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never accept ridiculous offers!
Thread poster: sabine de vos
sabine de vos
sabine de vos  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 15:07
English to Dutch
May 18, 2017

Hi all,

On another job website, a new agency from the Chech republic: Translitera.eu, is looking for new translators...at 5 euro/hour. No, i didn't skip the number 0. It is indeed 5 euro/hour. After taxes, that means 2.5 euro/hour. I don't know about your countries, but in Belgium you end up living in the street in no time if you work at those rates.
Please let us all agree NEVER to accept these rates! That is the only way to stop then from being offered for as long as they f
... See more
Hi all,

On another job website, a new agency from the Chech republic: Translitera.eu, is looking for new translators...at 5 euro/hour. No, i didn't skip the number 0. It is indeed 5 euro/hour. After taxes, that means 2.5 euro/hour. I don't know about your countries, but in Belgium you end up living in the street in no time if you work at those rates.
Please let us all agree NEVER to accept these rates! That is the only way to stop then from being offered for as long as they find 1 desperate translator who accepts, they will continue! Spread the word!
Greetz, Sabine
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Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:07
Member
English to Italian
You don't need to look elsewhere... May 18, 2017

This happens all the time on this very website, and usually you can also see people bidding anyway, so...

A couple weeks ago a German end-client posted a job here and, upon inquiry, they told me they were offering a flat €3.5 per piece of source text (approx. 300-600 words each according to them). This beats your example...

P.S. Just to make things even more appalling and mind-numbing, the PM added something along the lines of "I know this rate is quite
... See more
This happens all the time on this very website, and usually you can also see people bidding anyway, so...

A couple weeks ago a German end-client posted a job here and, upon inquiry, they told me they were offering a flat €3.5 per piece of source text (approx. 300-600 words each according to them). This beats your example...

P.S. Just to make things even more appalling and mind-numbing, the PM added something along the lines of "I know this rate is quite low, but I hope you'll take this offer into consideration, in order to work with a company that attaches great importance to quality and to good relations with its translators".

[Edited at 2017-05-18 07:53 GMT]
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Flipping burgers ... May 18, 2017

I just wanted to get in first with the expression, because it's usually only a matter of time before the comparison is drawn.

Actually, the modern burger-flipper doesn't have it quite so easy for five bucks an hour. For a start, they have to remember all the toppings, fillings, garnishes and frills, and free smoothies when you buy two Big Bad Burgers (*but only on Thursdays) and two desserts for the price of one for the Happy Meals (*but only on Fridays), with a Big Bad Burger Bag o
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I just wanted to get in first with the expression, because it's usually only a matter of time before the comparison is drawn.

Actually, the modern burger-flipper doesn't have it quite so easy for five bucks an hour. For a start, they have to remember all the toppings, fillings, garnishes and frills, and free smoothies when you buy two Big Bad Burgers (*but only on Thursdays) and two desserts for the price of one for the Happy Meals (*but only on Fridays), with a Big Bad Burger Bag of Bliss and a Big Bad Burger badge for each child at Big Bad Burger Balls (*but only at weekends, children under 10 years old). I say this because I watched one of them deal with the punters the other day, many of whom stare at the overhead menu for a good five minutes, and then ask about the menu.

But, back on topic, the only good response to this kind of thing is no response at all.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:07
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Well... May 18, 2017

For starters, I always apply a per word rate for translation. My per hour rate is reserved to proof-reading, transcreation, localization and adaptation. I can’t remember how much I charged some 40 years ago when I started out translating full-time but it would be very probably in the range of 5 EUR/hour…

 
gayd (X)
gayd (X)
ridiculous May 18, 2017

Teresa Borges wrote:

For starters, I always apply a per word rate for translation. My per hour rate is reserved to proof-reading, transcreation, localization and adaptation. I can’t remember how much I charged some 40 years ago when I started out translating full-time but it would be very probably in the range of 5 EUR/hour…

I know Portuguese cleaning ladies who charge 2.5 times as much.


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Cleaning ladies ... May 18, 2017

... and cleaning gentlemen too, I imagine.

If you mean your own, it should be easy enough to persuade her to take a pay cut. You could start off by telling her all your other cleaning ladies work for much less. If that doesn't work, then tell her that if she accepts, you'll give her a lot more stuff to clean in the future.


 
gayd (X)
gayd (X)
it doesn't work May 18, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

..If that doesn't work, then tell her that if she accepts, you'll give her a lot more stuff to clean in the future.

