| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Pricing your services: best practices Thread poster: Elena P.
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Elena P.
Local time: 07:40
Ukrainian to Russian
+ ...
Hello everyone!
I'm fairly new to working as a freelancer and was hoping I could get some help understanding how to price translation services. I offer English/ Russian/ Ukrainian translation and interpreting but cannot seem to find reliable information on what people charge per word/ hour.
I would greatly appreciate any help with this!
Thank you in advance!
| | | | | | Iman Tahanan
Local time: 17:40
English to Persian (Farsi)
+ ...
Hello
You can ask various translation agencies how much they charge and set your price accordingly. This is what I do.
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 16:40
Member
English to Turkish
Iman Tahanan wrote:
You can ask various translation agencies how much they charge and set your price accordingly. This is what I do.
You ask translation agencies how much they charge their clients and they provide this information to you?
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 14:40
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Baran Keki wrote:
Iman Tahanan wrote:
You can ask various translation agencies how much they charge and set your price accordingly. This is what I do.
You ask translation agencies how much they charge their clients and they provide this information to you?
Probably meant to say he fits into whatever an agency says, price wise.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 14:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
Baran Keki wrote:
Iman Tahanan wrote:
You can ask various translation agencies how much they charge and set your price accordingly. This is what I do.
You ask translation agencies how much they charge their clients and they provide this information to you?
Probably meant to say he fits into whatever an agency says, price wise.
I interpreted the advice to mean that he poses as a client, to find out what agencies would quote him.
| | | | Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 14:40
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| How recent are those figures? | Nov 14, 2023 |
Thank you for the links, but are those figures of a recent date?
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 14:40
English to German
+ ...
| how to calculate YOUR rates | Nov 14, 2023 |
Elena P. wrote:
Hello everyone!
I'm fairly new to working as a freelancer and was hoping I could get some help understanding how to price translation services. I offer English/ Russian/ Ukrainian translation and interpreting but cannot seem to find reliable information on what people charge per word/ hour.
I would greatly appreciate any help with this!
Thank you in advance!
Well, you'll compare other translators' rates once you have done this:
How do I calculate how much I should charge?
Cost-plus pricing: Price = [Cost + Expense] + Profit. Sometimes known as markup pricing, this model builds a profit into your product pricing strategy. Cost-plus pricing is simply that: a price that covers your costs (e.g., the amount of money it takes to have the product for sale) plus some markup for profit.
https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/product-pricing-overview
So:
Your rate = [monthly living costs + other expenses] + profit (for holidays, savings etc.) = your monthly target income --> divided by # of working days = your daily target income --> divided by # working hours = your hourly rate.
Once you know your hourly rate, you divide it by the number of words you can translate in one hour = your word rate.
Example:
Monthly living costs: $1,500
Other expenses: $1200 (including taxes)
Desired profit: $800
Monthly target income: $3,500
Working days per month: 22
Daily target income: $3,500 / 22 = $159.09
Working hours per day: 6
Hourly rate: $159.09 / 6 = $26.51
Words translated per hour: around 220
Word rate: $26.51 / 220 = $0.12
[Bearbeitet am 2023-11-14 14:57 GMT]
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Morano El-Kholy
Egypt
Local time: 15:40
Member (2011)
English to Arabic
+ ...
| Good calculation. | Nov 14, 2023 |
@Zea_Mays
This is a very good analysis.
I surely like this calculation.
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Peter Motte wrote:
Thank you for the links, but are those figures of a recent date?
I doubt that. Also, the filtering for fields of expertise does not work. I have reported this several times in the last 8 years, but "development, adjustments and fixing-ups may take some time". ◔_◔
The rates calculator works and performs a simplified version of Zea_Mays' calculation.
[Edited at 2023-11-15 11:26 GMT]
| | | | | Wishful thinking | Nov 16, 2023 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Elena P. wrote:
Hello everyone!
I'm fairly new to working as a freelancer and was hoping I could get some help understanding how to price translation services. I offer English/ Russian/ Ukrainian translation and interpreting but cannot seem to find reliable information on what people charge per word/ hour.
I would greatly appreciate any help with this!
Thank you in advance!
Well, you'll compare other translators' rates once you have done this:
How do I calculate how much I should charge?
Cost-plus pricing: Price = [Cost + Expense] + Profit. Sometimes known as markup pricing, this model builds a profit into your product pricing strategy. Cost-plus pricing is simply that: a price that covers your costs (e.g., the amount of money it takes to have the product for sale) plus some markup for profit.
https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/product-pricing-overview
So:
Your rate = [monthly living costs + other expenses] + profit (for holidays, savings etc.) = your monthly target income --> divided by # of working days = your daily target income --> divided by # working hours = your hourly rate.
Once you know your hourly rate, you divide it by the number of words you can translate in one hour = your word rate.
Example:
Monthly living costs: $1,500
Other expenses: $1200 (including taxes)
Desired profit: $800
Monthly target income: $3,500
Working days per month: 22
Daily target income: $3,500 / 22 = $159.09
Working hours per day: 6
Hourly rate: $159.09 / 6 = $26.51
Words translated per hour: around 220
Word rate: $26.51 / 220 = $0.12
[Bearbeitet am 2023-11-14 14:57 GMT]
This would work in a fairytale world only. In reality, the actual rate that you would be able to get work for would be influenced by such factors as the current market rates (however subjective this could be), competition, specific clients that you could reach out to, level of due diligence that you do, an element of luck, etc. Let alone the inflation, market ups and downs and whatever.
