Trados Fuzzy Matches, payment grid help
Thread poster: Adrian Davidson
Adrian Davidson
Adrian Davidson
Germany
Local time: 09:24
Jul 1, 2019

Returned to the translation field after 10 years. An agency wants to put me on the files. What are the going rates for Trados fuzzy matches? I received this as a "guide".

Repetitions: 10%
100%: 15%
95% - 99% : 30%
85% - 94% : 50%
75% - 84% : 60%
50% - 74% : 90%
No match : 100%

Word: 0.05 €
Min.fee : 5 €
Hourly rate: 10€
Proofreading: 25% of word price

How do
... See more
Returned to the translation field after 10 years. An agency wants to put me on the files. What are the going rates for Trados fuzzy matches? I received this as a "guide".

Repetitions: 10%
100%: 15%
95% - 99% : 30%
85% - 94% : 50%
75% - 84% : 60%
50% - 74% : 90%
No match : 100%

Word: 0.05 €
Min.fee : 5 €
Hourly rate: 10€
Proofreading: 25% of word price

How does this compare? Any advice appreciated.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 09:24
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Adrian Jul 1, 2019

Adrian Davidson wrote:
What are the going rates for Trados fuzzy matches?


The actual no-match rate (a.k.a. "new word" rate) depends on your language combination, your location, and the client's location. So we generally can't tell you what is a good or a bad rate.

That said, €0.05 per word or €10 per hour sounds like a terrible, terrible rate. Well, €0.05 isn't too bad (if you can produce high volumes) but €10 per hour simply does not make any sense.

Charging proofreading at 25% of the no-match word rate is not unreasonable, but you would have to re-evaluate the offer after having done a few jobs for them, because a per-word proofreading rate assumes that the translation is quite good to begin with.

Repetitions: 10%
100%: 15%
95% - 99% : 30%
85% - 94% : 50%
75% - 84% : 60%
50% - 74% : 90%
No match : 100%


This is not a terribly bad grid. The fact that they pay for 100% matches and repetitions means that they want you to check such segments, so keep that in mind. You don't want to get paid 15% for proofreading (which is what you'd get if you get a job that is mostly 100% matches).


[Edited at 2019-07-01 14:36 GMT]


Andriy Yasharov
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
like a stuck record "Not bad" Jul 1, 2019

Welcome, Adrian.

First, the max $0.05/word rate is rather low, let alone for specialized fields and exotic/difficult languages.

Second, what makes
Lost income (delta) = Total word count X $0.05/w flat - Estimated 'discounted' total
, I wonder? If it's about 50%, then the real rate may go under $0.025/w or worse. While I heard that a few agencies now do the screening and pay no less than $0.10/w, most 'standard' middlemen deliberately abuse "fuzzy/volume/repetition discounts", what often makes even seemingly decent wholesale rates fall down to infamous $0.0125/word or even less.

As a businessman, you decide what is good and better for you in your* biz. So, how about just comparing what agencies charge their clients and what they pay to needy and naive translators first?

 Why, I mostly work as an interpreter with local direct clients only, so my translation rate is $0.25+/word; no "discounts", no specific CAT requirements, no funny terms. Now your turn.

Take care.


P.S. You always can re/negotiate (or turn poor offers down!), check local offices for direct clients, and diversify into other fields, languages, and activities--from rewriting, copywriting, transcreating, mentoring, consulting, and interpreting to something very different.


Adrian Davidson
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:24
Member
English to French
Ridiculous Jul 2, 2019

In France, you can't earn less than about 10 euros gross when you are employed. Fortunately, the freelance world
makes it possible to earn less than the lowest when accepting such conditions.
But then it's a personal opinion and will depend on many factors: if you live in a hut in a country where more than 80% earn less than $1/day, never have to go to the doctor, support only yourself, shoplift your working gear, don't take breaks, made an illegal connexion to the mains and the int
... See more
In France, you can't earn less than about 10 euros gross when you are employed. Fortunately, the freelance world
makes it possible to earn less than the lowest when accepting such conditions.
But then it's a personal opinion and will depend on many factors: if you live in a hut in a country where more than 80% earn less than $1/day, never have to go to the doctor, support only yourself, shoplift your working gear, don't take breaks, made an illegal connexion to the mains and the internet, don't have to issue invoices so you can evade tax, don't fancy nice leather shoes and/or rely on state solidarity when you're too blind to work, such conditions may be acceptable.

Discount grid:
There we are. 50-74% discounted. I had yet to see that.
Discounts have no longer anything to do with time savings, instead you should consider this discount grid as a further 30%-50% reduction in income.

With this kind of compensation, I would extensively use MT plug-ins from CAT tools and do light MTPE so that I can reach a clerk's living standard. I bet this company expressly prohibits the use of MT.

That said, you have to (re)start somewhere. You can do ungratifying, boring chores stacking up dusty crates all day long in a hot warehouse for a pittance, and then wiggle your way up to more entertaining tasks in aircon'ed offices overlooking the working area.

