Prices proposed by agencies to freelancers in Germany Thread poster: EBtraduction (X)
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EBtraduction (X)
Local time: 07:09
English to French
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Hi everybody,
For a few days I've tried to know which prices I can propose to translations agencies in Germany: I've searched for information on the Internet, and I've done lots of calculations, but I'm still lost...
For instance: if a text t has 1,658 words, 12,090 marks (including spaces), and so about 220 lines (as Normzeile = 55 Anschläge inkl. Leerzeichen), I've calculated that I can earn about 116 EUR if I propose 0,07 EUR a source word. But as in Germany, lots o... See more Hi everybody,
For a few days I've tried to know which prices I can propose to translations agencies in Germany: I've searched for information on the Internet, and I've done lots of calculations, but I'm still lost...
For instance: if a text t has 1,658 words, 12,090 marks (including spaces), and so about 220 lines (as Normzeile = 55 Anschläge inkl. Leerzeichen), I've calculated that I can earn about 116 EUR if I propose 0,07 EUR a source word. But as in Germany, lots of agencies want to know our prices for a line and not for a word, I've also calculated the price for that, and I wanted both results to be logical from each other, so: I've found 220 lines*0,50 = 110 EUR. In this case, both results are almost the same, but there is a problem. Whereas in France 0,07 EUR is usually what agencies "can" propose, some German translators say that 0,70 is not enough, and so I can imagine that 0,50 is just low cost translation... Yes, but if I propose more for a line (for example 0,70 > 0,70*220 = 154 EUR), then I have to propose more for a word (at least 0,09 > 0,09*1658 = 150 EUR) to be logical... And it seems to be just impossible for the French agencies (and others) to pay that price to freelancers.
So my question is: as freelancers, how much do you propose to translation agencies in Germany for a translation and for proofreading a word? A line? An hour (even if per hour it's quite relative, because for exemple you can proofread both 2 or 4 pages...)? Do you calculate your price according to the source text or the target, and why?
Thanks in advance for your help! ▲ Collapse
| | | | EBtraduction (X)
Local time: 07:09
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Hi again,
Does anyone have an idea about this subject?
Thanks a lot!
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1. The whole system of charging by the line is hopelessly complex and antiquated, presumably dating from pre-wordprocessing days. I just quote my prices in euro per word, and they seem quite happy to do the sums themselves.
2. EUR 0.70 is on the low side in my opinion.
| | | | | €1 per line = (roughly) 0.13 Euro cents per word | May 18, 2011 |
I find that working out a quote in whatever units the client is already likely to be thinking in saves the client time and saves me from making stupid mistakes in any negotiations which take place before the job is finalized. That applies to currencies as well as to pricing per line, per word, per 1000 characters etc. If I'm talking to somebody in Switzerland, I need to know what the current exchange rate from Swiss francs to Euros is.
I used to think that quoting in lines was biza... See more I find that working out a quote in whatever units the client is already likely to be thinking in saves the client time and saves me from making stupid mistakes in any negotiations which take place before the job is finalized. That applies to currencies as well as to pricing per line, per word, per 1000 characters etc. If I'm talking to somebody in Switzerland, I need to know what the current exchange rate from Swiss francs to Euros is.
I used to think that quoting in lines was bizarre, but I have come to like it. German words vary so much in length that a simple wordcount doesn't really say that much about how long it will take to translate a given text.
So my advice would be to go with the per-line rate, at least for agencies. Direct customers might prefer you to quote in words. ▲ Collapse
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Laurent KRAULAND (X) 
France
Local time: 07:09
French to German
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| Antiquated? Complex? | May 18, 2011 |
philgoddard wrote:
1. The whole system of charging by the line is hopelessly complex and antiquated, presumably dating from pre-wordprocessing days. I just quote my prices in euro per word, and they seem quite happy to do the sums themselves.
2. EUR 0.70 is on the low side in my opinion.
A "line" by my accepted standards is 55 characters including spaces, a figure which can easily be determined by modern text processors.
Also, I can do without the modernity of counting "words" in the SL as a basis for the translator's fees - this was one of the first (successful) attempts to increase the middleman's margin by lowering the amount paid to the translator.
| | | | | SL words != modern | May 18, 2011 |
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
Also, I can do without the modernity of counting "words" in the SL as a basis for the translator's fees
It's been a "modernity" in Sweden since at least 1998 when I started out as a translator, and several years before that according to former colleagues. And every single client that I currently have pay by the word and not by the line.
The only clients I have ever had that paid per line were German, and they were a small minority compared to the other German clients that paid per word.
In technical documentation, a "line" of text is extremely varied depending on where the text is placed: in headings (often in many levels), image captions, diagram legends, tables and so on. And software text is a different beast altogether. In these cases, counting in lines adds work and uncertainty with no benefits at all.
For literature translation, charging per line may be more feasible since many literary works are written as mostly running text.
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 07:09
French to German
+ ...
IrimiConsulting wrote:
In technical documentation, a "line" of text is extremely varied depending on where the text is placed: in headings (often in many levels), image captions, diagram legends, tables and so on. And software text is a different beast altogether. In these cases, counting in lines adds work and uncertainty with no benefits at all.
1 line is 55 characters including spaces.
So if you have this:
Header 1
This is text. This is text. This is text. This is text. This is text.
Sub-header 1
Another text. Another text. Another text.
Header 2
Yet another text.
you have 157 characters, spaces included - or 157/55 = 2.85 lines. I didn't spend an eternity on determining this either ...
Of course, mileages may vary according to specialisations and I am really glad I can do 85% of my translation work with one of the currently available word processors...
[Edited at 2011-05-18 08:40 GMT]
| | | | | Fee converter | May 18, 2011 |
Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
philgoddard wrote:
1. The whole system of charging by the line is hopelessly complex and antiquated, presumably dating from pre-wordprocessing days. I just quote my prices in euro per word, and they seem quite happy to do the sums themselves.
2. EUR 0.70 is on the low side in my opinion.
A "line" by my accepted standards is 55 characters including spaces, a figure which can easily be determined by modern text processors.
Also, I can do without the modernity of counting "words" in the SL as a basis for the translator's fees - this was one of the first (successful) attempts to increase the middleman's margin by lowering the amount paid to the translator.
I am sure old-fashioned and antiquated, as I have since ever quoted by the (target) line and still do in all German-speaking countries, where this method continues to be nearly universally utilised, and it's not complex at all. I have been told that recently, at least also some Italian and French agencies ask for a quote by line. There must be a reason behind this. Even though there is a thing called "Normzeile", in my experience, it's not normed at all, and you find everything between 50 and 55 characters in Germany/Switzerland/Austria, in other countries even 60.
The word count system is not necessarily more disadvantageous than the line count, but I agree that it must have been introduced to make possible fuzzy and repitition calculation and this is certainly not to the advantage of the translator; I strongly doubt actually that these discounts will be passed on to the customer - but this a whole new ballgame.
Here you can easily convert your fees between different calculation methods and languages:
http://www.amtrad.it/feewizardol.php (thanks to our Italian colleague Alessandra Muzzi).
I would also agree that 0,70 Euro is rather low, although it becomes more and more difficult to get more than 0,90, in my experience.
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