| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | Outrageously low rates offered by "translators" Thread poster: Dominika Lupa
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Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 06:12
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Anna Michlik wrote:
What you can do is to tell the client that you´d be happy to proofread this translation. And maybe they will come back to you. Or maybe not, if this is such a great offer for this company...
I think that might be your best approach. But you'd have to be scrupulously fair and only mark things that are truly wrong, otherwise you could be accused of "sour grapes".
If it's a small job, why not offer your services for free? If it's bigger, then the best thing might be to take random samples throughout the text and proofread them. Don't just do the first paragraphs as quality often deteriorates when the translator realises how long the first part took and how little they're getting paid for their time. Of course, if the client agrees with your comments, then you could proof the rest at your normal proofing rate on the assumption that they'll return to you for the next translation.
It's a real shame and I sympathise with you. I suppose this sort of thing happened pre-Internet but it seems particularly prevalent at the moment.
Good luck in getting the job back!
| | | | Gina W
United States
Local time: 01:12
Member (2003)
French to English
| I don't believe it either | Jan 18, 2011 |
Witold Chocholski wrote:
Is that right? EUR 2 per page? About 0.01 EUR per word?
Impossible. I don't believe they got such an offer from a very experienced translator.
There is no way that a "very experienced" translator would accept this pay. No way.
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 07:12
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
I understand that the client is trusted and proven (seven years is a long time), but isn't there a chance that they might be trying to "leverage" this new offer a bit too hard?
I am sure it is true they have been approached by someone, but maybe they just exaggerated the rate difference somewhat to have you lower your rates in turn?
| | | | | Input from someone with a "regular" income who also does freelancing | Jan 18, 2011 |
Michał Szcześniewski wrote:
GerSi wrote:
Perhaps the client found somebody who has a regular employment and just wants to earn a few extra cents?
I never actually understood why someone having a regular income from a 9 to 5 job would be willing to burn the midnight oil for a low rate (or a rate lower than that of a full time freelancer)? If you have a regular income you can be picky and you can try to raise your rates, right? Or am I missing something?
One of the advantages of freelancing whilst also being employed is the possibility, as Michał correctly proposes in his posting, of rejecting insulting offers without the fear of starvation. It is also a good way of keeping all your options open:
GerSi wrote:
I don't know how it is in Poland, but in some countries regular jobs are underpaid.
I've got no idea about salary levels in Poland, or Slovenia, but most employees are pretty exhausted after a full day at the office + commuting. Freelancing on top of that is very much a case of weighing of the pros and cons.
Personally, I continue to freelance in order to keep all options open.
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Dominika Lupa wrote:
And what I hear, is that they received an offer from a very experienced translator, who will do this translations for EUR 2 per page!!!!!!!!!! (1600 characters). As you can easily find on Proz, the rates for English-Polish translations are much higher....
Dominika
I would say, if someone agrees to work for 2 Eur per page (for medical translation) is either insane or extremely unqualified and desperate. So, let it be. Just unfair to patients.
I saw an add on gratka.pl where someone was looking for *experienced* medical and other translators to work with potential long-lasting projects for 8PLN per page (=ca. 2 Euro). So indeed, it is possible. I guess it's based on blind Google translation. Then again, poor patients.
The interesting (and sad) thing is that you won't find this kind of ads for medical doctors, lawyers, geodesists, notaries, mechanics etc. Representatives of the aforementioned professions stay extremely loyal to each other (and thus to themselves), and are not selling themselves cheap.
And maybe Jabberwock is right, maybe they're trying to bargain with you.
Ewa
PS
Dominika Lupa wrote:
Thirdly, so far I have now idea about the quality of his work - they are still waiting for his translation.
ok. so let's wait and see the quality or the "quality".
[Edited at 2011-01-18 21:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-01-18 21:46 GMT]
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The interesting (and sad) thing is that you won't find this kind of ads for medical doctors, lawyers, geodesists, notaries, mechanics etc.
Bad example, Ewa The above-mentioned specialists (especially lawyers and notaries) usually work with end clients (i.e physical persons). So normally an ad like "notary wanted!" is simply not possible
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Alexander Onishko wrote:
The interesting (and sad) thing is that you won't find this kind of ads for medical doctors, lawyers, geodesists, notaries, mechanics etc.
Bad example, Ewa The above-mentioned specialists (especially lawyers and notaries) usually work with end clients (i.e physical persons). So normally an ad like "notary wanted!" is simply not possible
ok. you are right, but still, their rates do not vary that much, do they?
