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I’ll try ask the car mechanic or plumber “I only need 5 minutes work done” next time...
Thread poster: Dylan J Hartmann
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:35
Member
English to French
Overhead Mar 22, 2017

DJHartmann wrote:
...That "5" minutes for us still has to include all the time spent emailing/negotiating, working, invoicing and any necessary revisions. This is how I calculated my minimum at around 30 mins work. ...

Whenever a known agency asks a few words within an e-mail, I'm prepared to oblige, provided they don't make it a habit. I check the e-mail, reply straight away and get back to what I'm doing. The overall disruption is shorter than 5 minutes.

Needless to say, I don't take on microjobs from agencies I've never worked with.

As soon as there is a PO, file to open, tool to launch, reference to see, deadline to track or whatever, it's a different matter. I charge known agencies my min fee of 30 min, and I'm not even sure it's enough: who has never experienced the agency coming back 1 week later about that micro-job you totally forgot about with more contextual info, feedback or what-not? You're disrupted twice for the price of once.
And you're liable for everything.
And you wait before being paid.
And you pay tax on an already low amount.

Min fee rules.

Philippe


 
TonyTK
TonyTK
German to English
+ ...
Would hardly be ... Mar 22, 2017

Lincoln Hui wrote:
I want a car mechanic who only works on Toyotas and absolutely no other cars.

Hmm. I wonder why we put up with this.


... worth his (or her) while. Most Toyotas just run and run and run - even the ones made in the UK, strangely enough.


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I don't really see a difference Mar 23, 2017

I think you'll find there are plenty of plumbers and car mechanics out there who will happily accept a fiver or a tenner for a small job. They're the ones who aren't very busy because they're not very good.

Same with translators.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 12:35
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Actually they may be busy, quite the contrary... Mar 23, 2017

Chris S wrote:

I think you'll find there are plenty of plumbers and car mechanics out there who will happily accept a fiver or a tenner for a small job. They're the ones who aren't very busy because they're not very good.

Same with translators.


Because good and expensive mechanics can't take on many jobs on a monthly or daily level, which is precisely why they are good, thorough and expensive. So somebody else must take all the other broken cars, as the demand is high. This is how cheap and average mechanics stay busy.

I was lucky enough to find a great mechanic who always goes an extra mile and I feel completely safe after their work. Their minimum charge is ca. $100, but I don't have to visit them often, guess why? I mean it may appear expensive, but visits aren't frequent, as their work is thorough and comprehensive (hence expensive).


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
??? Mar 23, 2017

Lingua 5B wrote:

Because good and expensive mechanics can't take on many jobs on a monthly or daily level, which is precisely why they are good, thorough and expensive. So somebody else must take all the other broken cars, as the demand is high. This is how cheap and average mechanics stay busy.



I don't really follow you. The laws of economics mean that a busy mechanic won't be a cheap mechanic (prices rise when demand exceeds supply).

A mechanic who is cheap AND available is almost certainly completely useless.


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 12:35
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Explanation. Mar 23, 2017

Chris S wrote:

Lingua 5B wrote:

Because good and expensive mechanics can't take on many jobs on a monthly or daily level, which is precisely why they are good, thorough and expensive. So somebody else must take all the other broken cars, as the demand is high. This is how cheap and average mechanics stay busy.



I don't really follow you. The laws of economics mean that a busy mechanic won't be a cheap mechanic (prices rise when demand exceeds supply).

A mechanic who is cheap AND available is almost certainly completely useless.


They are both cheap and available because they do the job superficially. I call them illusionists, they create an illusion that a job has been done or completed.

On the other hand, for a work properly done, it takes time and focus and a comprehensive approach, which is why an expensive and good mechanic will work on 2-3 cars daily, or even less. Otherwise, their performance may be compromised. So for them to meet their daily profit targets, they have to be expensive.

Same with translation. Do you really think that a performance may be comparable between a translator who does one translation per week and one who does 4 translations per day?

Do you really think that a beer from a small family brewery producing 50 bottles per month may be comparable with a beer from a beer factory producing 50k bottles per month?

[Edited at 2017-03-23 12:26 GMT]


 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
????? Mar 23, 2017

Lingua 5B wrote:

Do you really think that a performance may be comparable between a translator who does one translation per week and one who does 4 translations per day?

Do you really think that a beer from a small family brewery producing 50 bottles per month may be comparable with a beer from a beer factory producing 50k bottles per month?


No.

So why is it a problem for customers to look for someone willing to do five minutes' work for a fiver?

It's all supply and demand.

Yesterday I was paid more than $50 for 15 everyday words by the Indian office of one of the most meanest and evillest freelance-screwing rate-dumping ozone-depleting Trump-voting child-molesting agencies the world has ever known. I wasn't expecting that.


 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 12:35
Italian to English
Plumbers and Translators Mar 23, 2017

Ah, the good old "plumber versus translator" analogy. Didn't this get boring already? (I guess not).

 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:35
Spanish to English
+ ...
Burgers, anyone? Mar 23, 2017

Fiona, it's only a matter of time before someone brings up the money you can earn flipping burgers in a Greasy Spoon dive.

Oh, look ...


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:35
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Too late Mar 23, 2017

Robotic pizza restaurant opens in California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6U0NdwsCWs&ab_channel=CBSEveningNews


 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 12:35
French to English
... and musicians Mar 23, 2017

I remember a musician friend complaining that they were expected to work for free on a Saturday night. They said that if the pub owner could find four plumbers willing to work on a Saturday night, they'd turn up for half the price of the four plumbers.

 
Thomas Pfann
Thomas Pfann  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:35
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
Plumber analogies Mar 23, 2017

Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:

Ah, the good old "plumber versus translator" analogy. Didn't this get boring already? (I guess not).


Everyone loves a good "plumber versus [my job]" analogy. Here's another nice one from Irish comedy trio Foils Arms and Hog: 'Working for free' (YouTube video).

Mind you, you should have a look at the discussions on plumbZ.com and other plumber websites ("No one would ask a translator to translate a document for free, so why us?").


 
mughwI
mughwI
United States
Local time: 07:35
English to Spanish
+ ...
The magic word Mar 24, 2017

The reason why some professions can stand their ground, and be successful negotiators where others have failed, is because of a quite brilliant little thing called:

Leverage

Do give it a try. Works wonders for me.


 
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I’ll try ask the car mechanic or plumber “I only need 5 minutes work done” next time...







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