, 2014

Quite a few people have now answered that it is up to us, freelancers, to set the rate, one of them even added that he is bored with the subject. However we all have bills to pay and we know very well what will happen if individually, we try to impose higher rates. Maybe some language combinations are in a better bargaining position because of their rarity, but not mine. I still believe in "pay peanuts, get monkeys". But I would not go to a sollicitor or a doctor expecting them to fit in within ... See more
Quite a few people have now answered that it is up to us, freelancers, to set the rate, one of them even added that he is bored with the subject. However we all have bills to pay and we know very well what will happen if individually, we try to impose higher rates. Maybe some language combinations are in a better bargaining position because of their rarity, but not mine. I still believe in "pay peanuts, get monkeys". But I would not go to a sollicitor or a doctor expecting them to fit in within my budget so why should we, qualified and experienced translators, be even suggested the idea? So my question remains what could we do collectively that we are not achieving individually?

Thanks
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:40
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Never reduce your rates Aug 28, 2014

Without translations, it would be impossible for a company to sell into other countries where other languages are spoken. Academics and authors could never get their papers and books published in any language other than their own. Private individuals could never buy and sell property between countries where different languages are spoken. Or to take a recent case of my own, a large and technologically complex industrial building in Italy could not be sold to a foreign investor because the inves... See more
Without translations, it would be impossible for a company to sell into other countries where other languages are spoken. Academics and authors could never get their papers and books published in any language other than their own. Private individuals could never buy and sell property between countries where different languages are spoken. Or to take a recent case of my own, a large and technologically complex industrial building in Italy could not be sold to a foreign investor because the investor would not be able to understand the technical documentation describing the building.

And so on. Translation makes the world go round; we're talking about millions, billions of Euro, £, $, etc. and without us translators, this whole thing would very quickly come to a stop. The work we do is of the very greatest importance and should be paid very well.

Never reduce your rates. Always aim to increase them at every opportunity. If this means occasionally rejecting jobs, reject them. The value placed on our work is equal to how much our work costs.

"Ciò che non costa niente non vale niente" (Italian saying).

[Edited at 2014-08-29 09:24 GMT]
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Riccardo Schiaffino
Riccardo Schiaffino  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:40
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
I certainly do Aug 28, 2014

sylvie29 wrote:

...and we know very well what will happen if individually, we try to impose higher rates.
Thanks


I certainly do know what happens: customers who value our services accept our new rates, while those who don't start to look for other translators (and often come back after getting burned by unreliable or bad translators).

Losing certain customers is a beneficial side-effect of raising our rates.


[Edited at 2014-08-28 22:46 GMT]


 
Arianne Farah
Arianne Farah  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:40
Member (2008)
English to French
Average has steadily gone up Aug 29, 2014

Over the last 8 years, my average rate has gone up about 30% & my rate spread has tightened on the low side and expanded on the high side (I used to give 10-15% rate reductions to agencies who offered me large volumes; I no longer need to do this + I don't hesitate to charge extra for difficult formats/rushes that inconvenience me/very technical text).

Every year, I email my lowest paying agency and inform them that in 3 months, my rate will increase to whatever my average rate is,
... See more
Over the last 8 years, my average rate has gone up about 30% & my rate spread has tightened on the low side and expanded on the high side (I used to give 10-15% rate reductions to agencies who offered me large volumes; I no longer need to do this + I don't hesitate to charge extra for difficult formats/rushes that inconvenience me/very technical text).

Every year, I email my lowest paying agency and inform them that in 3 months, my rate will increase to whatever my average rate is, bringing them into the fold, I add that I hope to have given them enough time to recruit & train new resources should the new rate have priced me outside their budget (reminding them of the true cost of losing a good translator). After that, alea jacta est - if it's too high, I lose the client, but I never go back.

I've found that inertia helps a lot - an immediate rate hike might get you removed from a database or an 'A team' - a notice of a future rake hike means you remain where you are and then 90 days later, you start billing with the new rate, so there's less of a knee-jerk reaction from the agency/PM/vendor manager. The 3-month notice is also good manners - for all I know the agency just quoted on a project and were planning on outsourcing to me - but my rate hike has thrown a wrench in the works since they hadn't budgeted for it - so I lose a job I never even knew about and somewhere there's a PM feeling resentful towards me - all of which contribute to losing the client... over the rate hike, but not over the new rate itself.

Meanwhile I constantly approach and am approached by new agencies, and my rule of thumb is my average + 0.01 for their base rate (sometimes +0.02 or +0.03 if they're hunting for a very technical translator or if they use their own online CAT tool - urgh hate those in-house tools!). I'd say maybe 1 in 100 contacts becomes a new client, so I usually initiate or respond to initial contact with a template email (I know, I know) but it helps separate the wheat from the chaff.

