| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you alter your rates depending on the client's country of residence? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 07:25
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Cheaper translations | Aug 7, 2015 |
Balasubramanian makes some good points. I was an expat living in Argentina for 2 years in the 2005-2007 period. The local economy was more or less stable, local goods and services were very low compared to what I was paying in Florida, USA. As an example, a middle-class central Florida studio apartment was going for $600 a month in 2005. I was paying the equivalent of $160 between 2005-2007.
After 2007, inflation started to creep back in, from 10-12% annually to what is now 25-30% p... See more Balasubramanian makes some good points. I was an expat living in Argentina for 2 years in the 2005-2007 period. The local economy was more or less stable, local goods and services were very low compared to what I was paying in Florida, USA. As an example, a middle-class central Florida studio apartment was going for $600 a month in 2005. I was paying the equivalent of $160 between 2005-2007.
After 2007, inflation started to creep back in, from 10-12% annually to what is now 25-30% per annum. I had already returned to the U.S. That was the end of a happy time: living in a very inexpensive place and eating inexpensively, I was still charging my usual industrialized-world rates to my industrialized-world clientele.
I don't think there's an en masse outsourcing of translation jobs to developing countries, where many translators charge $0.01-$0.02/word on average. There are pros and cons of working (as a translator) in a developing country vs. an industrialized country, too many to mention in this space. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 08:25
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Lucky you, Balasubramaniam | Aug 7, 2015 |
Balasubramaniam L. wrote:
... Translators here can maintain a high quality of life even while charging less rates than their counterparts in developed regions of the world...
... because here in Brazil, we have one of the highest costs of living in the world, and are offered some of the lowest rates/salaries in the world. Of course, many people will disagree with this, based on what the see in the newspapers or on TV. Nobody discloses the truth about Brazil (please read José Henrique's comments below).
However, anyone can visit Brazilian websites (supermarkets, stores, real estate brokers, etc.) and make their own research, converting the prices to Dollars, and becoming amazed with the reality.
- About 42% of the gross income of the Brazilians go straight to the government in taxes. That means, we work from January to May just to support corruption, and live on our earnings from June to December.
- The Brazilian gasoline is one of the most expansive in the world, although 24% of it is alcohol, mixed to the gasoline to destroy our engines and support the sugar-cane farmers.
- For the same lease you pay for an old two-bedroom, no service, piece-of-sh*t apartment in São Paulo, Rio or Brasilia, you can rent a brand new three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.
- The price of the weekly groceries (no luxuries, just the basics) in Brazil are comparable to the prices in Switzerland or France.
- A 1.0 engine Fiat automobile (no optionals) in Brazil costs as much as a Honda CR-V in the USA.
... Among other things (please do the suggested searches to verify).
Nevertheless, out minimum monthly wage is less than US$ 250 (75% of the population live on that), and the agencies in Brazil will, very reluctantly, pay us BRL 0.10 per source word (~US$ 0.03).
Wanna try that?
[Edited at 2015-08-07 03:38 GMT]
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 13:25
Danish to English
+ ...
| Not romantic, idealistic or naive, just a choice | Aug 7, 2015 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
Sure it is romantic and idealistic to just charge the same fees to a client, regardless of her country of residence. But that's kind of naive, really.
I charge what I believe my work is worth and what I need to make a decent living where I live. That is not to say that I expect clients all over the world to pay what I charge. I simply don't work with those who can't - or choose not to - pay my fees.
| | | | | I (almost) don't | Aug 7, 2015 |
I'm just starting out, but I will not work for a rate that is lower than my absolute minimum rate (ok, maybe 0,01€ or 0,02€ if it's a really interesting text that I really want to translate, and if the client's country of residence is a poor one, but I will not be working for let's say half of my minimum rate).
If the client's country of residence is a rich country, I might ask a bit more, but not a lot more either (let's say again 0,02€ more).
A couple of days a... See more I'm just starting out, but I will not work for a rate that is lower than my absolute minimum rate (ok, maybe 0,01€ or 0,02€ if it's a really interesting text that I really want to translate, and if the client's country of residence is a poor one, but I will not be working for let's say half of my minimum rate).
If the client's country of residence is a rich country, I might ask a bit more, but not a lot more either (let's say again 0,02€ more).
A couple of days ago I sent an e-mail to an agency that posted a job here on Proz (they did not mention the rates they had in mind for this job).
I presented myself, didn't propose a rate yet because I wanted to know a bit more about the job itself first.
I got a (very friendly, I admit) reply where they stated: "As a Costa Rica-based company, the rate we offer for this job is:
FR>NL, ES>NL, EN>NL = US$ 0.030/word".
I replied as friendly as I could, while declining it: "As a Belgium-based independent translator, I sadly have to announce that I cannot survive from such a rate in my home country where the living costs apparently are a lot higher than in Costa Rica.
I want to wish you the best of luck in finding a translator who can, and hope that we can get in touch again whenever you are able to offer "Western-European" rates. ▲ Collapse
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