Wondering if this information real: rates charged by ProZ members.
Thread poster: ronsmith
ronsmith
ronsmith  Identity Verified
Brazil
Member (2012)
Japanese to Portuguese
+ ...
Apr 1

On a job post here on ProZ, the client states that their budget for patent translations from Japanese into English is USD 0.01 to USD 0.03 per word and that is the rate charged by 80% of ProZ members for that language pair.

I can't believe there are really people translating anything from Japanese into English for that rate, let alone patents! I don't think any professional translator would accept that kind of rate for any translation, not even if it was
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On a job post here on ProZ, the client states that their budget for patent translations from Japanese into English is USD 0.01 to USD 0.03 per word and that is the rate charged by 80% of ProZ members for that language pair.

I can't believe there are really people translating anything from Japanese into English for that rate, let alone patents! I don't think any professional translator would accept that kind of rate for any translation, not even if it was en-UK to en-US.

Do really 80% of ProZ members working on the Japanese – English language pair charge that little? Is that real? Or is it just ProZ that can't count? Or maybe their algorithm is counting everyone that ever created an account here and if they didn't fill out a rate for this particular language pair, it just automatically assigns an amount, like USD 0.01, for example?

One way of or another, this give the false impression that there are professional translators willing to translate patents from Japanese into English for USD 0.01 a word.

screenshot_20240401103259

[Edited at 2024-04-01 13:32 GMT]
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Dalia Nour
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Reported rates on ProZ.com Apr 1

https://www.proz.com/employers/rates?source_lang=jpn&target_lang=eng&disc_spec_id=170¤cy=usd&view_old_rates=1&submit=Submit

Capture-1


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Yolanda Broad
Dalia Nour
 
ronsmith
ronsmith  Identity Verified
Brazil
Member (2012)
Japanese to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
That's the "average". Apr 1

Samuel Murray wrote:

https://www.proz.com/employers/rates?source_lang=jpn&target_lang=eng&disc_spec_id=170��cy=usd&view_old_rates=1&submit=Submit

Capture-1


That's the "average". The client claims to have the information that 80% of members charge a certain amount. Of course, if the average is 0.09 to 0.12 and 80% is charging 0.01 to 0.03, then the remaining 20% must be charging of 0.41 to 0.48 a word in average. So, if there's anyone in this 20% group actually charging like 0.12 per word, then there must be someone charging above 1 dollar per word. These numbers still don't sound realistic.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Ron Apr 1

ronsmith wrote:
That's the "average". ... Of course, if the average is 0.09 to 0.12 and 80% is charging 0.01 to 0.03, then the remaining 20% must be charging of 0.41 to 0.48 a word in average.

Visit the translators' directory and look at the profile pages of translators with top KudoZ scores (they tend to be high chargers too):
https://www.proz.com/translator-directory/?sp=directory&mode=filter&from=jpn&to=eng&type=translation&skill_interpreting=Any&skill_subtitling=Any&field=specific170&distance=50&location=&latitude=&longitude=&country=&pair_emphasis=8&native=&cred=na&software=na&sdl_trados_cert_level=na&sdlx_cert_level=na&avail=na&expertise=working&keyword=&keyword_cv_checkbox=on&wwa=na&complete_profile=na&profile_last_updated=any&posted_wiwo_within_days=&search_form_action=y

Very few of them report rates, but the ones that do, report 12-15c per word.


 
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 18:22
Member
English to Turkish
What information? Apr 1

ronsmith wrote:
The client claims to have the information that 80% of members charge a certain amount.

Ask them to demonstrate that information then.


 
Alison MacG
Alison MacG  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:22
German to English
+ ...
Below Apr 1

Based on the screenshot you have posted above, the part of the message with the warning symbol is from ProZ.com, not the client, and actually states:

The budget entered for this job is below the rates charged by at least 80% of ProZ.com members for this currency and these pairs


Baran Keki
IrinaN
Christel Zipfel
Jorge Payan
Sebastian Witte
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Michele Fauble
 
ronsmith
ronsmith  Identity Verified
Brazil
Member (2012)
Japanese to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Apr 1

Alison MacG wrote:

Based on the screenshot you have posted above, the part of the message with the warning symbol is from ProZ.com, not the client, and actually states:

The budget entered for this job is below the rates charged by at least 80% of ProZ.com members for this currency and these pairs


You're right. I'm not seeing right. I need to sleep.
And it's “at least” 80%, but it's more likely to 100%.


Jorge Payan
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Dalia Nour
Thayenga
 
Haluk Aka, Chartered Linguist (MCIL)
Haluk Aka, Chartered Linguist (MCIL)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:22
English to Turkish
+ ...
Reported rates (probably) are not rates quoted Apr 18

Hello all,

I suspect reported rates are what translators report in their profiles -not necessarily what they quote for individual jobs. I think Proz.com calculates reported rates based on rates reported on profiles and the client is basing their claim on rates they were quoted in the past. I do post jobs on proz.com (occasionally now but very often in the past), and I did realize that people generally quote lower than reported rates. IMO, we, freelance translators, shoot ourselves i
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Hello all,

I suspect reported rates are what translators report in their profiles -not necessarily what they quote for individual jobs. I think Proz.com calculates reported rates based on rates reported on profiles and the client is basing their claim on rates they were quoted in the past. I do post jobs on proz.com (occasionally now but very often in the past), and I did realize that people generally quote lower than reported rates. IMO, we, freelance translators, shoot ourselves in the foot then complain about low paying clients. This is just a hunch, supported with very little observation.

All the best,


[Edited at 2024-04-18 11:37 GMT]
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Jorge Payan
 


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Wondering if this information real: rates charged by ProZ members.







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