Should I give my rates when contacting agencies?
دھاگا پوسٹ کرنے والے: formeracctus (X)
formeracctus (X)
formeracctus (X)
برطانیہ
Local time: 02:44
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Feb 9, 2013

As the title says, should I give my rates when I send my initial e-mail to translation agencies, or should I wait for a positive response first? What's the etiquette here?

 
Nicole Schnell
Nicole Schnell  Identity Verified
امریکہ
Local time: 18:44
جرمنسےانگریزی
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میموریم میں
This is not about etiquette Feb 9, 2013

You should never determine any rate before you have seen the source text because you are neither a copy shop that charges flat fees per printed page, nor a fast food place where identical hamburgers are always 99 cent.
You can, however, give them an idea of your price range. For example: "My rates start at XXXXX for non-specialist source texts in good quality. The final rate will be determined after viewing the text according to its complexity and specialization and after estimating the ti
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You should never determine any rate before you have seen the source text because you are neither a copy shop that charges flat fees per printed page, nor a fast food place where identical hamburgers are always 99 cent.
You can, however, give them an idea of your price range. For example: "My rates start at XXXXX for non-specialist source texts in good quality. The final rate will be determined after viewing the text according to its complexity and specialization and after estimating the time needed for research."
Or something similar.
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Rasmus Drews
Rasmus Drews  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:44
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Wait... Feb 9, 2013

Unless they specifically ask to see your rates, I wouldn't.

I usually just send my CV + a quick overview of my qualifications in bullet form (language combinations, degree, years of experience, specialty fields, translation tools, a few major previous translation jobs) - and write that I offer competitive rates. If the agency finds my profile interesting, they will write back and ask what those rates are.

If you state your rates right off the bat, chances are the agency
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Unless they specifically ask to see your rates, I wouldn't.

I usually just send my CV + a quick overview of my qualifications in bullet form (language combinations, degree, years of experience, specialty fields, translation tools, a few major previous translation jobs) - and write that I offer competitive rates. If the agency finds my profile interesting, they will write back and ask what those rates are.

If you state your rates right off the bat, chances are the agency will just focus on those and not so much on your other qualifications.
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Tatty
Tatty  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:44
انگریزیسےاسپینی
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I state my rates Feb 9, 2013

Personally, I work with agencies and I choose to state my rates. I try to work at the upper end of the rates scales, which isn't very high here in Spain anyway. As a result, I only really receive work in my specialism. Occasionally, I translate general texts too. The level of difficulty of the texts I get doesn't vary much though, so I don't charge more if a texts looks a bit more difficult. I would just chalk it up to experience. The main reason I state my rates is because I am really not inter... See more
Personally, I work with agencies and I choose to state my rates. I try to work at the upper end of the rates scales, which isn't very high here in Spain anyway. As a result, I only really receive work in my specialism. Occasionally, I translate general texts too. The level of difficulty of the texts I get doesn't vary much though, so I don't charge more if a texts looks a bit more difficult. I would just chalk it up to experience. The main reason I state my rates is because I am really not interested in working with agencies that won't pay me what I am asking for. Secondly, price is a major consideration for an agency; it's what everyone wants to know...Collapse


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
اسپین
Local time: 03:44
رکن (2005)
اسپینیسےانگریزی
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You should not Feb 10, 2013

When contactacting an agency, what you want them to understand is your capability, profesionalism, reliability, and human quality, and in doing so you need to establish some kind of conversation with them.

Stating your rates in the first contact places the rates at the center of their attention, and you definitely do not want that since it kills the interchange you need to start. If they think your rates are low, they will consider you a cheap translator and do not need to know any
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When contactacting an agency, what you want them to understand is your capability, profesionalism, reliability, and human quality, and in doing so you need to establish some kind of conversation with them.

Stating your rates in the first contact places the rates at the center of their attention, and you definitely do not want that since it kills the interchange you need to start. If they think your rates are low, they will consider you a cheap translator and do not need to know anything else since they surely have a whole pile of CVs from cheap translators. If they consider your rates to be too high, they might discard you immediately since they still know nothing about you and would not be willing to pay more for something they don't know about.

Try to make yourself stand out from the crowd, with an image of excellence, attention to detail, and responsiveness, so that they are interested in telling you more about their needs and knowing more about your capabilities. After that, there will be ample time to discuss your rates and negotiate.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
پرتگال
Local time: 02:44
رکن (2007)
پرتگالیسےانگریزی
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No Feb 10, 2013

When contacting I don't, exactly for the reasons already stated by others. When contacted, I do, giving the potential client a price range and saying that each job is quoted on a case by case basis...

 
Michael Kapitonoff
Michael Kapitonoff
امریکہ
Local time: 21:44
انگریزیسےروسی
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Absolutely Feb 10, 2013

The last thing you want to do is waste your time and energy on someone who is not prepared to pay what you ask. I do not even give them my full resume (I value my privacy too much) without first having the rate acknowledged. Instead, I give bullet points. However, a rookie may not have much of a choice. That's OK too. The important thing here is not to stay a rookie for too long and not to give the house away.

 
formeracctus (X)
formeracctus (X)
برطانیہ
Local time: 02:44
انگریزیسےفرانسیسی
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for the advice Feb 10, 2013

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Just one more thing - how long should the initial e-mail be? I've been keeping them short and sweet, as I know PMs are busy people. Just my language pairs, brief details of my translation qualifications, recent projects and areas of expertise. In invite them to look at the attached CV and let me know if they have anything suitable. About 3-4 lines in total. Is that OK or a bit brusque?


 
neilmac
neilmac
اسپین
Local time: 03:44
انگریزیسےاسپینی
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KIS (Keep It Simple) Feb 10, 2013


Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Just one more thing - how long should the initial e-mail be? I've been keeping them short and sweet, as I know PMs are busy people. Just my language pairs, brief details of my translation qualifications, recent projects and areas of expertise. In invite them to look at the attached CV and let me know if they have anything suitable. About 3-4 lines in total. Is that OK or a bit brusque?


Your 3-4 lines approach sounds fine to me. As you say, PMs are usually too busy to read a longer spiel.


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
چین
Local time: 09:44
انگریزیسےچینی
I was going to say give a quote Feb 11, 2013

But Tomas has convinced me otherwise.

Just looking at your pair, though, I think you might consider doing something to indicate what price bracket you're in. Your pair suffers from a split personality like mine does: there are some very skilled, expensive translators; and a lot of low-skilled, low-price translators, mainly living in poorer countries (sorry to stereotype, but it's kinda true). It just saves time if you can indicate up front to an agency that you're the former, and pr
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But Tomas has convinced me otherwise.

Just looking at your pair, though, I think you might consider doing something to indicate what price bracket you're in. Your pair suffers from a split personality like mine does: there are some very skilled, expensive translators; and a lot of low-skilled, low-price translators, mainly living in poorer countries (sorry to stereotype, but it's kinda true). It just saves time if you can indicate up front to an agency that you're the former, and price is one way to do it.

I take Tomas's point though. If you focus on your qualifications and quality, that might do the job for you, and avoid the kind of instant categorisation he was warning about.

On your introduction emails: if you can condense to 3-4 lines, that's great. I find that one line of pleasantries seems to smooth things along, makes for a little bit of human contact. But no need to go beyond that.
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Should I give my rates when contacting agencies?







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