Poll: Do you adjust your rates based on your current availability?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 20, 2021

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you adjust your rates based on your current availability?".

This poll was originally submitted by Maria Pia Giuseppina Nuzzolese. View the poll results »



 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:09
Member
English to French
Yes (with agencies) Jan 20, 2021

Business conditions being equal, first come is first served. Any derogation is charged accordingly.

If I can't take on a job offer during (my own elastic) "office" hours, I say I can't and suggest a later delivery date/time. If the customer is stuck for some reason, I can offer to handle it later at night/earlier in the morning/during the weekend at a 50% surcharge.

If I put my health on the line trying to accommodate every job offer at any time of the day or night, at
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Business conditions being equal, first come is first served. Any derogation is charged accordingly.

If I can't take on a job offer during (my own elastic) "office" hours, I say I can't and suggest a later delivery date/time. If the customer is stuck for some reason, I can offer to handle it later at night/earlier in the morning/during the weekend at a 50% surcharge.

If I put my health on the line trying to accommodate every job offer at any time of the day or night, at least my heirs should get more money.

Philippe

[Edited at 2021-01-20 11:42 GMT]
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Jean Dimitriadis
Zibow Retailleau
Alix Paupy
Moazzam Ali
Sarah Baker
Antonia D'Elia
Luis Fernando Carvalho
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:09
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Jan 20, 2021

I don’t understand the question. What do you mean? My rates are my rates. I don’t accept rush jobs from new clients and my long-standing customers know my rates and that rush jobs have a surcharge.

Liena Vijupe
Christopher Schröder
Mr. Satan (X)
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Philip Lees
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
Mario Freitas
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:09
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
I don't charge for rush jobs Jan 20, 2021

ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you adjust your rates based on your current availability?"

I charge the same rate regardless of availability. If I can't get the work done in the time proposed I will usually probe the client's receptiveness to extending the deadline. If I can do it, I do it. If I can't, I don't. I don't charge more because my schedule is a bit tight.

Of course in theory I should impose a surcharge to reflect tighter supply of the good involved (my time), but the wider context is that my relationships with my clients are long-term in nature and both sides value predictability and reliability. This extends to pricing. They don't try to wangle discounts out of me, and I don't hit them with charges.

However, because most of my clients are Japanese there may be a cultural aspect at work here, in that long-term economic stability tends to be prioritised over short-term gains. If I were dealing with large Western agencies who were not looking beyond the next job and who were treating me as a fungible supplier, I might well consider surcharges. With my existing clients the only thing I charge extra for is DTP work.

The other issue for me personally is that I consciously make availability one of my virtues (along with responding to queries in minutes rather than hours). If accepting a job means that I have to work long hours, I will accept it unless I have already and specifically blocked off my calendar for something else. I want my clients to feel that when they have a pile of work that needs to be assigned, they can approach me and be confident that nine times out of ten I will accept. From their perspective, that's another tick on their list, another step closer to finishing their work for the day and going home.

Attitudes to this kind of thing probably vary according the stage of life. Although I don't now, I might start rejecting weekend or rush work at some point in the future.

Regards,
Dan


Mr. Satan (X)
Michael Harris
Philip Lees
Helena Chavarria
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 12:09
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Downwards, but not upwards Jan 20, 2021

I may be willing to accept a lower offer during a quiet period, but I don't raise my usual rate simply because I'm quite busy.

Paul van Zijll
Mr. Satan (X)
Kaisa I
Christine Andersen
Philip Lees
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
It depends Jan 20, 2021

Usually, my rates are my rates, and I don't normally charge extra for rush jobs or weekends. However, I may occasionally quote a dissuasory rate if I'm too busy or don't want to accept the job. But it rarely if ever happens, and I don't recall the last time I did so.

[Edited at 2021-01-20 10:12 GMT]


Zibow Retailleau
Helena Chavarria
Chiara Foppa Pedretti
Kaisa I
Philip Lees
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Interpretation Jan 20, 2021

I understood the question as meaning whether, say, I charge a higher rate to customers in January, which is always busy, than in July, which is always quiet.

