Poll: Do you handle 100% TM matches for free? (TM provided by the client.)
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Sep 26, 2005

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you handle 100% TM matches for free? (TM provided by the client.)".

This poll was originally submitted by Katalin Horvath McClure

View the poll here

A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is r
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you handle 100% TM matches for free? (TM provided by the client.)".

This poll was originally submitted by Katalin Horvath McClure

View the poll here

A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
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Joanna Krahelska
Joanna Krahelska
Local time: 20:27
Polish to English
+ ...
I know it's hard to imagine... Sep 26, 2005

... and yet there are some translators out there who do not use TMs and things, where is my answer?!
the best, jk


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 20:27
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
In fact I charge extra for small jobs! Sep 26, 2005

One agency I work for has a couple of clients who frequently send very small jobs. These seem barely worth the trouble, but now and then the client sends really big jobs. They pay on the dot and they need a lot of languages (to comply with EU legislation).

But if they send an 87-word job as they did last week (and they've been down to 13 words earlier...) then I charge for half an hour, even if the entire texts are 100% matches. Sometimes the client accumulates these small texts to
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One agency I work for has a couple of clients who frequently send very small jobs. These seem barely worth the trouble, but now and then the client sends really big jobs. They pay on the dot and they need a lot of languages (to comply with EU legislation).

But if they send an 87-word job as they did last week (and they've been down to 13 words earlier...) then I charge for half an hour, even if the entire texts are 100% matches. Sometimes the client accumulates these small texts to make a larger sized job, but sometimes they can't wait, and if I have to import a new TM and set up Trados, I reckon to get paid for my time, not just for 87 words 'weighted' down to 23!

There are often matches, so it is not entirely stupid to use a TM, and the agency correlates all the languages in their TM.

But I have to make sure 100% matches fit in the context, and with the kinds of text I translate they improve quality, but they do not save time - often the opposite.

They still have to be proof read and I have to pay for Trados, courses and everything else.

Don't let clients press your rate per hour or per day and insist at the same time that you put money on the table to use a CAT tool! We should stand together and explain that service costs money. The good clients will go along with that.



[Edited at 2005-09-26 09:47]
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Rebekka Groß (X)
Rebekka Groß (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:27
English to German
it depends... Sep 26, 2005

...doesn't it always?!

I'm faced with different scenarios, depending on my clients (all agencies).

Soemtimes, I'm asked to ignore the 100% matches because the agency reviews during their review process. So that's fine, I accept them unconditionally and don't charge (but I'd probably point out really grave mistakes I come across when using existing TM entries for reference).

Other times, I'm asked to check the 100% matches during translation, and these match
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...doesn't it always?!

I'm faced with different scenarios, depending on my clients (all agencies).

Soemtimes, I'm asked to ignore the 100% matches because the agency reviews during their review process. So that's fine, I accept them unconditionally and don't charge (but I'd probably point out really grave mistakes I come across when using existing TM entries for reference).

Other times, I'm asked to check the 100% matches during translation, and these matches are generally paid for at something like 20% of my word rate.

Occasionally, sometimes if the 100% matches account for more than 50% of the word count, I'm asked to spend x hours checking the 100% matches, which generally means that not all 100% matches are checked. This is a situation I like the least because if a change is necessary, I'd have to check manually or using tool such as Textpad or Search & Replace if other TUs (further down in the same file or in other files) are affected by my change. That's if I use Trados. With SDLX at least, the change is automatically propagated in the file I'm working on.

So you see, for me there is no simple answer to this poll.

Regards,

Rebekka
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Bart B. Van Bockstaele
Bart B. Van Bockstaele  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:27
Dutch
+ ...
Nobody works for free Sep 26, 2005

I may do someone a favour once in a while, but I do not work for free. I also do not invest money in expensive, time consuming and largely useless software packages in order to obtain the privilege of working for less.

The old Soviet Union often said that the greedy Americans would sell them the noose they would use to hang them. It seems that some translators are an even better lot. They do not only buy the noose themselves, they hang it in the highest tree and then stick their nec
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I may do someone a favour once in a while, but I do not work for free. I also do not invest money in expensive, time consuming and largely useless software packages in order to obtain the privilege of working for less.

