| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2 3] | Offering services free of charge Initiator des Themas: Sandra Petch
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| To Charlotte - the concept of minimum fees | May 11, 2010 |
Charlotte Blank wrote:
I know this is not exactly what this thread is about but the question of free translations just came up for me:
These days I got a *very* short text from a direct client for whom I have already done several translations before. It was rather scientific, as usual with this client, but now I am really in doubt whether I should charge him for this or not. It did not take me more than one hour to do the translation, including searching for the special vocabulary and with my normal rate it would not be more than about 2,50 euros. Normally I would have put it on the next invoice but in this case they told me they want to have the invoice right now because the person in charge is leaving and wants to close this project but I'm hesitant...
How do you cope with things like these? Probably they are not so uncommon 
Charlotte, minimum fees were invented for cases like this. I assume the 2,50 Euros fee was a result of using the per word rate. The problem is that per word rates don't work for short texts. The idea of per word rates comes from the need to estimate the time needed to translate a text of a given volume. The point is that you need to be paid for your time, whether it is a short job or a longer one. For longer jobs, you can estimate the time needed based on the number of words, and if you set your per word and hourly rates correctly, you would end up with approximately the same amount either way. For short jobs, this does not work, because the overhead time (terminology research, file handling, emailing back and forth) is proportionally larger than at longer jobs. That is why we use minimum fees, usually equal to one hour of work (1 unit of your hourly rate).
So, in this case, you say "It did not take me more than one hour to do the translation, including searching for the special vocabulary", so you should charge your hourly rate (not 2,50 Euros, I hope).
I hope this helps
Katalin
| | | | IreneP
Griechenland
Local time: 23:57
Englisch > Griechisch
Offering services free of charge?
What about if these"services" are a book of 200 pages?
Someone gets the money and you get what?
| | | | Tom in London
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 21:57
Mitglied (2008)
Italienisch > Englisch
| No cost = no value | May 11, 2010 |
As an old Italian friend once said to me:
"Ciò che non ha prezzo non ha valore"
"That which has no price has no value".
| | | | Kroz Wado
Japan
Local time: 06:57
Japanisch > Englisch
| Introduce me! | May 12, 2010 |
Introduce me to this translator! I've got a whole load of work that needs doing and a beach to go tan myself on while someone else handles it...
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jmleger 
Local time: 15:57
Englisch > Französisch
+ ...
| Free translations | May 12, 2010 |
I would not worry about such offers. Working for free is not a viable business model. Let people do what they will. Greater market forces are at work here, and you won't be dispossessed because someone offers to do work for free/ It won't last, so relax.
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brasilien
Local time: 18:57
Portugiesisch > Englisch
+ ...
| Agree with Sheila | May 13, 2010 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
I think it's a really bad idea to have translators declaring that publicly on ProZ, whatever the reality of their situation is.
Totally agree, and even though I'm not the "policing" type, I'd like to see a rule on ProZ forbidding this kind of thing. No professional would seriously say "I'll work for cheap or for free!" Doesn't matter if they're just starting out or not, this is a professional site.
| | | | Abba Storgen (X)
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 15:57
Griechisch > Englisch
+ ...
Introduce me to this translator! I've got a whole load of work that needs doing and a beach to go tan myself on while someone else handles it...
Me too. I need a lot of Greek translators who would work for free while I'll be enjoying myself on the beach. Then I'll edit their work a little bit and presto! They get absolutely nothing (I'll tell them "thank you") and I'll get the money...
"ProZ is a professional marketplace and we all want to see professionals."<... See more Introduce me to this translator! I've got a whole load of work that needs doing and a beach to go tan myself on while someone else handles it...
Me too. I need a lot of Greek translators who would work for free while I'll be enjoying myself on the beach. Then I'll edit their work a little bit and presto! They get absolutely nothing (I'll tell them "thank you") and I'll get the money...
"ProZ is a professional marketplace and we all want to see professionals."
Yes, and I'm an astronaut. First mission on the moon - I was the one holding the video camera.
But it's not the fault of proz that the older and more ambitious professionals in this business are now shocked by all this new "my daddy bought me an iPad" crowd.
People in poor countries have found an excellent way to get out of poverty: "Let's be even cheaper".
Genius. ▲ Collapse
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