| Страници во темата: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you vary your rates according to the client's country? Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you vary your rates according to the client's country?".
This poll was originally submitted by Natalia Pedrosa. View the poll results »
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As I said before on very similar polls, what I charge for a job depends on several factors: subject matter, difficulty, volume, urgency, source language of the text and other practical circumstances, but not on the client’s country of residence! This being said, there are exceptions: I may from time to time decide that I'm willing to do a job for less than my normal rate for a bunch of reasons and I do work pro bono at times…
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos (X) 
Соединети Американски Држави
Local time: 02:29
шпански на англиски
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| No - but ... | May 14, 2016 |
On very rare occasions I may reduce my rate for a client in a country that pays much lower rates because I am interested in the subject matter. Off the top of my head, I can recall three times that I've done that since I started freelancing 22 years ago.
[Edited at 2016-05-14 08:47 GMT]
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Exactly as Teresa said.
I am more likely to discount on a subject matter or a project I am strongly interested in, or whatever reason, but never on the customer's country of residence.
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because with the Internet it is not really relevant.
I rarely modify my rates for any reason, it's too time consuming.
| | | | neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 11:29
шпански на англиски
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All my clients are based in Spain. I dumped the only one who shifted its HQ to the UK, but for other reasons.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 05:29
англиски на шпански
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| Currency rates are one thing, Internet another | May 14, 2016 |
Yetta J Bogarde wrote:
because with the Internet it is not really relevant.
I rarely modify my rates for any reason, it's too time consuming.
First, the Internet is just a communications tool (such as it is). It's us who fall for the illusion that the Internet connects us all.
Second, I don't see anything time-consuming about changing rates if the situation warrants it. It takes a couple of minutes, really.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 05:29
англиски на шпански
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| Not my experience, so I said Other | May 14, 2016 |
I don't know why some of you prefer to keep one universal rate for everyone on the planet, or lower it for, say, emerging countries.
A product or a service has a cost, a retail price and a value, three different concepts anyone doing anything remotely commercial needs to understand and apply. It doesn't matter if you are an artisan in Mali selling your wares or an accomplished sculptor in Berlin.
Does a McDonald's burger cost the same in every country? Of course not! By... See more I don't know why some of you prefer to keep one universal rate for everyone on the planet, or lower it for, say, emerging countries.
A product or a service has a cost, a retail price and a value, three different concepts anyone doing anything remotely commercial needs to understand and apply. It doesn't matter if you are an artisan in Mali selling your wares or an accomplished sculptor in Berlin.
Does a McDonald's burger cost the same in every country? Of course not! By way of example, when a standard burger in California cost $4 in 2006, it would cost roughly $3-$4 in Córdoba, Argentina, in the same year and in the local currency (around AR $10-12 at the time). And Argentina has an emerging economy. ▲ Collapse
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Diana Coada (X)
Обединето Кралство
Local time: 10:29
португалски на англиски
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| Flawed reasoning | May 14, 2016 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
Does a McDonald's burger cost the same in every country? Of course not! By way of example, when a standard burger in California cost $4 in 2006, it would cost roughly $3-$4 in Córdoba, Argentina...
I'm not selling my ''burgers'' in different countries, I'm selling them in the UK because that's where I am based, and therefore I need to charge UK rates.
| | | | Sophie Dzhygir
Франција
Local time: 11:29
германски на француски
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It is funny that all of you seem to understand "vary" as "lower". What about increasing?
| | | | | Definitely flawed reasoning | May 14, 2016 |
Diana Coada wrote:
Flawed reasoning
Mario Chavez wrote:
Does a McDonald's burger cost the same in every country? Of course not! By way of example, when a standard burger in California cost $4 in 2006, it would cost roughly $3-$4 in Córdoba, Argentina...
I'm not selling my ''burgers'' in different countries, I'm selling them in the UK because that's where I am based, and therefore I need to charge UK rates.
McD in Brazil sells Brazilian burgers.
McD in the USA sells American burgers.
I was told that in Taiwan burgers are flown in from the USA.
So McD in Taiwan sells American burgers.
Of course, logistics represent a significant cost of what one pays for a burger in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the logistics cost of sending translations worldwide via Internet is not significant. Same job, same client, located in the same country, the COST doesn't change whether I send a translation from Sao Paulo or Tashkent.
Therefore I don't change the rate for my translations done in Sao Paulo, Brazil according to the client's country. Theoretically, they could get it cheaper from, say, Delhi, however what are the chances that they'd find a reliable EN > PT translator there?
[Edited at 2016-05-14 13:08 GMT]
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I'm afraid not. I vary the client country to ensure as best I can, a liveable income.
If I lived in a country where the cost of living was cheaper, I could afford to earn less.
I live in France and below a certain level of income, it is not possible to meet one's needs. That applies to any country. I chose clients in countries where I can apply a rate which enables me to meet my needs. It's tough enough as it is!
[Edited at 2016-05-14 13:47 GMT]
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 05:29
англиски на шпански
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| Confusing cost with retail price and with value | May 14, 2016 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
I was told that in Taiwan burgers are flown in from the USA.
So McD in Taiwan sells American burgers.
Of course, logistics represent a significant cost of what one pays for a burger in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the logistics cost of sending translations worldwide via Internet is not significant. Same job, same client, located in the same country, the COST doesn't change whether I send a translation from Sao Paulo or Tashkent.
Therefore I don't change the rate for my translations done in Sao Paulo, Brazil according to the client's country. Theoretically, they could get it cheaper from, say, Delhi, however what are the chances that they'd find a reliable EN > PT translator there?
[Edited at 2016-05-14 13:08 GMT]
Using the Internet has a cost. Actually, it has visible and hidden costs. Do you still believe in the fantasy that the Internet is for free?
Apparently you aren't computing the time difference cost either.
Like I said, a product or service has a cost, a retail price and a value. If a UK resident wants a Brazilian Portuguese translation and calls you, are you charging him how much that service is valued in the UK? Well, that's your loss and your problem.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 05:29
англиски на шпански
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| Cost vs. value | May 14, 2016 |
Diana Coada wrote:
Mario Chavez wrote:
Does a McDonald's burger cost the same in every country? Of course not! By way of example, when a standard burger in California cost $4 in 2006, it would cost roughly $3-$4 in Córdoba, Argentina...
I'm not selling my ''burgers'' in different countries, I'm selling them in the UK because that's where I am based, and therefore I need to charge UK rates.
That's a cost analysis, Diana. The value a customer places on a service where he/she is based has to be accounted for as well.
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 11:29
чешки на француски
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| I would be stupid not to | May 14, 2016 |
The price levels are not the same - I do some work in my own country and in other CEE countries where it is just impossible to sell a translation at the prices prevailing in Western Europe (surprisingly enough, the prices proposed in different CEE countries are not proportional to the cost of life there, but maybe the agencies I came accross in BG, RO or LV are the upper-end ones). But I would be stupid to apply the same prices to clients who will then sell my work on Wester-European (or US etc.... See more The price levels are not the same - I do some work in my own country and in other CEE countries where it is just impossible to sell a translation at the prices prevailing in Western Europe (surprisingly enough, the prices proposed in different CEE countries are not proportional to the cost of life there, but maybe the agencies I came accross in BG, RO or LV are the upper-end ones). But I would be stupid to apply the same prices to clients who will then sell my work on Wester-European (or US etc.) prices.
Most people who answered before me are from "rich" countries - you would just not consider to work in the poorer ones, full stop. I agree that there is no point in making a difference between France and Germany for example (although the markets are VERY different).
[Edited at 2016-05-14 15:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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