Article: Why translation should be ‘reassuringly expensive’ Thread poster: Jeff Whittaker
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Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 05:43
Spanish to English
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| | I do not think anyone is reassured by anything being expensive these days | Apr 24, 2010 |
I think a lot of people are aware these days that there are quality variations at all price levels, whatever is being purchased.
Yes, it is true that especially something relatively complex, such as the translation process, has to have a certain price tag attached. However, I think it makes more sense for the price tag to be set at the optimum level that makes the translation affordable for the purchaser, while simultaneously being affordable for the translator, rather than being ex... See more I think a lot of people are aware these days that there are quality variations at all price levels, whatever is being purchased.
Yes, it is true that especially something relatively complex, such as the translation process, has to have a certain price tag attached. However, I think it makes more sense for the price tag to be set at the optimum level that makes the translation affordable for the purchaser, while simultaneously being affordable for the translator, rather than being expensive. It is achieving this optimum pricing level that appears to be such an art. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 12:43
Turkish to English
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| Personal experience | Apr 24, 2010 |
Reading this article, I am reminded of the time, over a decade ago, when I worked at a multilingual call centre . There staff were expected to use any slack time between calls translating the company's publicity material into their working languages - regardless of whether they were translating into their native language or not! I only stuck that job out for three months.
| | | | Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Poland
Local time: 11:43
English to Polish
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| one thing to point out | Apr 24, 2010 |
Nowadays, a large chunk of the translation market are translations that must be performed because of regulatory requirements. Those translations are the ones tainted by the low-price-bad-quality curse. If I was to commission a translation just because I have to and without regard to any side effects (reputation loss - if indeed?), having any business acumen whatsoever I'd go for low price.
Example: prospectus of a foreign inve... See more Nowadays, a large chunk of the translation market are translations that must be performed because of regulatory requirements. Those translations are the ones tainted by the low-price-bad-quality curse. If I was to commission a translation just because I have to and without regard to any side effects (reputation loss - if indeed?), having any business acumen whatsoever I'd go for low price.
Example: prospectus of a foreign investment fund. A prospectus is something the fund managers don't believe anyone will read, or at least something that doesn't count in marketing terms.
As a side note:
Even as I write this I know you are not going to believe me, but there are people out there who think translation is simple and should therefore be cheap, a bit like chips.
How could he badmouth chips like this? Everybody knows chips aren't a commodity. Eating cheap chips is like chewing a gum. ▲ Collapse
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ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 13:43
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
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| Because you get what you pay for. | Apr 24, 2010 |
That is why.
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 05:43
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Krzysztof Kajetanowicz wrote:
How could he badmouth chips like this? Everybody knows chips aren't a commodity. Eating cheap chips is like chewing a gum.
[Edited at 2010-04-25 14:13 GMT]
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All the claims for why their translation service is expensive are incredibly cliché. Their differentiators are no different from what anyone else says...
The reason their service is expensive is because they want to pay their bills and make a profit with less headache. Period. No need to sugar coat it into anything else.
My rates were once low. They didn't go up until I was so swamped that I could afford to drop clients or command higher rates. Once that rate became th... See more All the claims for why their translation service is expensive are incredibly cliché. Their differentiators are no different from what anyone else says...
The reason their service is expensive is because they want to pay their bills and make a profit with less headache. Period. No need to sugar coat it into anything else.
My rates were once low. They didn't go up until I was so swamped that I could afford to drop clients or command higher rates. Once that rate became the norm, I built up clientele again until I was so busy, that I could afford to drop projects and command higher rates. And the cycle continues and continues and continues...
[Edited at 2010-04-25 16:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Poland
Local time: 11:43
English to Polish
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I think the chips being referred to are what the British call chips — which you would refer to as...
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 12:43
Turkish to English
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I actually thought that the reference was to silicon chips, which have become a low-priced commodity.
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