Poll: Have your regular clients asked you about reducing rates in the past year? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have your regular clients asked you about reducing rates in the past year?".
View the poll results »
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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I thought it was a direct client privilege, yet most freelancers answered that regular clients don't ask for discounts, so I wonder...
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos (X) 
United States
Local time: 07:58
Spanish to English
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| Yes, one has | Jan 24, 2019 |
Several have simply told me that my rates were too high.
[Edited at 2019-01-24 08:34 GMT]
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 16:58
Czech to French
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:58
Spanish to English
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That's why they are still "regular". They are happy with the status quo.
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I can’t remember ever being asked by a regular client to reduce my rates though I’ve been asked occasionally to negotiate my rates for a specific project. Anyway, for my long-standing customers my rates were raised 3/4 years ago and there's no point raising them again for several of them who would very probably stop sending me work, so I intend to continue to serve my existing client base at current prices. Of course, I have been feeling the pressure to lower my rates from some potential cli... See more I can’t remember ever being asked by a regular client to reduce my rates though I’ve been asked occasionally to negotiate my rates for a specific project. Anyway, for my long-standing customers my rates were raised 3/4 years ago and there's no point raising them again for several of them who would very probably stop sending me work, so I intend to continue to serve my existing client base at current prices. Of course, I have been feeling the pressure to lower my rates from some potential clients: that’s why I now prefer to quote on a per-project basis rather than a per-word basis. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dmitry Novikov
Local time: 19:58
Member (2012)
French to Russian
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On the contrary, one client offered me an increase
| | | | | Yes one or two | Jan 24, 2019 |
and then they got fired.
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| | | Precisely what I was going to say | Jan 24, 2019 |
neilmac wrote:
That's why they are still "regular". They are happy with the status quo.
I have negotiated with a new client this month. I quoted my top rate, and they quoted a rate they say they registered for me some years ago, which they asked me to confirm. I do not remember ever working for them.
We came to an agreement at a rate I can live with if they come back again.
| | | | Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 16:58
English to German
| No, not in the past year | Jan 24, 2019 |
.... and those would be ex-clients.
One tried to impose (not ask for) a reduction in the summer of 2015.
And a more insidious one, also around the same time, simply started turning on "internal fuzzies" ("homogeneity") in the wordcount WITHOUT TELLING ME and thought I would not notice it. When I mentioned it, they said they were re-outsourcing and couldn't influence the parameters set by their primary outsourcer. Dude, way to see my tail feathers.
However, ... See more .... and those would be ex-clients.
One tried to impose (not ask for) a reduction in the summer of 2015.
And a more insidious one, also around the same time, simply started turning on "internal fuzzies" ("homogeneity") in the wordcount WITHOUT TELLING ME and thought I would not notice it. When I mentioned it, they said they were re-outsourcing and couldn't influence the parameters set by their primary outsourcer. Dude, way to see my tail feathers.
However, we basically have to count everyone who is not willing to follow inflation, as "lowering rates", and somehow there is no widespread awareness about this among translators. I see a lot of (Germany-based) translators working for what was the going rate when the Euro was first introduced.
[Edited at 2019-01-24 13:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I have been translating for several decades. The possibility didn't even occur to me.
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 12:58
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Two, actually | Jan 28, 2019 |
One client, after three years without any readjustment, sent an e-mail to all translators with a chart stating the rates for repetitions and fuzzies, and stating that the chart would apply to all translations thereafter. They never heard of me again, of course.
Another client, my client since 2014, sent several jobs at a lower rate than agreed or considering discounts for repetitions, also not agreed upon in advance. Since this is a very regular client, and this applied only to a few jobs ... See more One client, after three years without any readjustment, sent an e-mail to all translators with a chart stating the rates for repetitions and fuzzies, and stating that the chart would apply to all translations thereafter. They never heard of me again, of course.
Another client, my client since 2014, sent several jobs at a lower rate than agreed or considering discounts for repetitions, also not agreed upon in advance. Since this is a very regular client, and this applied only to a few jobs (10% of the total during the year), I accepted it. Hope it doesn't become a standard, or it will be one more ex-client. ▲ Collapse
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