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Don't know what to quote for housing survey for city (it's very simple and small)
Thread poster: Courtney Quinones
Courtney Quinones
Courtney Quinones
United States
Local time: 09:24
Spanish to English
+ ...
Feb 21

I don't want to low ball myself, but it's so simple and small. A small paragraph and then 13 questions.
 
ATIL KAYHAN
ATIL KAYHAN  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 16:24
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
Regular Rate Feb 21

I would just use my usual per word rate w/o any minimum charges. By writing it out with formatting and all, you are doing them a small favor, anyhow.
 
Marie-France Phaneuf
Marie-France Phaneuf  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 15:24
Member (2022)
English to French
+ ...
Mimimun fee Feb 21

I like to set a minimum fee. Some firma have their own and I accept it, but in case they don't, I do have one and I put it on my rates sheet. There is always some email exchange, some reading (you might have to read a Guideline or some other stuff before you even start working) not to mention the invoicing task, etc. This alone takes 15 to 30 minutes of your time. No matter how short the project is, it often involves some other work around it.

Marie-France.

Rachel Waddington
Jorge Payan
Christel Zipfel
Thayenga
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Christopher Schröder
Daryo
 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:24
Serbian to English
+ ...
"It's so simple and small"? Feb 22

You can never be sure of that until you've actually started doing it.

Nasty surprises have the nasty habit of popping up when least expected.

Can you be sure that you won't be needing LOTS of "context information" in order to be sure you're getting it right?

Then "13 simple questions" morphs into "13 pages of reference material" to digest first or even "13 longish reference documents" to read first. Who is going to pay for your time then?

Ying-Ju Fang
Philip Lees
Zea_Mays
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 14:24
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
It depends... Feb 22

A new client? I’d quote a minimum fee. A repeat customer? I’d quote per word.

Philip Lees
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
You should always charge a minimum fee Feb 24

If a plumber or electrician came to your house and fixed a problem in five minutes, they'd still expect a pretty hefty callout charge.

I think it's a shame that the idea of the minimum charge is dying out in the translation industry, and people are willing to work for small change. I keep turning down jobs with insultingly low budgets of $10 or $15.

It sounds like this is a direct client. How about $100? They'll hopefully respect you for not underselling yourself.

Michele Fauble
Fiona Grace Peterson
Zea_Mays
Cetacea
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Daryo
 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 15:24
Italian to English
Agree entirely with Phil Feb 26

A minimum fee is the way to go. The job may be "simple and small", but there are many associated tasks (preparing the quote, proofreading, dealing with the customer, various administrative tasks) and of course your taxes. Of course there are colleagues who will undercut you if you charge a liveable rate - it depends which camp you want to position yourself in. Best of luck!

philgoddard wrote:

If a plumber or electrician came to your house and fixed a problem in five minutes, they'd still expect a pretty hefty callout charge.

I think it's a shame that the idea of the minimum charge is dying out in the translation industry, and people are willing to work for small change. I keep turning down jobs with insultingly low budgets of $10 or $15.

It sounds like this is a direct client. How about $100? They'll hopefully respect you for not underselling yourself.



[Modificato alle 2024-02-26 14:07 GMT]

Zea_Mays
Cetacea
 


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Don't know what to quote for housing survey for city (it's very simple and small)







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