Agency wanting a commission Thread poster: Christina B.
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Christina B. 
Sweden
Local time: 02:36
French to German
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Hi!
This morning I got an e-mail inviting me to join an agencies translator team in the Swedish to German pair. They wrote
"We pay through PayPal $0.15 USD/word for the translation, but you can apply with higher rates.
We only charge a straightforward commission of 20% for each job done with us. There are no other fees."
Did I get that right? They want me to pay them a commission??? I've never heard about that, why wouldn't they just pay lower rates? (Or d... See more Hi!
This morning I got an e-mail inviting me to join an agencies translator team in the Swedish to German pair. They wrote
"We pay through PayPal $0.15 USD/word for the translation, but you can apply with higher rates.
We only charge a straightforward commission of 20% for each job done with us. There are no other fees."
Did I get that right? They want me to pay them a commission??? I've never heard about that, why wouldn't they just pay lower rates? (Or does straightforward in this context mean before I get paid myself?) And why should there be any "fees" for translators?
What do you think about it? ▲ Collapse
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not normal... but you could add an extra 20% to your rate... 
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 01:36
Member (2007)
English
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| I'm speechless! | Oct 25, 2018 |
Except posting rules won't allow that
| | | | | What's the difference? | Oct 25, 2018 |
Either:
They mean that you are put in direct contact with the end client, for which the agency charges you 20% of what you then earn.
Or
It's no different that the many agencies posting jobs on Proz that offer laughable rates to translators but then charge their end clients 2, 3 or 4 times the amount they pay to the translator(s) actually doing the work.
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| Maybe normal + remarkable transparency? | Oct 25, 2018 |
Hi,
Maybe you didn't get their message right and they only wanted to tell you that you're free to propose higher rates than $0.15 USD? You would then have to remember they apply a 20% commission (which is pretty normal as far as I know). So if you asked, let's say, $0.30 USD, the end client would be asked the price of $0.36 USD and that may be just too high to stay competitive (so you both would loose the client).
Anyway, an agency always charges a commission, except that they... See more Hi,
Maybe you didn't get their message right and they only wanted to tell you that you're free to propose higher rates than $0.15 USD? You would then have to remember they apply a 20% commission (which is pretty normal as far as I know). So if you asked, let's say, $0.30 USD, the end client would be asked the price of $0.36 USD and that may be just too high to stay competitive (so you both would loose the client).
Anyway, an agency always charges a commission, except that they are rarely transparent about the level.
By the way, Paypal's prices are so high that I really appreciate agencies which increase the translator's remuneration by the price charged by Paypal when this kind of payment is preferred. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | They've got it backward | Oct 26, 2018 |
They should be paying you a commission or some kind of regular fee for the right to have your name on their database, when they advertise that they have 1,000 expert translators (in their database).
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 02:36
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Sure, why not | Oct 26, 2018 |
Christina Baier wrote:
Did I get that right? They want me to pay them a commission???
It is normal in many fields for agents to work on a commission basis. Translation "agencies" are not really agents in this sense. I have no objection to such a working relationship in principle, but I know too little about the potential pitfalls to be confident about it.
For example, what proof will the agent require of how much money I received from the client (to base his commission on)? Or: what happens when the client does not pay or pays less than the agreed amount -- does the agent still get his commission, or a portion of it? Exactly when must the commission be paid (immediately after acceptance, at invoice time, when the client pays the translator, X number of days later, etc.). And of course we have to think about the tax implications (what kind of a business expense is paying commission, and to what extend is it deductible, etc.).
By the way, I don't see how anyone can make a living as an agent for translators in this sense, unless they're dealing with very large jobs.
"We pay through PayPal $0.15 USD/word for the translation, but you can apply with higher rates.
We only charge a straightforward commission of 20% for each job done with us. There are no other fees."
