| Páginas sobre el tema: < [1 2] | Switching currencies (EUR to GBP) Autor de la hebra: Lindsay Condit Marshall
|
|---|
| Currency exhange is an essential part of business | Apr 22, 2015 |
Currencies fluctuate and it's fact of life that you have to factor into your business. To compete in the Eurozone, USD translators have to lower their rates right now (the same applies to anyone providing goods and services).
The Euro was unusually strong for quite some time, so if you set your prices when it was at USD1.45 or something, that hurts now. Since the Euro weakened, I've been receiving much more work (I live in the Eurozone), which gives me more money to spend, in the E... See more Currencies fluctuate and it's fact of life that you have to factor into your business. To compete in the Eurozone, USD translators have to lower their rates right now (the same applies to anyone providing goods and services).
The Euro was unusually strong for quite some time, so if you set your prices when it was at USD1.45 or something, that hurts now. Since the Euro weakened, I've been receiving much more work (I live in the Eurozone), which gives me more money to spend, in the Eurozone obviously, which is what Mario Draghi wanted with his QE.
'Changing currency' is just the same as asking for more money. If the agency values (literally here!) your work highly, they'll pay more. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Translation is transnational, so... | Apr 22, 2015 |
...there's little point in advising people to go to Swiss or UK agencies. It's the UK agencies who've been snowing me under with work since QE started here in the Eurozone. I'm also careful to invoice only every few months to keep down bank charges.
Unless they're into self-harm these agencies are going to use people on their books charging Euro rates.
Also I don't really see that any sort of Euro implosion is likely. Greece is unlikely to exit and if it does it will ... See more ...there's little point in advising people to go to Swiss or UK agencies. It's the UK agencies who've been snowing me under with work since QE started here in the Eurozone. I'm also careful to invoice only every few months to keep down bank charges.
Unless they're into self-harm these agencies are going to use people on their books charging Euro rates.
Also I don't really see that any sort of Euro implosion is likely. Greece is unlikely to exit and if it does it will cause short-term turmoil. Even if there were some sort of sudden decline in the Euro, that would only trigger inflation to bring rates into line with the fair value of goods and services traded. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | macroeconomic developments and small businesses | Apr 22, 2015 |
While giant international agencies are very likely to factor exchange rates into how they run their businesses, the asker is dealing with small-time German outsourcers. I would assume that small-time outsourcers generally work with margins that are much more flexible (larger) than big-time agencies and that they are much more focussed on quality, so that the dangers and time investment investment involved in setting out in search of brand-new translators to save maybe 10% on the cost of outsourc... See more While giant international agencies are very likely to factor exchange rates into how they run their businesses, the asker is dealing with small-time German outsourcers. I would assume that small-time outsourcers generally work with margins that are much more flexible (larger) than big-time agencies and that they are much more focussed on quality, so that the dangers and time investment investment involved in setting out in search of brand-new translators to save maybe 10% on the cost of outsourced translations is probably not likely to be very attractive to them - unless this turns out to be a long-term shift. The same is far more true of direct clients, where translation costs generally represent a negligible part of their total costs, but the quality of the translations is often very important.
Inflation and exchange rates are obviously real influences, but I don't think that they are relevant for the relationships between many translators and many of their clients.
And I tend to see the weak euro as half full (no pun intended) instead of half empty: It's a reason for us to raise our rates, not a reason for anyone else to lower theirs. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Phil Hand 
China
Local time: 07:21
chino al inglés
| Depends on your market is right | Apr 23, 2015 |
Angela Rimmer wrote:
...clients in Germany generally won't like that approach. I guess most clients (particularly agencies) would want to know the cost of a supplier without having to look up exchange rates or keep asking on a job-by-job basis, but the Germans are definitely not a culture that cope with that approach well. They like stability...
If you feel you're doing that already and your place of residence is screwing you over because of the high cost of living/different currency etc, then a better more long-term aim would be to seek out clients that are not paying euros.
That's a fair point. I only work for German companies on an occasional basis. If you had a German company that was sending you work every week, you'd certainly want to work out something more stable.
But if that's not working, then you have to raise rates or ditch the client. There's not much point in saying "don't change your rates in case you upset the client" when this client isn't paying what you need any more.
In order to minimise angst, one approach would be to be explicit about it: write and say, the exchange rate makes it impossible to work at my old rates. I'm raising to X, and I understand if you can't pay that in the short term. If you can't, then I look forward to working with you again when the exchange rate is more favourable.
| | |
|
|
|
Angela Malik
Reino Unido
Local time: 00:21
alemán al inglés
+ ...
| Market, not currency | Apr 23, 2015 |
Phil Hand wrote:
But if that's not working, then you have to raise rates or ditch the client. There's not much point in saying "don't change your rates in case you upset the client" when this client isn't paying what you need any more.
Oh I definitely agree. I'm very much pro raising rates -- but in line with the market, not the exchange rate. Otherwise you are forever at the mercy of the currency as opposed to operating within the much more stable and wider scope of the market in general.
| | | | | Interesting... | Apr 23, 2015 |
sailingshoes wrote:
Unless they're into self-harm these agencies are going to use people on their books charging Euro rates.
So working relationships built over the years with translators they really trust count for nothing... they are prepared to risk their reputation to save a few bucks... nice one! 
[Edited at 2015-04-23 15:58 GMT]
| | | | | Páginas sobre el tema: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Switching currencies (EUR to GBP) | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | Pastey | Your smart companion app
Pastey is an innovative desktop application that bridges the gap between human expertise and artificial intelligence. With intuitive keyboard shortcuts, Pastey transforms your source text into AI-powered draft translations.
Find out more » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