The old Soviet Union often said that the greedy Americans would sell them the noose they would use to hang them. It seems that some translators are an even better lot. They do not only buy the noose themselves, they hang it in the highest tree and then stick their necks out to execute themselves with a smile on their faces.

I have no objections to using Trados, or any other, but I charge 30% extra in those cases. Very few customers have ever insisted that I use a TM anyway.

If my customers want me to ignore certain portions of a text, that is fine. It is up to them to indicate what they want me to ignore, not to me.

When I see how much directors of charities are paid, I do not understand why I would have to pay for the privilege of getting work. If I would do that, I would need charity, and I somehow doubt that I would get it.
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Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:27
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
That means you are charging your full rate Sep 27, 2005

Joanna Krahelska wrote:

... and yet there are some translators out there who do not use TMs and things, where is my answer?!
the best, jk


That means you are charging your full rate, no matter if it is 100% or whatever match (to whatever TM), so that is your answer.


 
Bart B. Van Bockstaele
Bart B. Van Bockstaele  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:27
Dutch
+ ...
No, it isn't Sep 27, 2005

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:
That means you are charging your full rate, no matter if it is 100% or whatever match (to whatever TM), so that is your answer.


The customer always has the option to indicate what they do not want the translator to translate or to look at. After all, if they are so sure of their 100% matches that they think the translator should not be paid for them, they can just as well do the work themselves, right?


[Edited at 2005-09-27 15:28]


 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:27
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
I see your point Sep 29, 2005

Bart B. Van Bockstaele wrote:

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:
That means you are charging your full rate, no matter if it is 100% or whatever match (to whatever TM), so that is your answer.


The customer always has the option to indicate what they do not want the translator to translate or to look at. After all, if they are so sure of their 100% matches that they think the translator should not be paid for them, they can just as well do the work themselves, right?


[Edited at 2005-09-27 15:28]


I was answering to Joanna, as she said she was not using any CAT software. I assume in this case the client would need to take out those matches or insert the 100% matches from their TM into the text.
If the client takes out those parts physically, so the translator doesn't need to look at them or skip over them, etc.) then those matches are not part of the translatable text, so the translator is simply dealing with a straight text that needs to be translated as a whole, and I assume she would be charging her normal rate for all the words. But this case would not fall into the scope of my poll question, so indeed, she has no appropriate answer.

If the client marks up the matches (by color, etc) in the source text, without providing the translations, and the translator has to differentiate them from the translatable ones in order to skip them, then she is dealing with the 100% matches at a certain level, and can answer the poll question, whether she does it for free, or for a small fee, etc.

The next situation is when the client inserts the matches from their TM. They can ask for skipping those or proofreading those. Again, do you do it for free, or if not, do you apply discount or your full rate?

Anyway, there are many possible scenarios, and it is hard to squeeze some of them into the distinct catgories the poll-answers provide. When I originally formulated the answers they were more detailed, but I guess they were edited for the sake of simplicity.

Anyway, I am glad to see the response to the poll, and also the discussion here. The reason I created this poll was that I was told by an agency that paying zero for 100% matches is "industry standard", even though the agency was NOT doing anything about pretranslating the file, or marking up the matches: they expect the translators to do all that, to handle the 100% segments for free. Yeah, right...


 
Bart B. Van Bockstaele
Bart B. Van Bockstaele  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 15:27
Dutch
+ ...
Who does the work? Sep 29, 2005

Katalin Horvath McClure wrote:
Anyway, I am glad to see the response to the poll, and also the discussion here. The reason I created this poll was that I was told by an agency that paying zero for 100% matches is "industry standard", even though the agency was NOT doing anything about pretranslating the file, or marking up the matches: they expect the translators to do all that, to handle the 100% segments for free. Yeah, right...


In my view, an agency that talks like that is not an agency worth considering. It is never industry standard to work for free.


 


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Poll: Do you handle 100% TM matches for free? (TM provided by the client.)






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