| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | This is why I have a min. rate! Thread poster: Robert Rietvelt
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I received this offer today.
Hello Espaned,
XXXX has a new translation job that matches your qualifications.
Project Name: Letter from the Top
Due Date: Jan 25, 2019, 12:18 AM UTC
Languages: English (EN) > Kannada (KN).
Job ID: XXXX
Total wordcount: 4
New Words: 4
Fuzzy Matches:
95% - 99%: 0
85% - 94%: 0
100% Matches: 0
Repetition: 0
Amount:
$0.44
If you are i... See more I received this offer today.
Hello Espaned,
XXXX has a new translation job that matches your qualifications.
Project Name: Letter from the Top
Due Date: Jan 25, 2019, 12:18 AM UTC
Languages: English (EN) > Kannada (KN).
Job ID: XXXX
Total wordcount: 4
New Words: 4
Fuzzy Matches:
95% - 99%: 0
85% - 94%: 0
100% Matches: 0
Repetition: 0
Amount:
$0.44
If you are interested in taking on this job, please click on the button below. Please note that jobs are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.
By the way, my target language is DUTCH!!!!
[Edited at 2019-01-25 12:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | | Could have been worse... | Jan 25, 2019 |
... those 4 words could've been reps, at $0.044 or something like that...
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I actually invoiced this to a major Dutch agency. They were one of my main clients, were taken over by some international group, the PMs quit and the work dried up.
I was sent a 2 word job late last year, with PO and full CAT tool breakdown and this was the amount. So it's no longer just on Proz that fantastic jobs are to be had.
Yes, I do have a minimum rate but this was simply too funny and the two words were a no-brainer. Count me lucky that they were 2 different words, no repe... See more I actually invoiced this to a major Dutch agency. They were one of my main clients, were taken over by some international group, the PMs quit and the work dried up.
I was sent a 2 word job late last year, with PO and full CAT tool breakdown and this was the amount. So it's no longer just on Proz that fantastic jobs are to be had.
Yes, I do have a minimum rate but this was simply too funny and the two words were a no-brainer. Count me lucky that they were 2 different words, no repeats or fuzzies.
[Edited at 2019-01-25 12:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Rietvelt 
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I am that certain Espaned. I also work under the name ESPANED.COM (company name, see my website).
| | | | Robert Rietvelt
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | This is why I have a min. rate! (2) | Jan 25, 2019 |
writeaway wrote:
I actually invoiced this to a major Dutch agency. They were one of my main clients, were taken over by some international group, the PMs quit and the work dried up.
I was sent a 2 word job late last year, with PO and full CAT tool breakdown and this was the amount. So it's no longer just on Proz that fantastic jobs are to be had.
Yes, I do have a minimum rate but this was simply too funny and the two words were a no-brainer. Count me lucky that they were 2 different words, no repeats or fuzzies.
[Edited at 2019-01-25 12:50 GMT]
My absolute record was also 2 words, but I charged them my min. rate, and they accepted.
| | | | Axel Kirch
Taiwan
Local time: 01:46
Chinese to German
+ ...
This almost seems like a Mechanical Turk inquiry, just via mail.
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Eva Stoppa
Germany
Local time: 19:46
English to German
+ ...
| So whatÄs the use of this min rate here | Jan 25, 2019 |
Seems as the only thing they cared about was to get your name correctly. Neither your min rates, nor your language combination was a thin they bothered to do research on.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Amount:
$0.44
Assuming this was in your language combination, how much money would you have lost if you had accepted this job? What is your time worth? Let's assume you spend $5 worth of time doing the admin for this job (invoicing, following up on payment, checking your bank statements, etc). This means that accepting this job will cost you $4.56.
Now, if this was in my language combination, I would accept it. For a old client, I would do it as a freebie. $4.56 for moving my name to the top of their list of translators is a good deal (compare that with the expected successes of marketing efforts, and their costs).
For a brand new client, I would invoice for it ($0.44). Why? Because when I invoice for it, my name pops up on their system a second time, and that's potentially very important for future work (depending on how their system is set up). Even if I just end up annoying their bookkeeper, my name floats towards the top of the agency's collective mind. It also gives me a valid reason to contact the PM, and the PM won't just ignore my mail (as he/she might have wanted to do otherwise).
There's no telling whether the next job they have in my language combination might be a nice fat one. (Of course, if they keep sending ridiculous jobs, then I would start to ignore them.)
