| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Do you still charge by word/characters or rather by hour (like all other industries)? Thread poster: TTilch
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John Fossey 
Canada
Local time: 10:41
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| Other industries | Oct 3, 2021 |
I got an electrician to install and wire up 20 recessed light fixtures in my house. He quoted his standard rate of $100 per fixture. Some took him a few minutes while others took a considerable amount of grief. But we both knew exactly what the charge was going to be.
So, no, not all other industries charge by the hour. But charging a unit price allows an agreement to be reached quickly.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 10:41
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Assessors and surveyors VS words/characters typed？ | Oct 4, 2021 |
Tanja Tilch wrote:
I never heard of a software developer being paid by line of code or assessors and surveyors charge their fee for their expert assessments by words/characters typed.
Tanja
The first half of your statement quoted above makes perfect sense, but I had difficulty understanding the reasoning of the last half of it.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 10:41
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| In-house workers are paid by hour | Oct 4, 2021 |
That is why they always take their time during their working hours.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 16:41
French to English
Atil raised questions about whether to include breaks (when you might be making/drinking coffee but are still actually thinking about the job); I would ask whether to include my night's sleep. I rarely hand even small jobs in on the same day, preferring to always have a night's sleep between the drafting and proofreading stages. I once even woke up in the middle of the night when the exact right word I had been searching for in vain the previous day plopped into my dream - and made a note of it ... See more Atil raised questions about whether to include breaks (when you might be making/drinking coffee but are still actually thinking about the job); I would ask whether to include my night's sleep. I rarely hand even small jobs in on the same day, preferring to always have a night's sleep between the drafting and proofreading stages. I once even woke up in the middle of the night when the exact right word I had been searching for in vain the previous day plopped into my dream - and made a note of it to fold it into my translation. The proofreading stage is always much smoother, and I manage to produce a much better text, when I've had that night's sleep.
Another aspect to be considered is the client's viewpoint. The client may need their website translated into ten different languages. Billing source word is the simplest way to go, because then the only variation will be the rate, which will mostly differ according to language rarity. It'd be hard to explain paying ten hours for the translation into Spanish when the German translator only bills six for the exact same text. ▲ Collapse
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| When is an hour not an hour? | Oct 4, 2021 |
How do you bill an hour when you’re under pressure and/or in the zone, as opposed to an hour when you’re tired and distracted?
How do you bill an hour when you know the subject intimately and just translate, as opposed to an hour when you have to do research because you don’t know the subject as well?
Not all hours are equal. So the hours I charge won’t always be the same as the hours I spend on the job.
And yes, tea breaks and housework breaks and ... See more How do you bill an hour when you’re under pressure and/or in the zone, as opposed to an hour when you’re tired and distracted?
How do you bill an hour when you know the subject intimately and just translate, as opposed to an hour when you have to do research because you don’t know the subject as well?
Not all hours are equal. So the hours I charge won’t always be the same as the hours I spend on the job.
And yes, tea breaks and housework breaks and exercise breaks are billable in my book. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Do you still charge by word/characters or rather by hour (like all other industries)? | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
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