Knowing how much to charge for translations has been a source of speculation and stress for most freelance translators.

You can certainly set a specific price on your translation services – other professionals do it and there’s no reason why you can’t too. The issue with translation work is that it can be quite unpredictable; you’ll always be balancing factors such as the turnaround time, subject matter, the format of the source document, whether your client is high or low maintenance, the appeal of the project, and so on. So if a set price is not appropriate for you, consider having set ‘zones’ for your pricing.

Zone 1: Zone 1 will be the rate at which you’ll probably never turn down work; except of course if the project is out of your capabilities. This is your ideal rate; the rate that you’ll keep trying to push a little higher. Of course Zone 1 is an excellent place for your clients to be too, because these are your top clients; the ones you’re trying to please and impress.

Zone 2: Zone 2 is not an ideal rate, but you’ll certainly take a look at it. Perhaps you’ll consider this rate when work is a little slow, or if it’s a project that you’re especially interested in. Translating books might slip into Zone 2, because it’s generally interesting work and it does get you off the treadmill of daily deadlines.

Zone 3: Work that falls in Zone 3 is work that you turn down because it simply doesn’t pay enough. You need to have a Zone 3 in order to have a viable business, because if you keep making exceptions to your ‘this-is-as-low-as-I-go’ rate, your business will never be viable. Every time you say things like ‘I’ll do it for just this one project’ or for some reason or other you make an exception to your rule, you are sabotaging your business. So, regardless of what figures you have placed in your three zones, just make sure you stick to them.

By having guidelines for your pricing you’ll find that this eliminates a lot of the stress regarding quoting for translations. Make this your business policy, and not something you choose case-by-case. Also, you’ll probably find that it makes it easier to bill your clients by the hour (if necessary) because your client understands where your figures are coming from – they might not understand with per-project pricing.

Most translators base their rates on the following factors –

• Fear: By fear, we mean the fear of charging too much and pricing themselves out of the market, or of earning too little;
• Speculation: By speculation we mean speculating about what other translators are charging, because people in general don’t speak openly about their charge-out rates.
• Notions: By this we mean that translators have vague notions of what clients might be willing to pay or what the market will bear; without having any actual data to back that up.