| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Urgent translations - do you charge extra? Thread poster: ~Ania~
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I do charge extra under the form of a 50% markup.
The problem is how you determine a translation is urgent for quoting purposes. For example, if you can achieve 2000 words per day and a client gives you a job of 4000 words to be delivered in two days, is that an urgent job? Most people seem to think that it isn't - but it is. You have to put everything aside and work full time on those 4000 words until the deadline, and you can't accept another job until you are done with this one. ... See more I do charge extra under the form of a 50% markup.
The problem is how you determine a translation is urgent for quoting purposes. For example, if you can achieve 2000 words per day and a client gives you a job of 4000 words to be delivered in two days, is that an urgent job? Most people seem to think that it isn't - but it is. You have to put everything aside and work full time on those 4000 words until the deadline, and you can't accept another job until you are done with this one. I'd say that for a job not to be considered urgent, you should be expected to produce half your daily output per day. That is, if my daily output is 2000 words and a client gives me a job of 4000 words due in two days, that is an urgent job. If a client gives me 3000 words due in two days, it is urgent. If a client gives me 2000 words due in two days, it isn't an urgent job. Moreover, if a job is longish and it will take more than a week to deliver, then I factor in two days of free time and quote accordingly. Assuming my daily output is still 2000 words, this would mean that if the client wants me to deliver 7000 words in a week, that is an urgent job (they ask me for half my daily output over seven days, that is, I can't take my weekend off), but if the same client asks me for 5000 words within a week, that is not an urgent job. If a client proposed to me 10000 words, I would quote $X with a deadline of ten days and I would also quote $X + 50% with a deadline of five days. If the client then asks how much for a deadline in seven days, I would say it is the same amount as the one for five days - as long as they don't reach my 10-day deadline, the 50% markup is charged.
I expect that several people here will disagree because this is not what they do. But if all of us applied a similar guideline, there probably would be less unrealistic deadlines, because clients would have to pay considerably more for unrealistic deadlines. They then would be more sensitive to what translators do, how they work, and most importantly, they would recognize more easily that we are people and not machines. If you browse the forum, you'll see that many a translator complains that they have to stay up late at night. Not charging extra for urgent jobs and not having a guideline to determine from which point a job is urgent greatly contributes to the problem.
Edit: I just wanted to add that one hour of intellectual work equals five hours of physical work, that is, you get as tired physically and mentally after an hour of translation as you would after five hours of serving beer. I think this should also be given consideration when establishing what a rush job is and how you charge for it. I presonally never translate more than 6 hours per day, which is already much more than I should (unless I am working on a rush job paid 50% more or unless I miscalculated the time a text will take to translate and am in a rush to meet a deadline). It would be impossible to make a living with translation if I only worked two hours per day. Maybe this should serve as an argument to charge decent rates. When I invested into Dragon Naturally Speaking, I didn't do so to make more money - I did so to win a bit more free time.
[Edited at 2008-03-20 15:30] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 02:16
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Agency offer | Mar 20, 2008 |
I once had an agency that offered a surcharge for weekends and evenings spontaneously (a long term project, and they seemed to think the schedule was tight).
They offered 20%. I accepted. For the weekend work, that is. I usually spread my work over the day, so I don't feel comfortable with a surcharge for evening work. It's part of my routine.
I fully agree with Samuels remark about freelancers and time management.
| | | | | Check out what other agencies are charging, but in general - YES | Mar 20, 2008 |
In my practice (albeit in Poland), I've adapted my pricing to standards that the agencies use. This means surcharges based on deadlines (which all of my clients are aware of). The fact that I could do two to three times more within a day doesn't mean I agree to that financially. And what's interesting, my clients don't complain. If they don't want me, they can always go find an agency and pay more. It's a question of 'educating' your clients to respect you and your time, not necessarily the othe... See more In my practice (albeit in Poland), I've adapted my pricing to standards that the agencies use. This means surcharges based on deadlines (which all of my clients are aware of). The fact that I could do two to three times more within a day doesn't mean I agree to that financially. And what's interesting, my clients don't complain. If they don't want me, they can always go find an agency and pay more. It's a question of 'educating' your clients to respect you and your time, not necessarily the other way around. That's the beauty of this business.
My two cents worth.
George ▲ Collapse
| | | | Claire Cox
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:16
French to English
+ ...
I have different systems negotiated with different clients. I used to work in the civil service where it was accepted practice to charge a variable scale of surcharges for urgency: 35% for translations required within 2 days, 25% for 4 days and 15% for 1 week. I maintained those surcharges for my "civil service" contacts when I started working freelance and have done ever since, with no complaints. Admittedly, the civil service rates tend to be on the low side, so it always seemed fair enough.... See more I have different systems negotiated with different clients. I used to work in the civil service where it was accepted practice to charge a variable scale of surcharges for urgency: 35% for translations required within 2 days, 25% for 4 days and 15% for 1 week. I maintained those surcharges for my "civil service" contacts when I started working freelance and have done ever since, with no complaints. Admittedly, the civil service rates tend to be on the low side, so it always seemed fair enough.