I wish I could just enter the 'desired profit' into an Excel table and start throwing out the dreamrates at customers, them saying thank you and paying immediately, preferebly in advance. Don't build up the high hopes amont newbies with this kind of 'calculators'. It's not that easy, and it won't be.
| | | | kd42
Estonia
Local time: 15:40
English to Russian
| One thing I know for sure | Nov 20, 2023 |
Elena P. wrote:
Hello everyone!
I'm fairly new to working as a freelancer and was hoping I could get some help understanding how to price translation services. I offer English/ Russian/ Ukrainian translation and interpreting but cannot seem to find reliable information on what people charge per word/ hour.
I would greatly appreciate any help with this!
Thank you in advance!
... is that the EN-RU rates in the freelancers' profiles should not be trusted, I outsourced extra work to local freelancers for 50% of the lower rate they stated (still fair), they accepted, did the job, and then kept asking for more work.
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 14:40
English to German
+ ...
Evgeny Sidorenko wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
So:
Your rate = [monthly living costs + other expenses] + profit (for holidays, savings etc.) = your monthly target income --> divided by # of working days = your daily target income --> divided by # working hours = your hourly rate.
Once you know your hourly rate, you divide it by the number of words you can translate in one hour = your word rate.
Example:
Monthly living costs: $1,500
Other expenses: $1200 (including taxes)
Desired profit: $800
Monthly target income: $3,500
Working days per month: 22
Daily target income: $3,500 / 22 = $159.09
Working hours per day: 6
Hourly rate: $159.09 / 6 = $26.51
Words translated per hour: around 220
Word rate: $26.51 / 220 = $0.12
This would work in a fairytale world only. In reality, the actual rate that you would be able to get work for would be influenced by such factors as the current market rates (however subjective this could be), competition, specific clients that you could reach out to, level of due diligence that you do, an element of luck, etc. Let alone the inflation, market ups and downs and whatever.
I wish I could just enter the 'desired profit' into an Excel table and start throwing out the dreamrates at customers, them saying thank you and paying immediately, preferebly in advance. Don't build up the high hopes amont newbies with this kind of 'calculators'. It's not that easy, and it won't be.
As said, you'll COMPARE other people's rates ONLY AFTER you know how much you NEED to earn (as an individual, a couple or a family).
Doing those maths is KEY to make a living with translation or any other work, it is basic business best practice.
If what you can earn does not cover your expenses and some profit, you may consider to specialise on a niche where there is less competition - or you'll have to look for something else.
[Bearbeitet am 2023-11-22 12:35 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 14:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I believe they reflect the current average of rates. This means that the rates by people who haven't logged in for many years are still taken into account when calculating the average.
| | | | | 'advanced business practice' | Nov 23, 2023 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Evgeny Sidorenko wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
So:
Your rate = [monthly living costs + other expenses] + profit (for holidays, savings etc.) = your monthly target income --> divided by # of working days = your daily target income --> divided by # working hours = your hourly rate.
Once you know your hourly rate, you divide it by the number of words you can translate in one hour = your word rate.
Example:
Monthly living costs: $1,500
Other expenses: $1200 (including taxes)
Desired profit: $800
Monthly target income: $3,500
Working days per month: 22
Daily target income: $3,500 / 22 = $159.09
Working hours per day: 6
Hourly rate: $159.09 / 6 = $26.51
Words translated per hour: around 220
Word rate: $26.51 / 220 = $0.12
This would work in a fairytale world only. In reality, the actual rate that you would be able to get work for would be influenced by such factors as the current market rates (however subjective this could be), competition, specific clients that you could reach out to, level of due diligence that you do, an element of luck, etc. Let alone the inflation, market ups and downs and whatever.
I wish I could just enter the 'desired profit' into an Excel table and start throwing out the dreamrates at customers, them saying thank you and paying immediately, preferebly in advance. Don't build up the high hopes amont newbies with this kind of 'calculators'. It's not that easy, and it won't be.
As said, you'll COMPARE other people's rates ONLY AFTER you know how much you NEED to earn (as an individual, a couple or a family).
Doing those maths is KEY to make a living with translation or any other work, it is basic business best practice.
If what you can earn does not cover your expenses and some profit, you may consider to specialise on a niche where there is less competition - or you'll have to look for something else.
[Bearbeitet am 2023-11-22 12:35 GMT]
As if there's a way to know the actual rates of most (let alone all) other translators to compare with them, even those that actually compete with you. And even if you do find out, so what - many of them have worked hard or been lucky enough to arrive at those rates, doesn't mean you will get those rates too, so what is the point of comparing? You do realize life is not that simple, don't you - with all your knowledge of 'basic business practice'. There is no way you can make that kind of 'rate feasibility analysis' without actually working in the market for quite some time, and then you will realize the complexity of it all. This is not to mention the fact that you will NEVER know how many PAID hours/words per day you will be able to get in any given period for whatever rate you consider acceptable, which virtually destroys the entire basis of your 'calculator'.
[Редактировалось 2023-11-23 06:10 GMT]
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