Funnily, it does work for translators but not for cleaning ladies. Perhaps cleaning ladies are cleverer.


 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
Thanks Mervyn May 18, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

... and cleaning gentlemen too, I imagine.

If you mean your own, it should be easy enough to persuade her to take a pay cut. You could start off by telling her all your other cleaning ladies work for much less. If that doesn't work, then tell her that if she accepts, you'll give her a lot more stuff to clean in the future.


Great entry!


 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:07
Serbian to English
+ ...
plus ça change, plus c'est pareil May 18, 2017

anyone remembers CompuServe's FLEFO (Foreign Language & Education Forum)?

Yes, it was about 20-25 years ago - the prehistorical period of the Web, when you needed an ordinary telephone line and a modem to connect to the Web at the fantastic speed of 14.4 KILO bit per second - (about 1000 to 10.000 times slower than today)

At the time a forum run as a plain text Bulletin Board was the latest state of the art shiny thing! And there was one forum on Compuserve dedicated to
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anyone remembers CompuServe's FLEFO (Foreign Language & Education Forum)?

Yes, it was about 20-25 years ago - the prehistorical period of the Web, when you needed an ordinary telephone line and a modem to connect to the Web at the fantastic speed of 14.4 KILO bit per second - (about 1000 to 10.000 times slower than today)

At the time a forum run as a plain text Bulletin Board was the latest state of the art shiny thing! And there was one forum on Compuserve dedicated to translators - FLEFO - extremely rudimentary compared to Proz or any other site for translators, but there was nothing better available at that time.

Anyway, the point of the story: I still remember some translators from US complaining on FLEFO (about 20-25 years ago!) that the prices for translation are so low that it pays better to do house cleaning!

With some luck and patience, it might be possible to get hold of these postings:

http://www.proz.com/forum/internet_for_translators/212716-compuserve_flefo_archives_anywhere.html
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
I was wondering ... May 18, 2017

... when people take on a cleaner, do they a) tell the cleaner what the rate is? or b) ask what the rate is?

It's a serious question, but I have a nagging suspicion that most go for b).

Funny old world, isn't it? Maybe they are indeed cleverer.

Mind you, I can't see anyone asking a burger-flipper what their flipping rate is.


 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 15:07
Member (2016)
German to French
To the agencies who might read me May 18, 2017

I like you much. I like when you send me translation jobs. But if you only fill my e-mail with QA offer at 3 EUR per order, sorry , I do not even take the time to open the source text at that rate. I am busy making more for my hours.

 
Thomas Pfann
Thomas Pfann  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:07
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
It's the same everywhere May 18, 2017

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

I was wondering when people take on a cleaner, do they a) tell the cleaner what the rate is? or b) ask what the rate is?

It's a serious question, but I have a nagging suspicion that most go for b).


I assume it is exactly the same as with any other trade: It will depend on who you (the cleaner, the plumber, the translator, the lawyer, the pet cuddler) work for - is your client an individual, a small business, a large corporation, or are you working through an agency? The first two tend to ask what your rate is, the latter two will tend to try and impose their own rates.


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Cleaner talk May 18, 2017

Cleaner 1:
... No, Ada, I gave it to 'im straight I did, I said, I'm not workin' at that price, guv, so you can stick it where the sun don't shine, mistah. I'm qualified, me. International Cleaners' Institoot, Clarss One, I am.

Cleaner 2:
Just right, Flo, you bleedin' stand up for your rights luv. I mean, it's not as if we're translators, are we? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:07
Member
English to Italian
Inflation May 18, 2017

David GAY wrote:

Teresa Borges wrote:

For starters, I always apply a per word rate for translation. My per hour rate is reserved to proof-reading, transcreation, localization and adaptation. I can’t remember how much I charged some 40 years ago when I started out translating full-time but it would be very probably in the range of 5 EUR/hour…

I know Portuguese cleaning ladies who charge 2.5 times as much.


Not 40 years ago...


 
gayd (X)
gayd (X)
equivalent May 18, 2017

Mirko Mainardi wrote:

David GAY wrote:

Teresa Borges wrote:

For starters, I always apply a per word rate for translation. My per hour rate is reserved to proof-reading, transcreation, localization and adaptation. I can’t remember how much I charged some 40 years ago when I started out translating full-time but it would be very probably in the range of 5 EUR/hour…

I know Portuguese cleaning ladies who charge 2.5 times as much.


Not 40 years ago...

I guess she means the equivalent in euros at that time


 
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