| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | I would like some opinions on the practical relationship between rates and quality Thread poster: Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
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| Thank you, gentlemen. | Jul 14, 2015 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Alex Lago wrote:
Why oh why can't people read the question the OP asked? Yup, exactly two posts are "on topic" so far (both of them on the first page).
Phil Hand wrote:
Based on my own experience, and applicable to my own pair only:
Under ~10c, you have a 95%+ chance of getting rubbish. By this I mean serious misunderstandings of the source and dumb translatorese in the target.
Then there's a fairly steep transition, and above ~10c, there's a new equilibrium, with about a 70% chance of getting something good.
That 70% may be optimistic.
Thanks, Phil, that's exactly what I'm asking about.
Judging by the general trend of answers, I think I need to do some clarifying now: I'm not asking about variable quality options, I'm not asking about any ethical concerns, and I'm not asking how much anyone should charge. In general, I'm not asking about anything from the should area.
This is not about the Sollen, it's about the Sein, so to say. I'm only asking about the actual, empirical experience of project managers and outsourcers regarding the relationship between the prices they pay and the quality they receive in return.
For example:
Do, in your experience (I know it's subjective and limited, which is why I'm asking multiple people), 0.06 translators tend to deliver better work than 0.03 translators? Does paying €0.08 reduce the chance of receiving a particularly bad translation compared to the six-cent bracket? Does paying €0.10 or €0.12 seem to guarantee a better average quality than one-digit rates or is it same deal? What about the teens and the twenties, is there a quality premium there? In short, does quality rise along with price, and if so, what does the proportion look like? (E.g. steady proportion, diminishing return, increasing return. Any thresholds or caps etc.)
This is a separate issue from however much you are willing or prepared to pay, or even the perceived economic value of such translations to you, from a business point of view. Which is also an interesting subject, even for this thread, but I'd keep it separate from the quality experience in order to avoid a loss of clarity by commingling responses to slightly different questions.
[Edited at 2015-07-14 12:29 GMT]
| | | | | I can tell you my experience as a proofreader... | Jul 14, 2015 |
I work for an agency that sends me projects when they have a budget for my rate... then I get to proofread some of their other translators who must be charging less than me, otherwise they would give it to me... invariably, the quality is very poor...
| | | | S_G_C
Romania
Local time: 21:07
English to Romanian
| Quality and rates | Jul 14, 2015 |
The quality I deliver has never changed. However, that quality is nowadays being appraised at 0.025 EUR or 0.05 USD or 10 or 15 or 20 RON for 2,000 signs with or without spaces. So there have been situations when communicating my acceptable rates was meaningless, since the clients specifically mentioned "we won't pay more than X per source word or X per 2,000 signs". Take it or leave it, your choice, there's always someone else who will accept the job, and I can see this by the number of quotes ... See more The quality I deliver has never changed. However, that quality is nowadays being appraised at 0.025 EUR or 0.05 USD or 10 or 15 or 20 RON for 2,000 signs with or without spaces. So there have been situations when communicating my acceptable rates was meaningless, since the clients specifically mentioned "we won't pay more than X per source word or X per 2,000 signs". Take it or leave it, your choice, there's always someone else who will accept the job, and I can see this by the number of quotes the client receives for a specific project in my language pairs. I'm still in the process of establishing whether my passion for translations is what keeps me going on, instead of abandoning the field altogether.
This is my reality.
[Edited at 2015-07-14 21:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Still more from the same proofreader | Jul 18, 2015 |
I absolutely agree with Sorana. Those of you who think you can "expect" a certain level of pay must live in a reality that will go the way of US-made computers and French-made Lacoste shirts (now made in Peru and El Salvador, at least for the US market). The state of the translation world (the Sein that Łukasz is looking for) is that people are competeting on price, undercutting their own past prices, agencies are ruthless and clients fickle and demanding. If two large London agencies pay 3.... See more I absolutely agree with Sorana. Those of you who think you can "expect" a certain level of pay must live in a reality that will go the way of US-made computers and French-made Lacoste shirts (now made in Peru and El Salvador, at least for the US market). The state of the translation world (the Sein that Łukasz is looking for) is that people are competeting on price, undercutting their own past prices, agencies are ruthless and clients fickle and demanding. If two large London agencies pay 3.5 pence per word, it doesn't matter to them initially how good of a product they will receive - what they do know, is that the PMs will be eventually able to sift out from an avalanche of bids those who are the best and still pay them 3.5 pence. The sad reality is that we, as a profession, have zero pricing power and are willing to work for next to nothing. I remember being shocked a few years back when I read on this forum that someone in Madrid was happy to work for 3 eurocents a word. And I am sure that she is not a bad translator - it is just that in her world her skills, studies, experience, professionalism, you name it, are worth 3 cents a word. And being suspicious of someone who is willing to work for a low rate is ridiculous - they are just trying to get the job.
Rafal ▲ Collapse
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MartaJ
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:07
English to Polish
| Code of practice and remuneration | Jul 18, 2015 |
The oath every court interpreter is sworn with, before conducting their job in a courtroom, says `I will well and faithfully interpret and true explanation give (...)`. This statement also reflects honesty and a professional approach applicable to translating. There is no a middle way or a happy medium and no cutting corners.
| | | | | "Sadly the most economical solution is generally to have a good translator patch up a cheap translat | Jul 18, 2015 |
Thats's what I experienced again a few days ago with a czeck agency (Erp commercial brochure)
The PM asked me to "proofread" 700 words, highligted in yellow in the PDF texts (4 files).
The input text, translated inhouse, was very bad, but they were no orthographic mistakes or typos.
Moreover, the non highlighted parts were not good.
Then I checked the yellow text wordcount which was about 1200 instead of 700.
I didn't accept the jo... See more Thats's what I experienced again a few days ago with a czeck agency (Erp commercial brochure)
The PM asked me to "proofread" 700 words, highligted in yellow in the PDF texts (4 files).
The input text, translated inhouse, was very bad, but they were no orthographic mistakes or typos.
Moreover, the non highlighted parts were not good.
Then I checked the yellow text wordcount which was about 1200 instead of 700.
I didn't accept the job. It would have been too much work for so little money.
And a light proofreading doesn't work for marketing style texts.
I stated that this type of document had to be translated by a French native Translator.
I proposed to retranslate everything from scratch with my standard rate, which is very reasonable.
Of course, this was not accepted (:
The PM seemed frustrated, because she was probably in charge of the first translation into French, or maybe she was herself the translator..
Have a nice week-end (:
[Edited at 2015-07-18 22:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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