| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Next-level LSP shamelessness Thread poster: Lieven Malaise
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 22:19
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
If you want to have a good laugh, followed by a really good cry. Quite amazing. (credits: Mind Huntress on Facebook)
[Bijgewerkt op 2024-02-12 14:10 GMT]
| | | | ibz 
Local time: 22:19
English to German
+ ...
| Business thinking | Feb 12, 2024 |
This reminds me of an interview with a not so successful businessman who worked in sales. Sales of his goods were very poor, which is why he lowered the price considerably (he thought that this was a very clever move). Sales then went wonderfully well, but to his great astonishment he was still making a loss. His conclusion: Big volumes make no sense if the price isn't right.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 22:19
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Volume discounts | Feb 12, 2024 |
ibz wrote:
This reminds me of an interview with a not so successful businessman who worked in sales. Sales of his goods were very poor, which is why he lowered the price considerably (he thought that this was a very clever move). Sales then went wonderfully well, but to his great astonishment he was still making a loss. His conclusion: Big volumes make no sense if the price isn't right.
Indeed. That's exactly the reason why I never give volume discounts. I've never thought it made sense that you are paid less for more work.
[Bijgewerkt op 2024-02-12 15:05 GMT]
| | | | Lorenzo Meloni
Italy
Local time: 22:19
Member (2022)
English to Italian
| Don't see the point of volume discounts | Feb 12, 2024 |
Honestly, after many years, I still don't understand why volume discounts should even be a thing in translation.
Sure, they make sense if you have a machine printing pieces, where the higher the volume, the lower your fixed costs per piece.
But as a linguist there is no economy of scale, you'll always output the same amount of words per hour, regardless of whether you're translating a 1000 or 10 million.
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| I have even better to offer | Feb 12, 2024 |
Too bad, if anyone would have been interested, the deadline has already passed...:(((
"Manual Italian to German translation project
Veröffentlicht: 10 Feb 2024 12:23 CET (GMT+1) (GMT: 10 Feb 2024 11:23)
A job notification was sent to you.
Job type: Übersetzungs-/Lektorats-/Korrekturleseauftrag
Sub-item Service required: Translation
Sprachen: Italienisch > Deutsch
Job-Beschreibung:
Job Title: Manual Italian t... See more Too bad, if anyone would have been interested, the deadline has already passed...:(((
"Manual Italian to German translation project
Veröffentlicht: 10 Feb 2024 12:23 CET (GMT+1) (GMT: 10 Feb 2024 11:23)
A job notification was sent to you.
Job type: Übersetzungs-/Lektorats-/Korrekturleseauftrag
Sub-item Service required: Translation
Sprachen: Italienisch > Deutsch
Job-Beschreibung:
Job Title: Manual Italian to German translation project
Employer: XXX Translations
We have a project needing Italian to German translators.
Applicants need to clarify their proficiency in TRADOS and XBENCH.
If you are interested in doing such jobs, please send your email and template information to:
[HIDDEN]
When you contact, please provide your background information in the following template: [... ]
Budget and payment details:
Hide / show
$0.01 USD to $0.03 USD per word
Estimation in your preferred currency (using today's conversion rate):
€0.009 EUR to €0.028 EUR per word"
Mind you, the job was posted on a Saturday at noon, with deadline at 9:00 the following Monday. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 22:19
French to English
"Don't overthink"... right. I shall make a rash decision based purely on gut feeling. My gut is screaming "noooooooooooooooooooooo!". Sorry 'bout that!
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I searched the Net for the full text of the ad job and found it on another translation platform. One thing jumped out at me: the agency begins by saying “My team only uses 100% human translation” but is looking for freelancers who do MTPE…
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 22:19
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Mind control | Feb 12, 2024 |
Kay Denney wrote:
"Don't overthink"... right. I shall make a rash decision based purely on gut feeling. My gut is screaming "noooooooooooooooooooooo!". Sorry 'bout that!
Mind control: don’t overthink.
The text is hilariously worded. Attach CV by uploading it? Are there ways to attach something other than uploading it? “Lace your shoes by using your fingers”.
Where do they find these assistants and project managers, how do they source them? Just based on that letter, I would turn down the offer, even in the case of a good rate. I can’t trust a company whose employees don’t know how to write.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 22:19
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| That’s right | Feb 12, 2024 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
I searched the Net for the full text of the ad job and found it on another translation platform. One thing jumped out at me: the agency begins by saying “My team only uses 100% human translation” but is looking for freelancers who do MTPE…
It’s like they have two opposite sides. When they turn to clients, they say “we do human translation only”, and when they turn to translators, they say “we do MTPE only”.
[Edited at 2024-02-12 17:53 GMT]
| | | | | Volume discounts | Feb 12, 2024 |
Lorenzo Meloni wrote:
Honestly, after many years, I still don't understand why volume discounts should even be a thing in translation.
