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Is there a way to prevent the decline in translation rates?
Thread poster: Erwin S. Fernandez
Erwin S. Fernandez
Erwin S. Fernandez
Philippines
Local time: 18:07
English to Pangasinan
+ ...
Jun 11, 2015

I've noticed that some agencies and outsourcers offer rates below the minimum in translation. There was a time when I worked at a very low rate per word for translation, which is so insulting to me but accepted it to have some work done. I realize that in order to professionalize the industry I must never accept rates that are mere pittance. Due to competition and the unscrupulous practices of some agencies, translators are forced to lower down their rates to get jobs.

How can we,
... See more
I've noticed that some agencies and outsourcers offer rates below the minimum in translation. There was a time when I worked at a very low rate per word for translation, which is so insulting to me but accepted it to have some work done. I realize that in order to professionalize the industry I must never accept rates that are mere pittance. Due to competition and the unscrupulous practices of some agencies, translators are forced to lower down their rates to get jobs.

How can we, translators, stop this? Should there a minimum rate to be adopted by all translators and communicated to all agencies and outsourcers the whole world? What is this minimum rate that to go below it the agency is liable to be sued for unethical practice?

Your thoughts on this will be much appreciated. Thank you.
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Anita M. A. Mazzoli
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Mark Somers
 
Sandra B.
Sandra B.
Portugal
Local time: 10:07
English to Portuguese
+ ...
... Jun 11, 2015

The only way is translators stop to accept these rates, as long as there are “colleagues” (well, I should probably say enemies, as these people behavior is actually harming all of us) willing to work for peanuts these rates will be in the market.

Bruna Santanita
Anita M. A. Mazzoli
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Ildiko Santana
Ameer Ghazi
 
Angela Malik
Angela Malik  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:07
German to English
+ ...
Unrealistic Jun 11, 2015

Erwin S. Fernandez wrote:

How can we, translators, stop this? Should there a minimum rate to be adopted by all translators and communicated to all agencies and outsourcers the whole world? What is this minimum rate that to go below it the agency is liable to be sued for unethical practice?



It is totally unrealistic to suggest that all translators worldwide adopt some sort of minimum rate. For starters, we don't all offer the same service(s). We also work in different markets, some of which do not lend themselves well to pricy translation, and some of which really do.

Also, an agency cannot be sued if you as the service provider agree to a rate. In that case your agreement is the contract. Agencies cannot force freelancers to work at certain rates. I hear a lot of the "peanuts" crowd moaning about rates, and I'm sure some of them must FEEL forced -- but ultimately the decision to take work at that rate is their own, no one is holding a gun to their heads. If a client is insisting on a rate that is not feasible or desirable to you, don't work with them. Simple.

On a more positive note, I am not saying that there's nothing you can do. You CAN focus on a particular market, find a niche, seek out clients in areas of the market that are able and willing to pay what you consider a desirable rate. You CAN make yourself indispensable to clients you consider to be winners (favourable working conditions, they always pay on time, they pay a lot more than other clients, etc.) You CAN diversify the services you provide to optimise your income. You CAN do a lot of things, so it's not a hopeless situation.


Becca Resnik
Jorge Fecuri
 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 18:07
Chinese to English
The difference is in your own head Jun 11, 2015

Simply refuse to recognise the peanuts agencies as part of the industry. They do exist, and they claim to do translation; but they are not professional. Therefore, they are not a part of the industry - they're just a group of amateurs on the fringes.

Once you see that, you start to redefine what the industry is (and how you fit into it). And you can safely ignore the penny-merchants.


Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
allthingsgo
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:07
German to English
No stopping the general decline Jun 11, 2015

As many have pointed out, the translation industry is highly segmented. There are numerous reasons for this, but I think a significant cause of this is the incredible number of agencies entering the market. Since it's very difficult to break into the high end of the business segment as a newcomer, most are aiming for the lower ends of the market in the hope to eke out a profit from huge volumes of low-fee services.

One vendor of mailing lists of agencies claims to provide names of
... See more
As many have pointed out, the translation industry is highly segmented. There are numerous reasons for this, but I think a significant cause of this is the incredible number of agencies entering the market. Since it's very difficult to break into the high end of the business segment as a newcomer, most are aiming for the lower ends of the market in the hope to eke out a profit from huge volumes of low-fee services.

