| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you generally increase your rates every year? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 16:37
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Written in stone? | Jun 22, 2013 |
Elías Sauza wrote: Finally, one can pick up new clients at higher rates and say goodbye to old ones who are used to paying too little. Because, on the whole, once you set rates with a client they remain written in stone for ages. [Edited at 2013-06-22 16:23 GMT]
Different marketplaces and different clients require different pricing strategies. There is no a one-size-fits-all approach that will work for everyone. But inflation grows, groceries, daycare, car repairs, tuition for the kids, etc. they all increase. I don't set my rates in stone for anybody.
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 02:07
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | No straightforward answer to this one | Jun 23, 2013 |
When I look back at the rates I have been charging, a steep increase over the years is very much in evidence.
But this has not come about in a thought-out, militaristically implemented way. What has happened is as I got better paying clients, I have unceremoniously dumped the low-paying ones, with the result that my average rate has seen a clear upswing.
I agree it is difficult to change the rate with a client once it has been agreed upon, but I won't go so far as to sa... See more When I look back at the rates I have been charging, a steep increase over the years is very much in evidence.
But this has not come about in a thought-out, militaristically implemented way. What has happened is as I got better paying clients, I have unceremoniously dumped the low-paying ones, with the result that my average rate has seen a clear upswing.
I agree it is difficult to change the rate with a client once it has been agreed upon, but I won't go so far as to say that it becomes written in stone, for I have indeed managed to change it (in one case, during the US meltdown of 2012 reduce it) with a few clients.
One client, otherwise a good client, I had to dump, because he refused to agree to a raise in my rates. What helped me in making this decision were other minor irritants with this client including a very long payment term (almost 90 days) with payment delays on top of it and low volumes of infrequent work from him.
So I don't change rates every year in a sort of clock-work fashion, but I do it in a more organic way by acquiring better paying clients. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:37
Spanish to English
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These days it's more about just trying to keep going until the local/regional/national economy gets better. The people who give me my work, whether agencies or others, are all feeling the pinch right now, so I consider myself lucky to have been able to keep my rates at pre-crisis levels. I've been charging the same basic rate for the past 4-5 years, and never tire of reminding my clients that this is equivalent to a reduction, as expenses and taxes etc keep going up.-
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