Living in Italy and working as a translator for other continets Thread poster: Laura Morarelli
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Hi everybody,
I've been working as a frelance translator since 2001, working mainly for one agency based in London, until one year ago. I actually got a job in England when I was a visiting student and I kept working via the Internet once I got back to Italy.
Duting 2006 I've contacted lots of translation agencies based in England, mainly in London and a few of them gave me some translations. I would like to try to contact agencies based in the USA, Australia, Canada. Yet I ... See more Hi everybody,
I've been working as a frelance translator since 2001, working mainly for one agency based in London, until one year ago. I actually got a job in England when I was a visiting student and I kept working via the Internet once I got back to Italy.
Duting 2006 I've contacted lots of translation agencies based in England, mainly in London and a few of them gave me some translations. I would like to try to contact agencies based in the USA, Australia, Canada. Yet I would like to get information from people who are living in Europe and have been working for agencies based in other continents.
Regarding payments, do you usually use Paypal?
Apart from London, which is the business centre of the country, can you suggest other cities where there are a few translation agencies?
I also wanted to contact German agencies, offering English to Italian service...
Thanks a lot for your help
Laura ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sonia Hill
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:17
Italian to English
Hi Laura,
In answer to your question about PayPal, I try to avoid it unless the client insists that this is the only way it will pay. I have found that PayPal fees are extremely high and the exchange rates are also unfavourable.
I work regularly for an agency in the US which pays me by cheque in dollars or by bank transfer - my bank only charges me £7-10 for the foreign cheque negotiation and it is a similar rate for bank transfers. Obviously if a small sum is involved, Pay... See more Hi Laura,
In answer to your question about PayPal, I try to avoid it unless the client insists that this is the only way it will pay. I have found that PayPal fees are extremely high and the exchange rates are also unfavourable.
I work regularly for an agency in the US which pays me by cheque in dollars or by bank transfer - my bank only charges me £7-10 for the foreign cheque negotiation and it is a similar rate for bank transfers. Obviously if a small sum is involved, Paypal is better, but I certainly don't use it for large sums. I suppose it does depend on your bank's charges though - not all banks are the same!
As regards other UK cities, I think places like Manchester and Birmingham should probably have a fairly high number of translation agencies (I'm not sure about this though). If I were you, I would send my CV to all the translation agencies you can find in the UK, after all it doesn't really matter which city they are based in.
Hope that helps,
Sonia ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Working for agencies in non-Euro countries | Aug 5, 2006 |
Hi Laura,
It is best to stick to working for agencies in the Euro zone, to avoid heavy Paypal charges. Paypal usually costs around 3.9% of the amount concerned + an extra EUR 0.35 or so, so works out very expensive when accepting larger amounts of money, although very cheap with smaller amounts. Note that you, as the one accepting the money, always pay the entire fees. Bank transfers within the Euro zone, however, are usually free.
I do work for agencies in Japan or the... See more Hi Laura,
It is best to stick to working for agencies in the Euro zone, to avoid heavy Paypal charges. Paypal usually costs around 3.9% of the amount concerned + an extra EUR 0.35 or so, so works out very expensive when accepting larger amounts of money, although very cheap with smaller amounts. Note that you, as the one accepting the money, always pay the entire fees. Bank transfers within the Euro zone, however, are usually free.
I do work for agencies in Japan or the USA from time to time, but it is necessary then to receive a decent word rate from the agency, whether you arrange payment by Paypal or by bank transfer (which is cheaper in the case of larger sums), to compensate for the fees you have to pay to receive the money.
There are more than enough agencies to work for in the Euro zone, in any case.
Astrid ▲ Collapse
| | | | Laura Morarelli
Italy
Local time: 15:17
English to Italian
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Astrid,
I'll try with Germany first then. I thought Frankfurt ...
I've actually never used paypal and it's good to know that you have such high fees to pay.
Many Thanks
Laura
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Angela Arnone 
Local time: 15:17
Member (2004)
Italian to English
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| moneybookers is an alternative | Aug 5, 2006 |
I gather moneybookers is cheaper. I don't use them any more as I had a nightmare trying to get the system to work, and by the time I got my money I had wasted time and patience that were far in excess of the money I received, but most folk seem happy with them.
I have paypal which I use very occasionally - it's free and efficient and good for ebaying (!), so you could set it up and only use it if necessary.
As for agency locations, what does it matter? That's the joy of the internet,... See more I gather moneybookers is cheaper. I don't use them any more as I had a nightmare trying to get the system to work, and by the time I got my money I had wasted time and patience that were far in excess of the money I received, but most folk seem happy with them.
I have paypal which I use very occasionally - it's free and efficient and good for ebaying (!), so you could set it up and only use it if necessary.
As for agency locations, what does it matter? That's the joy of the internet, right? But remember, the further away they are, the harder it will be to get your money if you have any hassle.
Inboccalupo
Angela
laurel ann wrote:
Thanks Astrid,
I'll try with Germany first then. I thought Frankfurt ...
I've actually never used paypal and it's good to know that you have such high fees to pay.
Many Thanks
Laura ▲ Collapse
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