Agences keep asking for "hourly rates" but don't in fact pay per hour. Thread poster: Jeff Lazar
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Jeff Lazar 
United States
Local time: 19:58
Member (2023)
Korean to English
+ ...
Is anyone else getting contacted by agencies who claim to want to pay an hourly rate, but in fact have a set amount of time that the project is expected to take? This seems like a clever way to trick translators to agree to an hourly rate that is actually a hidden volume-based rate.
They'll ask my hourly rate, and eventually say something like "As usual, I calculate the volume based on the total target word count, when the translation is done, 1500 words per hour." There's no reaso... See more Is anyone else getting contacted by agencies who claim to want to pay an hourly rate, but in fact have a set amount of time that the project is expected to take? This seems like a clever way to trick translators to agree to an hourly rate that is actually a hidden volume-based rate.
They'll ask my hourly rate, and eventually say something like "As usual, I calculate the volume based on the total target word count, when the translation is done, 1500 words per hour." There's no reason for time or hourly rates to be discussed at all in this situation, so it strikes me as intentional subterfuge.
It seems amazing that they are acting like this is the normal business procedure and I have to pull teeth to determine the actual per word/rate and get them to admit that they have no intention of paying by the hour. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:58
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Jeff Lazar wrote:
Is anyone else getting contacted by agencies who claim to want to pay an hourly rate, but in fact have a set amount of time that the project is expected to take?
Yes, this is quite normal. Or rather: they ask for your hourly rate, but they issue POs of a fixed amount (i.e. they pre-calculate how much time it would take). Sometimes this works in your favour, especially if the agency believes that a job will take more hours than it actually takes (then you still get paid the amount on the PO even though you worked fewer hours). As with all pricing strategies, it will take you a while to figure out what your optional "hourly" rate is to charge for agencies that do not actually pay for your actual hours worked. As with all jobs, you should look at the offered rate (even if they offer only a fixed rate) and then determine whether or not to accept it. If you find that an agency consistently offers too little, then you must raise your "hourly" rate with them.
One problem with real hourly rates vs "hourly" rates is that agencies tend to expect a very low hourly rate. E.g. an agency might be willing to pay 10c per word for translation, but then expect an hourly rate of $20, which is 200 words per hour... but if you translate 500 words per hour, $20 per hour is going to bring in very little money. On the other hand, if that agency says "we calculate based on 200 words per hour", then you will end up getting 10c per word.
Your example says "1500 words per hour" but that sounds more like a proofreading rate. Indeed, some of my clients calculate proofreading at 1500 words per hour. Even for MTPE, 1500 words per hour is very, very fast. That said, more and more agencies now consider MTPE a type of proofreading........
[Edited at 2024-05-24 18:13 GMT]
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I had seen this problem only once. I quoted my hourly rate for proofreading. The company agreed by “morning” but soon after they said the job will need only 2.5 hours. It is an Indian language and I have to keep my eyes wide open- 1. as there is no spellcheck 2. Letters are complex e.g “cray”. Converts to a single letter. That is, a single letter may be made of 5 or 6 or more English letters. So proofreading is about 800 to 900 words an hour only. So I declined the job by afternoon!
... See more I had seen this problem only once. I quoted my hourly rate for proofreading. The company agreed by “morning” but soon after they said the job will need only 2.5 hours. It is an Indian language and I have to keep my eyes wide open- 1. as there is no spellcheck 2. Letters are complex e.g “cray”. Converts to a single letter. That is, a single letter may be made of 5 or 6 or more English letters. So proofreading is about 800 to 900 words an hour only. So I declined the job by afternoon!
I know how long the job will take. Sometimes even my estimate goes bad, not realized on first glance of the job. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 04:58
Member (2009)
English to German
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... apply to proofreading and editing only with the exception of MTPE. Anything that needs to be translated calls for a per word rate, perhaps per line, or, in case of book translation a lump sum.
Once an agency insisted on me proofreading 3.550 words in 60 minutes. They wouldn't accept that I didn't accept their calculation, and kept insisting on it. After they had sent me a good half a dozen such requests, I finally ended up asking them to please proofread said number of words in ... See more ... apply to proofreading and editing only with the exception of MTPE. Anything that needs to be translated calls for a per word rate, perhaps per line, or, in case of book translation a lump sum.
Once an agency insisted on me proofreading 3.550 words in 60 minutes. They wouldn't accept that I didn't accept their calculation, and kept insisting on it. After they had sent me a good half a dozen such requests, I finally ended up asking them to please proofread said number of words in one hour, and deliver proof of that. Needless to say, no further requests followed.
[Edited at 2024-05-25 15:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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