| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Rates for translation, revision and proofreading Thread poster: Simone Schiavinato
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Hello everyone,
I have worked as an in-house translator and proofreader before and now I`m looking to start my freelance career, but I`m a bit confused about how to establish my fees. For translation, I have checked PROZ suggested rates and I came across these sums: standard €0.09/wd and minimum €0.06/wd.
I`m very confused when it comes to revision and proofreading though. I know that the best thing to do is to check the material first and then come up with an hour... See more Hello everyone,
I have worked as an in-house translator and proofreader before and now I`m looking to start my freelance career, but I`m a bit confused about how to establish my fees. For translation, I have checked PROZ suggested rates and I came across these sums: standard €0.09/wd and minimum €0.06/wd.
I`m very confused when it comes to revision and proofreading though. I know that the best thing to do is to check the material first and then come up with an hourly rate, but how exactly do you establish that hourly rate? I`ve seen people saying they charge 1/3 of their translation rate for revision, but I`m afraid the price for revision would therefore be too low.
The UK Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading suggests an hourly rate of £25.70 for proofreading and £29.90 for copyediting, but I`m afraid no agencies would pay that. Could anyone tell me if these are reasonable rates? Or did anyone ever receive these amounts for a job?
Thanks in advance ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
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Is there a CAT tool involved?
If there is, are they doing flat revision with no rep discounts?
For no rep discount on revision, I find 50% of MTPE rates to be pretty fair and profitable.
USD 0.03-0.04 / word should be OK for stuff you specialize in. Possibly more if they send you rando topics across a variety of fields.
From what I have seen, "hourly" rate often actually means "per 1000 words", regardless of how much time you actually spend.... See more Is there a CAT tool involved?
If there is, are they doing flat revision with no rep discounts?
For no rep discount on revision, I find 50% of MTPE rates to be pretty fair and profitable.
USD 0.03-0.04 / word should be OK for stuff you specialize in. Possibly more if they send you rando topics across a variety of fields.
From what I have seen, "hourly" rate often actually means "per 1000 words", regardless of how much time you actually spend.
If you don't get $40-ish per hour out of it, raise your rates. If your strategy involves spending more than 10% of your time chasing business or negotiating, raise the rates.
PS make sure to set a decently fat minimum price. Probably $50 or so.
[Edited at 2021-09-16 15:04 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-09-16 15:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I translate exclusively into European Portuguese and the rates for Brazilian Portuguese are probably lower. That being said, I don’t charge the same for all my language combinations: EN-PT, FR-PT and IT-PT start at 0.10€ and ES-PT starts at 0.08€, depending on the subject matter. For proofreading/revision/editing I charge exactly the same 40€ per hour (obviously proofreading goes faster than revision and/or editing). My minimum rate is also 40€. I never accept a project, whatever the j... See more I translate exclusively into European Portuguese and the rates for Brazilian Portuguese are probably lower. That being said, I don’t charge the same for all my language combinations: EN-PT, FR-PT and IT-PT start at 0.10€ and ES-PT starts at 0.08€, depending on the subject matter. For proofreading/revision/editing I charge exactly the same 40€ per hour (obviously proofreading goes faster than revision and/or editing). My minimum rate is also 40€. I never accept a project, whatever the job is, before having a good look at it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | But watch out for MTPE translation! | Sep 16, 2021 |
I concur with both Adieu's and Teresa's opinions. The set of prices and rates regarding revision and proofreading services seems more or less in accordance with effective prices and rates on the current translation market.
I just would like to make a strong reservation about revision and proofreading services when it comes to working on MTPE translations - in contrast to human translations.
As we all know, more and more translation agencies - but also increasingly end-c... See more I concur with both Adieu's and Teresa's opinions. The set of prices and rates regarding revision and proofreading services seems more or less in accordance with effective prices and rates on the current translation market.
I just would like to make a strong reservation about revision and proofreading services when it comes to working on MTPE translations - in contrast to human translations.
As we all know, more and more translation agencies - but also increasingly end-clients - are used to entrusting translators with so-called revision or proofreading services. Actually, those documents are mostly just coming from a translation machine whose rendering turns out to be messy and inaccurate - if not totally wrong - compared with a pretty acceptable human translation.