[Edited at 2019-01-25 14:31 GMT]
| | | | Robert Rietvelt
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Samuel Murray wrote: Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Amount:
$0.44 1) Assuming this was in your language combination, how much money would you have lost if you had accepted this job? What is your time worth? Let's assume you spend $5 worth of time doing the admin for this job (invoicing, following up on payment, checking your bank statements, etc). This means that accepting this job will cost you $4.56. 2) Now, if this was in my language combination, I would accept it. For a old client, I would do it as a freebie. $4.56 for moving my name to the top of their list of translators is a good deal (compare that with the expected successes of marketing efforts, and their costs). For a brand new client, I would invoice for it ($0.44). Why? Because when I invoice for it, my name pops up on their system a second time, and that's potentially very important for future work (depending on how their system is set up). Even if I just end up annoying their bookkeeper, my name floats towards the top of the agency's collective mind. It also gives me a valid reason to contact the PM, and the PM won't just ignore my mail (as he/she might have wanted to do otherwise). 3) There's no telling whether the next job they have in my language combination might be a nice fat one. (Of course, if they keep sending ridiculous jobs, then I would start to ignore them.) [Edited at 2019-01-25 14:31 GMT]
1) Why should I accept a job that cost me money? I am in the business to make a buck, not loosing it. I think this is a sound strategy. Don't you?
2) For an old/good client, I also would do it for free, but this isn't an old/good client, hell, I don't even know them, and about your strategy getting at the top of their list/your name popping up, please read the last sentence(s) of this 'great' offer. They don't have a 'top of a list' and your name will pop up together with those of a dozen other translators.
So that brings me to point 3.
3) 'There's no telling whether the next job they have in my language combination might be a nice fat one.' Indeed! But looking at the signs, I don't expect so.:-)
PS) '....in my language combination....'(????) They didn't even take the time to check, but let me tell you a secret: I don't speak Kannada!"
[Edited at 2019-01-25 15:06 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-25 15:07 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-25 15:12 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-25 16:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2019-01-25 16:03 GMT]
| | | | | Beware, because it could be ... | Jan 25, 2019 |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
I received this offer today.
Hello Espaned,
XXXX has a new translation job that matches your qualifications.
Project Name: Letter from the Top
Due Date: Jan 25, 2019, 12:18 AM UTC
Languages: English (EN) > Kannada (KN).
Job ID: XXXX
Total wordcount: 4
New Words: 4
Fuzzy Matches:
95% - 99%: 0
85% - 94%: 0
100% Matches: 0
Repetition: 0
Amount:
$0.44
... an overpayment scam!
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Robert Rietvelt
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Matthias Brombach wrote: Robert Rietvelt wrote:
I received this offer today.
Hello Espaned,
XXXX has a new translation job that matches your qualifications.
Project Name: Letter from the Top
Due Date: Jan 25, 2019, 12:18 AM UTC
Languages: English (EN) > Kannada (KN).
Job ID: XXXX
Total wordcount: 4
New Words: 4
Fuzzy Matches:
95% - 99%: 0
85% - 94%: 0
100% Matches: 0
Repetition: 0
Amount:
$0.44 ... an overpayment scam!
You mean they send me a 1000 dollar cheque with the question to please return the difference? Then it is a really silly scam.:-)
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 19:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Why should I accept a job that cost me money? I am in the business to make a buck, not loosing it. I think this is a sound strategy. Don't you?
It all depends on how much it's costing you, and what you believe you're getting for the money that you're paying/losing. As I said before, marketing costs money, and I would write this off as marketing. Paying $5 for a high possibility of increasing one's exposure within an agency very much is actually very cheap, compared to other marketing methods and their relative odds of success. What is your marketing budget? And what do you hope to achieve with your marketing budget?
'There's no telling whether the next job they have in my language combination might be a nice fat one.' Indeed! But looking at the signs, I don't expect so.
Your experience may have been different, but my experience is that a low rate first job is not necessarily a good indicator of whether an agency pays bad rates or offers bad jobs. Some agencies only accept jobs from high-paying end-clients, but some agencies accept jobs from both low-paying and high-paying end-clients.
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 13:46
Japanese to English
+ ...
| Minimum rates | Jan 25, 2019 |
I guess I should count myself lucky. I was recently offered an USD 1.75 job by an agency in Russia.
(Recently one economist characterized Russia as "Africa with snow").
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » This is why I have a min. rate! | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
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