Poll: Are you planning to update your rates for the coming year (2010)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you planning to update your rates for the coming year (2010)?".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
| | | | | In some cases, up from last year! | Nov 23, 2009 |
Last year I made some allowances for clients I wanted to work with but couldn't afford my regular rates. The market (at least mine) is improving, and I intend to get back up to where I was before the recession.
| | | | Emma Williams 
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:43
Italian to English
+ ...
I have already been contacted by some clients saying that should any of their translators increase their rates for the coming year they can basically forget working for them. So the question is: do I continue with the same rates and have the guarantee of working, or do I increase my rates and risk losing work??
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 21:43
English to French
+ ...
| Have not decided | Nov 23, 2009 |
But will certainly not lower them...
| | |
|
|
|
lillkakan
Local time: 21:43
English to Swedish
My plan for the coming year is to find new clients who can afford to pay the rates I want to get.
I probably won't raise the rates for most current clients. Even if they could very well afford to pay, I feel it's too easy for them to blame the "crisis" and say they can't afford it, when in truth they just want to get away cheap. So I'm not even going to bother. I make enough to get by as it is. My strategy is to seek new,... See more My plan for the coming year is to find new clients who can afford to pay the rates I want to get.
I probably won't raise the rates for most current clients. Even if they could very well afford to pay, I feel it's too easy for them to blame the "crisis" and say they can't afford it, when in truth they just want to get away cheap. So I'm not even going to bother. I make enough to get by as it is. My strategy is to seek new, better paying clients instead of hassling the cheapskates I already have. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Higher rates for new clients | Nov 23, 2009 |
As far as possible, I am pushing my rates up with new clients.
I find that some of the agencies I have worked with for years give me more service than others for the same rate per word or thousand words. I know their end clients and have TMs for them too, so I can work more efficiently for them and earn more per hour.
It makes an enormous difference if all I have to do is translate, proofread and clean the files, and leave the agency to take care of the DTP etc.
... See more As far as possible, I am pushing my rates up with new clients.
I find that some of the agencies I have worked with for years give me more service than others for the same rate per word or thousand words. I know their end clients and have TMs for them too, so I can work more efficiently for them and earn more per hour.
It makes an enormous difference if all I have to do is translate, proofread and clean the files, and leave the agency to take care of the DTP etc.
I have just been sent a job by a "new" client, where for a total of about 5000 words I have to download 20-30 small files one by one, then format them and type in inaccessible text in diagrams etc. before I can start translating. My favourite agencies would do that for me and send Word files ready to feed into Trados.
I am negotiating to get paid for an extra two hours for that job, just on principle. The new agency's rate per 1000 words is as low as I go for starters, so I may "not have time" to work for them much in future
So I can accept lower rates from old friends. They will have to go up sometime, but I'm willing to help them ride the crisis out next year!
 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:43
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
| Same for old, higher for new | Nov 23, 2009 |
Emma Williams wrote:
do I continue with the same rates and have the guarantee of working, or do I increase my rates and risk losing work??
A system, which I’m sure many freelance professionals in all industries use:
1) If you already have enough clients at your present rate, then ask for a higher rate only from potential new clients.
2) Once you have enough new clients at the higher rate, raise the price to the old clients, since they have now become dispensable.
3) Repeat the process until you retire!
Although this may be a slow way of increasing your rates, it’s a safe way, ensuring you never price out a client until you can afford to do so.
| | | | | yes, newer clients | Nov 23, 2009 |
but generally the translation rate will stay the same. I have already upped my hourly rate for proofreading and revision.
| | |
|
|
|
Simon Bruni wrote: Emma Williams wrote:
do I continue with the same rates and have the guarantee of working, or do I increase my rates and risk losing work?? A system, which I’m sure many freelance professionals in all industries use: 1) If you already have enough clients at your present rate, then ask for a higher rate only from potential new clients. 2) Once you have enough new clients at the higher rate, raise the price to the old clients, since they have now become dispensable. 3) Repeat the process until you retire! Although this may be a slow way of increasing your rates, it’s a safe way, ensuring you never price out a client until you can afford to do so.
Absolutely true.
| | | | Theo Bernards (X)
France
Local time: 21:43
English to Dutch
+ ...
| depends on how you define rates | Nov 23, 2009 |
I have for a while advertised my rates on Proz and other websites and found myself flooded with emails from especially the lower paying regions offering jobs for ridiculous rates. In separate fora, again on Proz as well as other websites, I have participated in quite a few threads re rates, low-paying agencies and all kinds of other discussions regarding payments and I am slowly adapting to a situation where I don't quote a fee per word anymore but a fee per project. If clients want to know how ... See more I have for a while advertised my rates on Proz and other websites and found myself flooded with emails from especially the lower paying regions offering jobs for ridiculous rates. In separate fora, again on Proz as well as other websites, I have participated in quite a few threads re rates, low-paying agencies and all kinds of other discussions regarding payments and I am slowly adapting to a situation where I don't quote a fee per word anymore but a fee per project. If clients want to know how I come to my fees I generally tell them nowadays that my fee is based on a certain rate but that the total fee depends on other factors as well. This approach works particularly well with so-called 'end customers' i.e. the customers who actually use the translated texts directly. For the multitude of agencies I work with, who usually already get a slightly lower rate from me than end customers, I do intend to up the rates with the inflation rate of my country of residence (France) because there is no point eating less bread while doing the same amount or more work...
In general I agree with those who don't want to quote rates per word because it is a slippery slope and one tends to slide downwards rather than climbing upwards with rates. Reality is, however, that many agencies calculate in rates per word so if one wants any business from agencies one must be prepared to accept that reward system.
Theo
Dutchman in France ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Same as Interlangue | Nov 23, 2009 |
Interlangue wrote:
But will certainly not lower them...
Ditto.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Are you planning to update your rates for the coming year (2010)? | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | 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 » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