I think what they mean is that the price they quote to the client is the same as the price you quote to them. Translation agencies usually add their own percentages when quoting, and translators have no idea how much the agency is adding. It's not unusual for agencies to add 50-100%, though, so a mere 20% markup will allow you to quote quite competitively. You may even be able to quote 30-40% above your usual rate.
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote: not normal... but you could add an extra 20% to your rate...
I don't think this even warrants a smiley -- it goes without saying that you must quote at least 20% above your usual rate (and I'm sure the agent expects it).
[Edited at 2018-10-26 07:40 GMT]
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I think the bottom line is that none of us really knows what they are trying to say, so you need to ask them for clarification!
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| Sounds as if they just act as a broker | Oct 26, 2018 |
From the sound of it, it seems to me that this agency is more acting like a broker than a true translation agency. In a "normal" translator agency relation, the agency is the client of the translator, and the end client is the client of the agency. The agency is responsible for delivering to the end client.
But if they use the term "commission", it sounds more like they just want to broker the contact between translator and end client, leaving everything else to these parties.
| | | | Daniel Frisano
Italy
Local time: 02:36
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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| Nothing to sneeze at | Oct 26, 2018 |
Christina Baier wrote:
"We pay through PayPal $0.15 USD/word for the translation, but you can apply with higher rates.
We only charge a straightforward commission of 20% for each job done with us. There are no other fees."
Do they need Italian too? I could live with $0.12 per word from German - IF they are reliable.
| | | | Daniel Frisano
Italy
Local time: 02:36
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
| x + 20% – 20% ≠ x | Oct 26, 2018 |
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote: not normal... but you could add an extra 20% to your rate...
Rather 25%. If you add 20% to your rate then subtract a 20% commission from the augmented rate, you end up with 96% of the original amount.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 02:36
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Consequences of cutting out the middle man | Oct 26, 2018 |
Daniel Frisano wrote: Christina Baier wrote:
"We pay through PayPal $0.15 USD/word for the translation, but you can apply with higher rates.
We only charge a straightforward commission of 20% for each job done with us. There are no other fees." Do they need Italian too? I could live with $0.12 per word from German - if they are reliable.
I think you're making an important point, and I don't think raising one's rate by 25% is enough to cover it.
One of the duties of an agency (and why we allow them to pay us lower rates than direct clients) is to verify that the end-client can and will pay. This agent isn't going to do such verification. All the risk of non-payment will be with the translator. The agent will simply point the translator to the client and say "this client's got a translation job for you", but then you will still have to to due diligence on the client, while the client is waiting for his translation.
Again, I don't think this is necessarily a bad arrangement, but I can see how one could easily sell oneself short without realising it.
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Daniel Frisano
Italy
Local time: 02:36
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Christina Baier wrote:
What do you think about it?
Is the commission paid to a different account?
If so, it could be a case of "soft" laundering: higher expenses to be deducted from a taxable account, part of the income diverted to a low- or no-taxation jurisdiction. Although there are quicker ways to do this (just open a company and bank account in a country where corporate income is not taxable and charge your own original company from there), this kind of scenario is not inconceivable.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 20:36
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| This is how I understood it | Oct 26, 2018 |
Elzbieta Lubelska wrote:
Hi,
Maybe you didn't get their message right and they only wanted to tell you that you're free to propose higher rates than $0.15 USD? You would then have to remember they apply a 20% commission (which is pretty normal as far as I know). So if you asked, let's say, $0.30 USD, the end client would be asked the price of $0.36 USD and that may be just too high to stay competitive (so you both would loose the client).
I think what they meant was if you charge $0.30 USD per word to the end client, $0.06 will be taken out of it as their commission, and you will end up earning $0.24 per word.
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Daniel Frisano wrote:
Rather 25%. If you add 20% to your rate then subtract a 20% commission from the augmented rate, you end up with 96% of the original amount.
Maths has never been my forte...
[Edited at 2018-10-27 11:49 GMT]
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