One vendor of mailing lists of agencies claims to provide names of 15,000 LSPs. Assuming that the list contains a significant number of failed enterprises, it's probably safe to assume that at any given time at least 10,000 agencies are at work. Does the world really need that many LSPs? Half that number would be more than adequate to handle the volume while maintaining reasonable profit margins and paying adequate prices to translators.

On the higher end, in order for the larger agencies to remain competitive, they have to hire a larger sales force, thus increasing overhead. The only way to maintain a profit is to put the squeeze on their vendors (translators). That doesn't mean that agencies aren't profitable – hedge funds are snapping up agencies because they believe that the commoditization of translation is well underway. This likewise puts an additional pressure on prices.

In many, if not most, countries, translation is an unregulated trade. Low barriers to entry make it easy for anyone with a computer and Internet connection to be a translator or even a language services provider. Even assuming that many of the translators entering the business eventually become skilled enough to demand a decent price for their work, they represent a seemingly endless supply of people willing to accept substandard rates.

Some business economists claim that translation is a growth industry. The problem is that the growth is in volume, not rates.
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Barbara Niessen
writeaway
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Thea Norris
Mark Somers
 
Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:07
English to French
+ ...
Two words: free market Jun 11, 2015

It looks as if a primer on free market may be necessary around here.

Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:07
English to German
+ ...
Threshold rate/price is important Jun 11, 2015

Kevin Fulton wrote:

As many have pointed out, the translation industry is highly segmented. There are numerous reasons for this, but I think a significant cause of this is the incredible number of agencies entering the market. Since it's very difficult to break into the high end of the business segment as a newcomer, most are aiming for the lower ends of the market in the hope to eke out a profit from huge volumes of low-fee services.

One vendor of mailing lists of agencies claims to provide names of 15,000 LSPs. Assuming that the list contains a significant number of failed enterprises, it's probably safe to assume that at any given time at least 10,000 agencies are at work. Does the world really need that many LSPs? Half that number would be more than adequate to handle the volume while maintaining reasonable profit margins and paying adequate prices to translators.

On the higher end, in order for the larger agencies to remain competitive, they have to hire a larger sales force, thus increasing overhead. The only way to maintain a profit is to put the squeeze on their vendors (translators). That doesn't mean that agencies aren't profitable – hedge funds are snapping up agencies because they believe that the commoditization of translation is well underway. This likewise puts an additional pressure on prices.

In many, if not most, countries, translation is an unregulated trade. Low barriers to entry make it easy for anyone with a computer and Internet connection to be a translator or even a language services provider. Even assuming that many of the translators entering the business eventually become skilled enough to demand a decent price for their work, they represent a seemingly endless supply of people willing to accept substandard rates.

Some business economists claim that translation is a growth industry. The problem is that the growth is in volume, not rates.



If I choose to be a translator, I have in the back of my mind that I will work a sophisticated job, using my education, linguistic talent, expertise, great intercultural experience etc. I also expect to make it a successful career and not a job in which I slave away doing sophisticated work for the same amount of money a dishwasher makes (no offense). I don't translate the same words every time in a sense a dishwasher washes the same dishes every time, not even having to think much doing it.

It's important to present yourself well, to do the marketing, to learn how to find and keep those clients who realize that they are working with a professional in a highly sophisticated profession.
That all doesn't mean you will be able to demand absolutely exceptional rates all the time and buy yourself a Mercedes every other year (not necessarily). But your expectations should rather be geared towards the latter.

If all your efforts and all your skill isn't getting you the jobs you deserve, then staying in that job with the brain power you have is simply stupid. There are other things you can do when you're smart.
So, if it becomes simply unprofitable for good translators to work in this industry, they're not going to accept the rock bottom conditions so many amateurs work for in this industry. They will leave and the field of translation will eventually falter and experience a rebirth. But I believe it doesn't have to come to that if only every professional translator would work for decent rates/prices only.

There is indeed a threshold rate/price below which I don't provide services (special exceptions are possible), and that's the only way I am willing to work in this industry. And that goes for any subject area.


Mark Somers
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:07
Member (2008)
Italian to English
No such thing. Jun 11, 2015

There is no decline in my translation rates.

Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
Paul Malone
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:07
German to English
No decline either, but fewer jobs from old customers Jun 11, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

There is no decline in my translation rates.


However, I've been told by a few long-term customers that my rates are too high (despite not having changed them). The rate squeeze is on newcomers being taken on by the LSPs, with fewer jobs going to the translators expecting higher rates. Others of my colleagues likewise report getting fewer jobs from long-time customers.


allthingsgo
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
They haven't declined in my experience. Jun 11, 2015

It's harder to put your prices up, because we now live in a low-inflation economy - in fact the UK currently has negative inflation.

The profusion of badly paid jobs advertised here and elsewhere could easily make you think that rates have collapsed. But they haven't - there have always been bad payers, but the internet makes us more aware of them.


 
Merab Dekano
Merab Dekano  Identity Verified
Spain
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Not just customers Jun 11, 2015

Do not look for customers. Look for customers who will pay you your rate. The former is easy. The latter is fiendishly difficult. This is not an easy undertaking anyway.

The best customer is who finds you and accepts your rate. This also happens.

If you are a good linguist and subject matter expert, work will come. If not, the world is full of other professions. So long translation is not a regulated profession, we can do nothing about someone else's rates.


Jorge Fecuri
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 11:07
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Increase translators' visibility as professionals Jun 11, 2015

Join the professional associations there are, and educate clients, individually and collectively.

Take part at local events, or any gatherings of potential users of translation.
(It might be a way of finding new clients, but don't count on it.)

Talk on suitable occasions about what translators do - and especially that translating is a profession, not just a cottage industry!
Think of a few challenges that are NOT within the scope of 'any bilingual'. Tell pe
... See more
Join the professional associations there are, and educate clients, individually and collectively.

Take part at local events, or any gatherings of potential users of translation.
(It might be a way of finding new clients, but don't count on it.)

Talk on suitable occasions about what translators do - and especially that translating is a profession, not just a cottage industry!
Think of a few challenges that are NOT within the scope of 'any bilingual'. Tell people about them, and drop the modest 'geek behind the computer' image.

Point out that your hourly rate is before deduction of expenses and tax, not your take-home pay.

Above all, set your own rates and bargain them up if you need the work and have to accept any agencies and clients who will not pay as much as you ask.

Add realistic rates to surveys like the Community Rates here:
http://search.proz.com/?sp=pfe/rates

... and quote the averages to convince clients.

These are all drops in the ocean, but many drops can wear down the rocks!
Or build up big sandbanks, if you prefer
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Raimundo Nonato Robert de Freitas
Mark Somers
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:07
Member (2008)
Italian to English
They always say that Jun 11, 2015

Kevin Fulton wrote:

.... I've been told by a few long-term customers that my rates are too high



Let them go. If people know your skills and are accustomed to working with you, they'll be back.


 
Georgie Scott
Georgie Scott  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:07
French to English
+ ...
Is it possible to outgrow customers? Jun 11, 2015

Kevin Fulton wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

There is no decline in my translation rates.


However, I've been told by a few long-term customers that my rates are too high (despite not having changed them). The rate squeeze is on newcomers being taken on by the LSPs, with fewer jobs going to the translators expecting higher rates. Others of my colleagues likewise report getting fewer jobs from long-time customers.



I know an insurance company which pays 1,000 GBP for translating one page of insurance speak English into Clear and Simple English (I know, I know, I'm really phrasing this elegantly).

I like to believe that this is the rate I am working towards, in which case I am bound to outgrow clients.

That said, I also like to believe that I am working towards paying higher rates for the copy I need, not reducing what I spend on it. But there you go. That's just me. And one of the most successful insurance companies in Europe.


Christopher Schröder
 
Triston Goodwin
Triston Goodwin  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Stop working for agencies Jun 11, 2015

Even for populated pairs like mine (English - Spanish) there is a lot of high paying work available. Those agencies aren't charging less than $0.20 per word, and some charge a lot more. The idea is that they contribute somehow to the process and add value, but they're not doing anything that individual translators cannot do on their own.

If you want earn more, learn how to market yourself and find your own clients.


Anita M. A. Mazzoli
Abba Storgen (X)
allthingsgo
Jorge Fecuri
 
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Is there a way to prevent the decline in translation rates?







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