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Blue Board and Low Rates
Thread poster: Doan Quang
Christel Zipfel
Christel Zipfel  Identity Verified
Local time: 18:23
Member (2004)
Italian to German
+ ...
I think the BB is ok like it is Sep 23, 2016

Lianne van de Ven wrote:

This is what I am seeing regarding general statements about the Blueboard:

From this page: http://www.proz.com/blueboard/
The Blue Board
A searchable database of language job outsourcers with feedback from service providers.

And the first of rules: http://www.proz.com/?sp=siterules&mode=show&category=blue_board_bb_blueboard
The ProZ.com Blue Board is provided as a resource for referencing outsourcers of translation, interpreting and other language-related work, and for expressing willingness to work again with given outsourcers.


[Edited at 2016-09-23 16:59 GMT]


I understand and have always understood the Blueboard as a place to reference outsourcers for our fellow translators, i.e. reporting everything they cannot know when accepting a job: responsiveness, correctness and politeness of the agency, payment behaviour and so on. Instead, they are supposed to know the rate they agreed to, so there is really no reason to refer to the rate in the Blueboard, although I happened to see feedback about "low rates", but also about "good rates", whatever this means (a very subjective statement anyway IMHO).

Now, if it's true that the rules AFAIK don't say anywhere it is forbidden to refer to the rates, I for one believe frankly this is not even necessary in the spirit of the Blueboard as the rates and terms of payment are normally the only things known to the freelancer beforehand, when he/she starts the job, or at least should be. While they cannot know the further behaviour of the customer and that's why they would look at the BB.
And as it seems it's not forbidden, we can assume that all those people rating a customer and not referring to the rates they have been paid or agreed to are quite happy with them. And then: would you trust someone you don't know for sure at which rates they are usually working saying the rates are "good"? This is quite meaningless, isn't it?

So I think that given the wide range of rates considered "acceptable" by hundreds and thousands of freelancers in many different countries such a rating would be absolutely pointless.


 
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Yasutomo Kanazawa  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 01:23
Member (2005)
English to Japanese
+ ...
@Lianne Sep 24, 2016

Lianne van de Ven wrote:

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:

NO, that is NOT the issue. Please bother reading above or the Blue Board rules. 201 translators have worked for that agency, have agreed on a certain rate, had maybe nice PMs and were paid promptly. That's it. That's what the BB is about, not about rates, but about reilability and honesty. Rates are agreed among the parties involved.



Where do you have that information from?
This is what I am seeing regarding general statements about the Blueboard:

From this page: http://www.proz.com/blueboard/
The Blue Board
A searchable database of language job outsourcers with feedback from service providers.

And the first of rules: http://www.proz.com/?sp=siterules&mode=show&category=blue_board_bb_blueboard
The ProZ.com Blue Board is provided as a resource for referencing outsourcers of translation, interpreting and other language-related work, and for expressing willingness to work again with given outsourcers.


[Edited at 2016-09-23 16:59 GMT]


I quoted what Walter wrote above, and simply forgot to enter my comments and pressed the "submit" button. LOL
What I wanted to say is that I agree with what Walter wrote, because if BB is only a tool for judging by low rates or not, all Indian and Chinese agencies would end up getting straight "1"s from many translators.


 
Annie Sapucaia
Annie Sapucaia  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 12:23
French to English
+ ...
In my experience, Sep 24, 2016

BlueBoard is good for checking out an agency's payment promptness and reliability after you're already in discussion with the agency about rates. As a tool for finding which agencies to apply to, however, I find it utterly useless. Even if someone posts a "low rates" comment, you have no idea what that means in terms of your standards. Payment promptness is important, but rates are #1 for me, and I don't want to apply to an agency that doesn't even pay in the ballpark of what I charge... See more
BlueBoard is good for checking out an agency's payment promptness and reliability after you're already in discussion with the agency about rates. As a tool for finding which agencies to apply to, however, I find it utterly useless. Even if someone posts a "low rates" comment, you have no idea what that means in terms of your standards. Payment promptness is important, but rates are #1 for me, and I don't want to apply to an agency that doesn't even pay in the ballpark of what I charge - it's a waste of my time and theirs. There are other lists that do have a bit more information about rates and which are not as lenient on the agencies. BB just isn't that kind of list. I wish it were because Proz has some many commenters, but it just isn't. The problem is that newcomers don't generally know that, and they sort of rely on BB as being more thorough than it actually is.

[Edited at 2016-09-24 14:50 GMT]
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Blue Board and Low Rates







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