What I've noticed reading through the thread is an aura of passivity - I actively manage my business, both for rates and for client expectations, and I believe it's been one of the keys to my success (of course, I'm good at what I do, but how far does that go if you can't sell yourself well enough for others to recognize your value).

[Edited at 2014-08-29 03:30 GMT]
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Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 14:40
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Raise rates in waves Aug 29, 2014

sylvie29 wrote:
...
So my question remains what could we do collectively that we are not achieving individually?

Thanks


Decide at particular times of the year to raise rates - Translators' Day on September 30 is coming up, for instance. Suggest it to colleagues, but don't form illegal groups or syndicates!

Tell clients what average rates are and ask why they have only budgeted for 50 - 60% of the rates others are accepting. Ask why you should accept less.

Look at the community rates for your languages and others
http://search.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates

Use all criteria you can think of to market yourself and get the focus away from price - specialist area, references, what clients get for their money and what you do that Google Translate doesn't.
Tell people on your profile, website and everywhere what qualifications you have, what services you offer, explain why you use a CAT if you do, or how you get your results....

Anyone can say 'I'm cheap', and if that is all clients want, then forget them and go for the ones who want more.
We are all drops in the ocean, but the ocean is made up of drops...


 
sylvie29
sylvie29  Identity Verified
Morocco
Local time: 13:40
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
drops make the ocean Aug 29, 2014

Christine Andersen wrote:

sylvie29 wrote:
...
So my question remains what could we do collectively that we are not achieving individually?

Thanks


Decide at particular times of the year to raise rates - Translators' Day on September 30 is coming up, for instance. Suggest it to colleagues, but don't form illegal groups or syndicates!

Tell clients what average rates are and ask why they have only budgeted for 50 - 60% of the rates others are accepting. Ask why you should accept less.

Look at the community rates for your languages and others
http://search.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates

Use all criteria you can think of to market yourself and get the focus away from price - specialist area, references, what clients get for their money and what you do that Google Translate doesn't.
Tell people on your profile, website and everywhere what qualifications you have, what services you offer, explain why you use a CAT if you do, or how you get your results....

Anyone can say 'I'm cheap', and if that is all clients want, then forget them and go for the ones who want more.
We are all drops in the ocean, but the ocean is made up of drops...


This is why I believe that collectively, professional and qualified translators, with the necessary experience should have some weight!


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 21:40
Chinese to English
Yep, rates going up Aug 29, 2014

Christine Andersen wrote:

Last December I suggested raising rates as a new-year resolution

Did anybody do so?

Arianne Farah wrote:

What I've noticed reading through the thread is an aura of passivity - I actively manage my business, both for rates and for client expectations, and I believe it's been one of the keys to my success (of course, I'm good at what I do, but how far does that go if you can't sell yourself well enough for others to recognize your value).

I raised my rates this year.

I'm not as systematic about it as Arianne, but her scheme sounds excellent. Whatever scheme you use, once you've got a base of steady clients, you can start ratcheting up. It's our job to do so - agencies will rarely spontaneously offer to pay us more (though it has happened). And if we are reasonable to them, they will be reasonable to us.


 
deleted. (X)
deleted. (X)
Australia
Local time: 10:40
English to Chinese
+ ...
Good thread Aug 29, 2014

It's very good to see all those people sharing their experience and perspectives, a lot of these are very informative and inspiring. Thanks!

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:40
Member (2008)
Italian to English
No names Aug 29, 2014

he-li wrote:

It's very good to see all those people sharing their experience and perspectives, a lot of these are very informative and inspiring. Thanks!


Without mentioning names or giving away any confidential information, it would be interesting to hear a few examples from other translators of valuable translations they've recently done that enabled very important business transactions, property deals, sales operations, etc. to be implemented that would not have been possible without the translations. I've given one of my own above. Any more?


 
Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:40
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I've managed to increase my rates by 2 cents Aug 29, 2014

Christine Andersen wrote:

Did anybody do so?

http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/260570-new_year_resolution_raise_your_lowest_agency_rate.html

Is it time for round 2 - raise them again, or renew your efforts with your lowest-paying clients?

There are so many users of this site that if we seriously resist the bottom feeders together, it just might have some impact.

I actually dropped my lowest paying client in January, and have been really busy all year working for rates at the better end of my scale.

I am going to ask my current lowest-paying client for a pay rise now I am back from a long break!


And I've told myself I've got until 1/7/2015 to increase my rates by a further 2 cents.


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 21:40
Chinese to English
From a different industry Aug 30, 2014

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/stringing-roger-federers-nine-rackets
P1—short for Priority 1—which is based in Tampa and does stringing and racquet customizing (gripping, handle modifications, weight adjustments) for some of the biggest names in professional tennis...Players pay forty thousand dollars annually for stringing and customizing. “They pay us for peace of mind,” Ferguson said. P1 currently has around two dozen clients, all touring professionals. “They don’t want surprises out there,” he added.

No surprises. That's what I aim for.


 
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