Agencies, however, are a completely different kettle of fish! The only time I suggested to an agency (in my early days as a freelance!) that an urgent surcharge would apply, they promptly retracted the job offer - which was fine with me. Now I don't even try. As other people have said, I either can fit something in or I can't and a surcharge is not going to make up for my lost time. If I choose to work at night or over the weekend because I've been doing other things in the day, or because I want the extra cash, then that's up to me and one of the joys of working freelance. ▲ Collapse
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| Yes, double! | Mar 20, 2008 |
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Sven Petersson
Medical translator
Website: www.svenp.com
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| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 20:16
German to English
| Don't take a rush job as the first translation | Mar 20, 2008 |
As you can see, there is some disagreement over whether a surcharge should apply to rush jobs. However, I think you would find that most would agree that starting with a client asking for an urgent translation is probably not wise. As you mentioned, subsequent jobs from this client were also urgent.
I generally only take rush jobs if I have the time, and I'm sure I can provide a quality translation given the deadline. Translating a series of e-mails on short notice is a different ... See more As you can see, there is some disagreement over whether a surcharge should apply to rush jobs. However, I think you would find that most would agree that starting with a client asking for an urgent translation is probably not wise. As you mentioned, subsequent jobs from this client were also urgent.
I generally only take rush jobs if I have the time, and I'm sure I can provide a quality translation given the deadline. Translating a series of e-mails on short notice is a different proposition than translating a section of an instruction manual within the same limited time frame.
The client's inability to plan ahead does not constitute an emergency on my part. ▲ Collapse
| | | | mystymy
Local time: 20:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
| 50% translation 100% interpretation | Mar 20, 2008 |
A rush job is a rush job and most agencies know that a surcharge applies. I would charge 50%, but I know that when I have been called to an interpreting assignment the same day or sometimes the last minute the night before the agency ALWAYS pays me double and the transportation.
| | | | Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 18:16
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
I suppose I should, but I really don't. Urgent jobs seem to come from my regular clients anyway, and when things come in I always like to get them out right away. Many times it is the client's fault that something is urgent, and I suppose I feel it is part of my job to pull them out of a hole, so I do it. They do appreciate that.
The work has to get out, and as far as I am concerned, the quicker, the better. If I have to work evenings and weekends, I have nothing against that. I pre... See more I suppose I should, but I really don't. Urgent jobs seem to come from my regular clients anyway, and when things come in I always like to get them out right away. Many times it is the client's fault that something is urgent, and I suppose I feel it is part of my job to pull them out of a hole, so I do it. They do appreciate that.
The work has to get out, and as far as I am concerned, the quicker, the better. If I have to work evenings and weekends, I have nothing against that. I prefer to work at such times, and that is when I work best, evenings and weekends.
Lest you think I am a workaholic, I am known to take long vacactions during which I also accept assignments, but with the proviso that "I may not be available all the time". In any case, it works. I always have plenty of time for myself, and the work gets out.
Of course when I'm on a roll I have very high productivity, that helps a lot. ▲ Collapse
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| Sure I charge extra for urgent jobs | Mar 21, 2008 |
Ania B wrote:
In such cases do you charge extra ie do you put a surcharge on top of your standard translation fee?
Yes Ania, I do charge extra. All work I have to do not at my working hours (09:00 - 18:00) assumes extra charge. I can sacrifice a bit of my healthy regime but I have to know what I do it for. The client is free to choose: either to extend the deadline or pay extra if he really heeds the translation urgently.
My scheme is simple:
- 09:00 - 18:00: normal rate
- 18.00 - 23:00: normal rate + 50%
- 23:00 - 09:00: normal rate + 100%
| | | | | That's the driving idea | Mar 22, 2008 |
Paul Merriam wrote:
Definitely discuss surcharges (if you're going to apply them) before you start the job. Some clients, when told they can save considerable sums by delaying things, will choose to do so.
Lots of businesses charge surcharges for things that make it inconvenient for them. For example, FedEx charges a fee if you put the wrong ZIP code on a package.
So, if I can do the translation in the short deadline, I won't charge extra for it. But for instance, if it takes me - like it did once - working 19-hour shifts for 4 days in a row, then I will.
But I definitely discourage things that are tantamount to unnecessarily pushing a boulder uphill, like doing DTP with MS Word, which the client wants distilled into a PDF... just for them to have the DOC file if they ever want to edit it later. I offer my regular DTP price with PageMaker, and 2x-3x that much, and 4x the time for delivery, if they absolutely want it done with MS Word.
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