| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Pig in a Poke Thread poster: Henry Hinds
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| Agencies you know | May 29, 2015 |
Gabriele Demuth wrote:
... I have registered with several agencies that have a rate for me on their system and send requests for translation expecting to be paying that rate. So far there wasn't a real problem with that, but I can foresee that this rate may not work for all projects.
Do you regularly renegotiate the rate depending on the project or do agencies favour the one size fits all approach?
Every agency works differently, but the key difference between what you're asking and what the original post is about is that you have (theoretically) had a chance to get to know the agency and the types of documents it *usually* sends/will send you.
On the surface, certain agencies (but not all!) I deal with would appear to favor the "one size fits all approach" simply because I, like you, have given them a base rate I'm willing to work for, which they have "in their system". However, the context is that those agencies generally send me the same type of work with the same format of document and decent deadlines or deadlines I set myself. That means that 8 or even 9 times out of 10, I can comfortably do the work for that rate and no extra negotiation is required other than whether or not I can complete the project before their (or their client's) preferred deadline.
However, even those agencies know I ALWAYS need to see the text/document before agreeing to any project, and especially before agreeing to complete the project for their deadline and for the pre-determined rate. That last 1 or 2 times out of 10 - after reviewing the text, I will tell them that this, that, or the other means that I will have to charge more, and they understand that this is a possibility. Sometimes they can arrange for this "change" with their own client, sometimes not. Sometimes they are even aware ahead of time that I will charge more if I accept the project (e.g., work on weekends, work with a .pdf, etc.).
If you're comfortable with the above-described type of relationship, I don't see anything wrong with it, personally.
But to my mind, there's a big difference between an ongoing business relationship where you have a good idea of what kind of work you can expect for your "price", and dealing with a completely unknown entity and a completely unknown text/file.
On the other hand, there are some "big box agencies" out there that have you register with a rate, send out mass eMails to (what I can only assume are) hundreds of translators at a time, and won't give you the time of day if you don't accept the particular project at *THE RATE* stated in their system, no matter what the deadline, no matter what the text, no matter what the file type, no matter what the formatting requirements.
I occasionally respond to those eMails telling them my *actual* price for the project described (and I usually don't hear back), but in general, the main response I have for them includes rude hand gestures.
| | | | Suzan Hamer 
Netherlands
Local time: 18:09
English
+ ...
Jenny Forbes wrote:
Whenever I'm asked to quote for a potential job or apply for a job posted on Proz, I always say that my quote is subject to seeing the document first. That seems to me to be a perfectly normal business practice.
Especially with "proofreading". Often, when the job is described as proofreading, the text actually requires (extensive) modification to ensure that it is accurately written and makes sense to the reader (editing) rather than identifying and correcting typographical, spelling, and punctuation errors in an already edited text (proofreading, as defined on my profile).
I cannot imagine quoting on a job without first seeing the text, or at least a representative part of it (usually from the middle rather than the beginning).
It's like buying shoes without trying them on.
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