Originally written by Nanna Mercer on July 11, 2009 7:01 AM  US$ 00.10 per word ... I did not even charge that low a per word rate when I started working as a translator

Try get that low in my country. Eve my meagre 00.09 - 00.10 per word is more than our local average. Some colleagues and most publishers say I`m greedy... Well, I am.

And you should fight for the right rate with companies that can afford it. The ones that can't should go out of business.

Originally written by Nanna Mercer on July 11, 2009 12:01 PM Maybe so, but I have a high minimum rate and I don't work for anything that approaches what you submit is a low-end translator. From mid range and up I have room to play and I do. Obviously, so do other people and some agencies won't even discuss a rate above US$ 00.10 per word, which is fine with me, I simply decline. I did not even charge that low a per word rate when I started working as a translator, so why should I start now?

My point was that most translators make a (usually unconscious) decision about which market segment they wish to position themselves in and enter a value, any value, which they believe puts them in that range. The actual value is unimportant:

Expressed in ranges, it might look like this:

Pro bono translator: US$0.00 (quality: unpredictable, you take your chances)

Low-end (down-market) translator: US$0.01-US$0.09 (quality: unlikely to be suitable for publication)

Mid-range (mid-market) translator: US$0.10-US$0.19 (quality: might be suitable for publication)

High-end (up-market) translator: US$0.20 and up (quality: impeccable, sure to be suitable for publication)

In my modest experience, agencies have set themselves a maximum rate per word based on how much they have contracted or offered to do the job for plus their mark-up (50%-70% of total, the translator getting 30%-50% of total), direct clients are very seldom interested in word rates but attempt to get a total price that is the amount budgeted for the job or less (often a tiny percentage of the total project cost, or a somewhat larger percentage of the total cost budgeted for the project's documentation).

Nanna, have you ever seen evidence that a client who has selected you was influenced in any way by the amount you have entered in your TC profile? Does anybody?

Derek

Originally written by Derek Thornton on July 11, 2009 3:55 PM My point was that most translators make a (usually unconscious) decision about which market segment they wish to position themselves in and enter a value, Nanna, have you ever seen evidence that a client who has selected you was influenced in any way by the amount you have entered in your TC profile?

I actually researched the matter by making comparisons across DK and US values. I started out at a very modest $00.10 per word, but since agents would inevitably offer a rate below my stated minimum, I quickly saw the error of my ways and upped the value to $00.12 and from then on to what I charge now.

No, Derek, I don't think I have. The agents from China and India regularly 'offer' a hideously low rate and that even though they have approached me via my profile. It's a moderator thing, I think, where they go down the list. I always reply and ask them politely to send the file(s) for my review - but guess what - they never do.

Even when my rates were visible these agents offered something like 1/4 of my rate, so it didn't, I take it , influence them one way or the other.

Now, most, if not all of my clients are direct and in-country clients. They don't, I bet, even know that TC exists. They don't squabble about the rate, either. They are always more interested in the deadline. I appreciate each and every one of those clients.

Nanna

Back to the meaning of "min." - I don't know why it's there.  As a translator I want to choose what information I want to supply so I have not filled it in.  I am not selling socks in a basement warehouse, I am selling a customized professional service.

Maxi