Philippe
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Mario Cerutti
Rachel Waddington
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:24
Dutch to English
+ ...
Below minimum wage Jul 2, 2019

I agree with Philippe. You are in Germany, so you will be earning well below the minimum wage on those rates (10 euro per hour equates to a lot less overall, because of time spent on all the other aspects of running your business e.g. invoicing, etc.)

Discounts for anything below 84% match are not justified. Discounts for 50-74% are outrageous.

Getting a minimum wage office job would probably be an easier way of making a living than trying to survive on these rates.
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I agree with Philippe. You are in Germany, so you will be earning well below the minimum wage on those rates (10 euro per hour equates to a lot less overall, because of time spent on all the other aspects of running your business e.g. invoicing, etc.)

Discounts for anything below 84% match are not justified. Discounts for 50-74% are outrageous.

Getting a minimum wage office job would probably be an easier way of making a living than trying to survive on these rates.

I see your profile is pretty much empty. If you want to get decent rates you will need to market yourself better than that. What's your background? What experience do you have?
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Christine Andersen
Laura Kingdon
Vera Schoen
Philippe Etienne
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 09:24
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Check Community Rates on this site under Tools -> ProZ.com Tools Jul 2, 2019

The basic rate you start with is REALLY low.

https://search.proz.com/employers/rates?source_lang=deu&target_lang=eng&disc_spec_id=��cy=eur&submit=Submit

Assuming you are translating German to English, € 5 is less than half the average rate here, and those are not high.

Standard €0.11/word
Minimum €0.
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The basic rate you start with is REALLY low.

https://search.proz.com/employers/rates?source_lang=deu&target_lang=eng&disc_spec_id=��cy=eur&submit=Submit

Assuming you are translating German to English, € 5 is less than half the average rate here, and those are not high.

Standard €0.11/word
Minimum €0.08/word
Standard €36.40/hour
Minimum €27.17/hour

I have various rates for different clients and different types of jobs, but I keep above the averages for Danish to English, which I work with:

Standard €0.12/wd
Minimum €0.09/wd
Standard €37.72/hr
Minimum €29.60/hr

Don't forget that there are also large differences between word ratios from source to target language - for 1000 German words you get a lot more than 1000 English words.

The Trados rates I prefer are

25% for 100% matches/repetitions
50% for 75-99%
100% for anything below that.

However, for a couple of clients I go along with 75% of the rate for 50-74% matches, because their basic rate is good, they are generally helpful, and it is not worth the hassle to change it!

My general principle is to look at the size of the job and the fee offered.
If there are huge chunks of 100% matches (CM matches in Trados terminology) that are good quality and very quick to proofread, then a 10% rate may be acceptable for them.

However, if repeats and 100% matches are scattered throughout the text and have to be checked for pronoun matches, congruence and general readability, then your proofreading rate is absolutely reasonable for 100% matches.

Trados and CAT tools can be a great advantage quality-wise, but they do not always save you vast amounts of time, so make sure you get a suitable hourly rate, however you calculate it!


[Edited at 2019-07-02 22:26 GMT]
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gauloise
gauloise
United States
Local time: 09:24
Member (2020)
Italian to English
+ ...
I feel so exploited Jul 2, 2019

I just did a series of jobs for a major agency. They only give POs once a month instead of for every job. Now I understand why.

I only got my rate for No Match. 75%-99% fuzzy was given at a rate of less than 50%. 75%-99% Repetitions weren't paid. Out of an 11,400 word translation I only got paid for 4,670 words and 367 fuzzies. Everything else was seen as a repetition, but it certainly didn't feel that way when I was translating.

I don't really understand the repetition
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I just did a series of jobs for a major agency. They only give POs once a month instead of for every job. Now I understand why.

I only got my rate for No Match. 75%-99% fuzzy was given at a rate of less than 50%. 75%-99% Repetitions weren't paid. Out of an 11,400 word translation I only got paid for 4,670 words and 367 fuzzies. Everything else was seen as a repetition, but it certainly didn't feel that way when I was translating.

I don't really understand the repetition thing. If the word "the" is repeated in the text, does it count as a repeat word, and therefore not paid?

Anyways, won't be working there again.

[Edited at 2019-07-02 10:15 GMT]
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Jocelin Meunier
Jocelin Meunier  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:24
English to French
+ ...
Sounds exploiting Jul 2, 2019

gauloise wrote:
I don't really understand the repetition thing. If the word "the" is repeated in the text, does it count as a repeat word, and therefore not paid?


But it's possible, as freelancers aren't protected from exploiters in any way. That's why there are "discounts" to begin with, because they can impose it without getting sued. Imagine you go to a restaurant and you tell the chef "I will have lasagna please. And since I already ordered one the last time, you will give me a 40% discount on this one." that would be completely preposterous.


DZiW (X)
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:24
Member
English to French
For those unfamiliar with CAT discounts Jul 2, 2019

Some attempts to explain how it works:
https://www.p
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Some attempts to explain how it works:
https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/268387-rates_for_weighted_words.html#2291899
https://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/312739-suggestions_about_an_agency_fuzzy_grid.html

Philippe
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Trados Fuzzy Matches, payment grid help







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