[Edited at 2011-01-18 21:48 GMT]
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Assuming this person can do five pages a day, that's EUR 10 a day, EUR 50 a week, or EUR 2,500 a year. This equates to USD 3,300. The average national wage in Papua New Guinea is USD 3,304.
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| Yes, they do | Jan 18, 2011 |
Evonymus (Ewa Kazmierczak) wrote:
ok. you are right, but still, their rates do not vary that much, do they?
Yes, they do. For example, several times I needed to have my signature under the translation certified by a notary. Their rates varies 5 times (!)
And if we talk about lawyers such as court defenders, their rates may vary 10, 20, 50 times depending on how famous that particular layer is.
[Edited at 2011-01-18 22:48 GMT]
| | | | texjax DDS PhD
Local time: 01:12
Member (2006)
English to Italian
+ ...
gad wrote:
Witold Chocholski wrote:
Is that right? EUR 2 per page? About 0.01 EUR per word?
Impossible. I don't believe they got such an offer from a very experienced translator.
There is no way that a "very experienced" translator would accept this pay. No way.
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philgoddard wrote:
Assuming this person can do five pages a day, that's EUR 10 a day, EUR 50 a week, or EUR 2,500 a year. This equates to USD 3,300. The average national wage in Papua New Guinea is USD 3,304.
Come on! Assuming that this person does 10 pages a day and works 25 days a month, this is 500 Euro per month. In Poland you can still live on that money (though not especially well).
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 07:12
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER | No you can't... | Jan 19, 2011 |
Alexander Onishko wrote:
Come on! Assuming that this person does 10 pages a day and works 25 days a month, this is 500 Euro per month. In Poland you can still live on that money (though not especially well).
To do 10 pages every day the translator would have to do it full-time. And this means self-employment, where social security would take half of that money and then the taxes would take 19% cut... Unless we're talking total black market here.
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Jabberwock wrote:
Alexander Onishko wrote:
Come on! Assuming that this person does 10 pages a day and works 25 days a month, this is 500 Euro per month. In Poland you can still live on that money (though not especially well).
To do 10 pages every day the translator would have to do it full-time. And this means self-employment, where social security would take half of that money and then the taxes would take 19% cut... Unless we're talking total black market here.
Quite interesting... In the above case the option of black market is quite possible by the way.
And talking about the fact that, as you say "social security would take half of that money" - I sometimes heard quite different info...
a minimum* of approx. EUR 140 per month in general, or
a minimum* of approx. EUR 30 per month for the first 24 months.
Medical tax: EUR 60 per mon
http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/180125-what_are_the_taxes_for_the_self_employed_in_your_country.html#1581211
| | | | Dominika Lupa
Poland
Local time: 07:12
English to Polish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | To Alexander | Jan 19, 2011 |
Yes, you are right - on one hand.
But at the same time, you cannot presume, that there will always be this 10 pages per day... and here I agree with Jabberwock - it is highly probable, that a black market might be the case here...
What I'm going to do, is to get as much information from my client as possible, just to solve the horrible MISTERY of that rate
And I will keep you posted!
... See more Yes, you are right - on one hand.
But at the same time, you cannot presume, that there will always be this 10 pages per day... and here I agree with Jabberwock - it is highly probable, that a black market might be the case here...
What I'm going to do, is to get as much information from my client as possible, just to solve the horrible MISTERY of that rate
And I will keep you posted!
Thanks a lot to all of you for your support! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adam Łobatiuk
Poland
Local time: 07:12
Member (2009)
English to Polish
+ ...
| Contract for a specific task | Jan 19, 2011 |
Or "umowa o dzieło" in Polish - doesn't it make it cheaper for translators to work? As far as I remember (but could be wrong), they only pay prorated social security premiums and only the pension segment and not the whole monthly amounts. Also, the income tax seems to be lower with the 50% fixed costs. That would help explain the lower rate (not justify it).
Also, I understand how a part-time translator might care less about rates - after all, it is unplanned extra money, and not t... See more Or "umowa o dzieło" in Polish - doesn't it make it cheaper for translators to work? As far as I remember (but could be wrong), they only pay prorated social security premiums and only the pension segment and not the whole monthly amounts. Also, the income tax seems to be lower with the 50% fixed costs. That would help explain the lower rate (not justify it).
Also, I understand how a part-time translator might care less about rates - after all, it is unplanned extra money, and not the only source of income. If someone asked me to, say, help their kid with English, I would probably charge less than professional tutors (not that I would want or need to do that). ▲ Collapse
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