We all know this trick, which allows those unscrupulous agencies to generously offer you a rate for revision or proofreading services according to the current market rates, instead of paying the price for a genuine translation service, whilst the document you are entrusted with needs to be translated from scratch and demands the same work and researches you could be entitled to charge for a translation service.
At the end of the day, all profits come to those agencies which hit the jackpot. In the opposite, you have to bear the burden of all losses for all the time you have been spending on this crap job...
[Modifié le 2021-09-17 11:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Simone Schiavinato
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:51
Spanish to Portuguese
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TOPIC STARTER
Yes, I suspect that Brazilian Portuguese rates are lower and also because of the currency. I don`t know if I`m right to think this way, but one of my concerns is that agencies won`t be willing to pay UK or Europe rates for my language pair as it could be way cheaper to assign it to Brazilian-based translators.
| | | | Simone Schiavinato
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:51
Spanish to Portuguese
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TOPIC STARTER
Hi, Laurent! Yes, I agree. But I guess my question was what are the rates in the current market in the first place.
| | | | Simone Schiavinato
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:51
Spanish to Portuguese
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks you all! That`s very helpful and clarifying! I will certainly consider the suggested rates both for translation and revision/proofreading services.
| | | | Tony Keily
Local time: 20:51
Italian to English
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The UK Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading suggests an hourly rate of £25.70 for proofreading and £29.90 for copyediting
Here I imagine the term proofreading is being used properly under ISO 17100:2015(en) (i.e. "examine the revised target language content and applying corrections before printing"). In other words it's checking proofs of a text that has already been revised (i.e. "bilingual examination of target language content against source language content for its suitability for the agreed purpose"), prior to publication.
Most jobs seem to be for revision rather than proofreading, and it's best to check the quality of what you're revising (you can only revise what's been translated by a properly qualified pro) and always charge by the hour. (I charge 25 euro per hour.) Beware of MTPE jobs that are being passed off as revision jobs (or proofing, QC or whatever other naff terms PMs like to use).
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Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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When people say "watch out for MTPE jobs", they mean ROLE 1 on MTPE jobs.
Role 2 on MTPE jobs (actual revision after a human post-editor) is generally quite lucrative. Often pays better per word than role 1, too.
[Edited at 2021-09-17 14:05 GMT]
| | | | Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 13:51
Greek to English
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| Better invest in yourself | Sep 17, 2021 |
My advice would be to seek professional training and/or degrees in a different field that has a future.
Translations used to be a good field for a short period of time, when the formation of the EU and the opening of global markets created a huge demand.
Even people with good social skills in the USA gave up their potential in the traditional markets back then, and started translating, because it was paying well: 12+ cents per word translation, 4-5 cents per word editing, $30 minimum... See more My advice would be to seek professional training and/or degrees in a different field that has a future.
Translations used to be a good field for a short period of time, when the formation of the EU and the opening of global markets created a huge demand.
Even people with good social skills in the USA gave up their potential in the traditional markets back then, and started translating, because it was paying well: 12+ cents per word translation, 4-5 cents per word editing, $30 minimum charge etc, $30 per hour of formatting, 30% additional fee for weekend work, double the rate for "rush" projects - that was just 15 years ago. I even remember one project manager who asked me Friday morning if I could take this project at normal rate (12 cents per word) with a deadline of Tuesday, because she wanted to avoid the weekend surcharge. This was in 2009.
Inflation-adjusted, we should be today at least 16-18 cents per word and $45/hour minimum.
Instead, the "standard" rate nowadays, as imposed unilaterally by the large agencies, is 4-6 cents translation (3 if it's post-machine) and $15-20 minimum/hourly fee and $0 formatting. Automation + too many people in the field.
Of course there are agencies that pay more, but the large ones hold 90% of the market, so they are the ones really setting your average rate at the end of the day. From this amount, you have to pay high taxes and your own insurance and expenses, and forget vacations etc.
Those who boast that their "business is doing just fine" in here, are people with good income from other sources, roaming around the forums 24/7 to show off how relaxed they are. Numerically I could also say the same, that I'm fine and have been fine for 24 years, but I prefer being honest and on the side of the worker: life-wise and prospect-wise and health-wife it sucks like you wouldn't believe, and on top of it it's also falling down fast (price per work hour). It always sucked, and it's insanely boring too, but we were paid well for it.