Sure, they make sense if you have a machine printing pieces, where the higher the volume, the lower your fixed costs per piece.
But as a linguist there is no economy of scale, you'll always output the same amount of words per hour, regardless of whether you're translating a 1000 or 10 million.
It's not as simple as that, though, is it? With a big project:
1. You will normally save time by reusing research.
2. You will normally save time by copying repeated text.
3. You will save time on admin.
4. Probably most importantly, you will cut out dead time between jobs.
All the above justify a volume discount.
That said, I don't give volume discounts. I don't see why the customer should get to benefit from the above; I should.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 22:19
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Neck, hands, eyes | Feb 12, 2024 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
Lorenzo Meloni wrote:
Honestly, after many years, I still don't understand why volume discounts should even be a thing in translation.
Sure, they make sense if you have a machine printing pieces, where the higher the volume, the lower your fixed costs per piece.
But as a linguist there is no economy of scale, you'll always output the same amount of words per hour, regardless of whether you're translating a 1000 or 10 million.
It's not as simple as that, though, is it? With a big project:
1. You will normally save time by reusing research.
2. You will normally save time by copying repeated text.
3. You will save time on admin.
4. Probably most importantly, you will cut out dead time between jobs.
All the above justify a volume discount.
That said, I don't give volume discounts. I don't see why the customer should get to benefit from the above; I should.
Will you also save your neck, hands, eyes? You do realize that you will get very tired on a big volume, most likely resulting in drowsiness and turning down other projects.
| | | | Lorenzo Meloni
Italy
Local time: 22:19
Member (2022)
English to Italian
| It would already be a win-win | Feb 12, 2024 |
Christopher Schröder wrote:
It's not as simple as that, though, is it? With a big project:
1. You will normally save time by reusing research.
2. You will normally save time by copying repeated text.
3. You will save time on admin.
4. Probably most importantly, you will cut out dead time between jobs.
All the above justify a volume discount.
That said, I don't give volume discounts. I don't see why the customer should get to benefit from the above; I should.
I agree, but the client will also benefit from all 4 points (the TM you build as a result of your research will increase match % and cut costs, same goes for any repeated text, the client will also save time on admin by working with the same linguist and they will eliminate the need to spend time and effort looking for a linguist).
I'd say a long-term collaboration is a win-win for both, so I don't see why a volume discount is needed on top of that.
Then I can definitely see a linguist who's struggling to fill their agenda accept a volume discount to secure a long-term project, but I still don't think it's "right".
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Gregory Thomas (X)
United States
Local time: 15:19
English to Greek
+ ...
| That's just the tip of the iceberg | Feb 12, 2024 |
"You'll lose money on every sale, but you'll make it up on volume"
"Don't think of rowing one mile is tough, think of the vast ocean, plenty of rowing for the rest of your miserable life"
"Don't think that consistency gets more difficult in large projects, let alone mental fatigue and peripheral artery disease... we'll reduce your invoice further at the end only if the client finds out"
"Meanwhile we're getting $0.20 from the end-client doing nothing, and your friend is still m... See more "You'll lose money on every sale, but you'll make it up on volume"
"Don't think of rowing one mile is tough, think of the vast ocean, plenty of rowing for the rest of your miserable life"
"Don't think that consistency gets more difficult in large projects, let alone mental fatigue and peripheral artery disease... we'll reduce your invoice further at the end only if the client finds out"
"Meanwhile we're getting $0.20 from the end-client doing nothing, and your friend is still making money from that fart video he posted on YouTube 10 years ago"
"Oh yeah, we almost forgot, it's your computer and your electric bill. Not ours." ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B wrote:
Will you also save your neck, hands, eyes? You do realize that you will get very tired on a big volume, most likely resulting in drowsiness and turning down other projects.
Are you saying you won’t get tired or have sore body parts if you charge full price? 😂
| | | | Gregory Thomas (X)
United States
Local time: 15:19
English to Greek
+ ...
| Large projects, bait for children and beginners, and Nigerian princes | Feb 12, 2024 |
Then I can definitely see a linguist who's struggling to fill their agenda accept a volume discount to secure a long-term project, but I still don't think it's "right".
They promise you 20,000 to start, you get a total of 25,000 (if they're honest), you get paid for 15,000.
Proz should make a survey among those working 20+ years in the industry: "How many of the promises about long-term projects actually materialized?" Beginner's bait to lower your price. A large agency had a real long-term project last year for a major retailer. The first files were ok. After two weeks, you ended up "processing" files full of MT and TM matches on a slow online system, average pay resulted in less than $6/hour. Obviously at that point I quit, same day, and asked the PM to reassign my files to anyone else.
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