Don't kill your future by becoming a low-paid 14-hour-work-per-day hermit. You'll start by chasing jobs and you'll trap yourself in this daily adrenaline-pumping chasing and working, but without building any resume for the future, or any business equity, until you become unemployable, and obsolete by the machine.
My advice is to invest in yourself, instead of becoming the eternal remote no-benefits worker for someone else's business.
[Edited at 2021-09-17 15:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 13:51
Greek to English
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| Or maybe not | Sep 17, 2021 |
Adieu wrote:
When people say "watch out for MTPE jobs", they mean ROLE 1 on MTPE jobs.
Role 2 on MTPE jobs (actual revision after a human post-editor) is generally quite lucrative. Often pays better per word than role 1, too.
[Edited at 2021-09-17 14:05 GMT]
And that's why I find so many weird sentences in the translations, that do not exist in real life. Because the confirmation bias of both the 1st and the 2nd reviewers just left everything there that "looks objectively ok".
For example in Greek, we do not "search for a word" (verb-noun) anymore, now it's "do search for a word" (verb-noun-noun). How many of such? About 350-400 common phrases turned weird, every single time.
Or too many commas or no commas at all, and absurdly long sentences (whatever got stuck in the Google machine is still there, everyone keeps leaving them there, because it's more time efficient this way).
And then the PM looks at the time the file was opened vs. the time of last save and thinks "what do you know, it took him only 15 minutes for 1000 words. Next time the proposed rate goes even further down."
Every single automation that Translators first discover and they think "wow, that works, I can make more money now", the Agencies adopt themselves about 10-14 months later. That's what happened when the Google machine got much better six years ago and translators thought they discovered the golden egg goose. It lasted for about 1 year before the major agencies got the machine for themselves.
So now they have time indications right on the software screen. Because young and eager translators started delivering some projects very fast (they wanted to show-off) and the agencies responded "you're that fast ah? it's 3,000 words per hour then, good boy".
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| To some extent | Sep 17, 2021 |
There's a definite "of the this by the that for the this about the that" flavor to most texts translated from Slavic languages.
I'm no fan of consumer-facing work though. The volumes in regulatory crap and head office monitoring the natives jobs are far healthier (if you translate into English). Or for manuals and documentation if you translate from English into local languages.
[Edited at 2021-09-17 21:08 GMT]
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Tony Keily wrote:
I charge 25 euro per hour.
I hope you don't mind me saying that.
Did you ever consider how much charge other intellectual professionals, or craftsmen like plumbers and masons or whoever, who in addition not always tend to pay taxes and so on in many a country, and how much you get net, after having paid your taxes and contributions? Not to mention the expenses you still have to meet.
| | | | TTilch
Local time: 20:51
English to German
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| consider the prices you pay yourself in Germany | Oct 1, 2021 |
Hi,
Average prices are: 60 euros net for craftsmen, about 90-150 euros net for learned professions.
So yes, a rate of 25 euros net (as others wrote here) is way too low - you would earn less than your colleagues that are employees and have to pay 3x your own rate should you need professional services yourself.
You have, after all, to pay yourself for office rent/equipment/material, social security contributions, health insurance, pension fund etc. It also depends on what... See more Hi,
Average prices are: 60 euros net for craftsmen, about 90-150 euros net for learned professions.
So yes, a rate of 25 euros net (as others wrote here) is way too low - you would earn less than your colleagues that are employees and have to pay 3x your own rate should you need professional services yourself.
You have, after all, to pay yourself for office rent/equipment/material, social security contributions, health insurance, pension fund etc. It also depends on what kind of annual turnover you are aiming at - 100,000 euros before tax?
My advice: Take a 1 day course in cost calculation, it's a real eye opener and will quickly show you which rates will allow you to live and which to starve only.
To become self-employed, you need much more knowledge than just translation and review skills...
Best regards,
Tanja ▲ Collapse
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 14:51
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| An Indian company just contacted me for a MTPE job | Oct 1, 2021 |
They offered $0.006 per word, and I told them that I can only MTPE 400 words per hour to make it minimally acceptable, so I would make $2.4 per hour working for them. And I “begged” them to stop contacting me.
I don't understand how this kind of company could have survived. To me, someone willing to work for $0.006 per word would only make the MT text even worse.
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