Which seems an odd approach. I certainly don’t.

But if it means, do I charge extra for working antisocial hours, then hell yeah. It’s double or bust for evenings and weekends.

(And for those who are wondering, it is very rare even for an agency to turn round and say no, in that case we will go else
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I understood the question as meaning whether, say, I charge a higher rate to customers in January, which is always busy, than in July, which is always quiet.

Which seems an odd approach. I certainly don’t.

But if it means, do I charge extra for working antisocial hours, then hell yeah. It’s double or bust for evenings and weekends.

(And for those who are wondering, it is very rare even for an agency to turn round and say no, in that case we will go elsewhere. I definitely recommend fleecing the customer. You know they’d fleece you if the tables were turned.)

PS I love the concept of “dissuasory rates“, Neil. I frequently deploy that tactic when I get offered stuff I really don’t want to do. It rarely works. But at least I get the extra moolah.

[Edited at 2021-01-20 11:52 GMT]
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Zibow Retailleau
Michael Harris
Christine Andersen
Augusto Rochadel
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:09
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Go away Jan 20, 2021

Chris S wrote:
PS I love the concept of “dissuasory rates“, Neil. I frequently deploy that tactic when I get offered stuff I really don’t want to do. It rarely works. But at least I get the extra moolah.

I'm the same, and you encounter it in various walks of life. Ever wondered why, after you described that tricky job you wanted the plumber to do, his quote was twice the average? That's a "go away" price.

Dan


Christopher Schröder
Philip Lees
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 12:09
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
No, i adjust my rates according to the type of job Jan 20, 2021

My agency clients - which means most of them - have a more or less fixed rate each. However, the areas they specialise in vary, which means some have higher rates than others. No other profession or industry charges the same price per kilo for ALL their products, and I certainly don´t.

However, either I am available, and take on the job at the rate I can get, or I am not available, sorry, and the client has to find someone else.

Two agencies I work for definitely negot
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My agency clients - which means most of them - have a more or less fixed rate each. However, the areas they specialise in vary, which means some have higher rates than others. No other profession or industry charges the same price per kilo for ALL their products, and I certainly don´t.

However, either I am available, and take on the job at the rate I can get, or I am not available, sorry, and the client has to find someone else.

Two agencies I work for definitely negotiate higher rates with the end client for rushed jobs. I rarely ask for a higher rate for evenings and weekends, unless the deadline is very tight, because I often work at those times anyway. I do not take on impossible rushed jobs, but if a good client needs a page or two ASAP, I oblige when I can.

I have stopped asking for extra high rates when I don´t want the job. All too often I have ended up struggling with the job anyway, and sometimes turning down more attractive jobs for lack of time. If I don´t want the job I say no thanks!
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Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 13:09
Greek to English
Unavailable means unavailable Jan 21, 2021

Christine Andersen wrote:

However, either I am available, and take on the job at the rate I can get, or I am not available, sorry, and the client has to find someone else.



If I'm not available, the question of rate doesn't apply. For a favoured (i.e. regular) client I may make myself available when I wouldn't be for somebody else, but I do that in return for the preserved goodwill.

I may quote a higher rate than usual for a job I expect to be particularly tedious or irksome, but only if I'm available for that job - i.e. I can fit it into my existing schedule. I'm too old to sacrifice my beauty sleep for extra cash.


Liena Vijupe
Nadja Balogh
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Josephine Cassar
Christine Andersen
 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 12:09
Member (2016)
German to French
Not directly Jan 21, 2021

But my client are from different sources and have different rates. So when I am full, I tend to be less responsive to the ones I might enjoy working with but are pressing on the low side and I try not to say no to the good paying. Otherwise there is only a specific amount of hours in the day. When the water gets over my head, it is useless to beg and beg (which rarely happens).

Usually a high tide does not come from one day to the other, this is rather a piling up of jobs with exten
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But my client are from different sources and have different rates. So when I am full, I tend to be less responsive to the ones I might enjoy working with but are pressing on the low side and I try not to say no to the good paying. Otherwise there is only a specific amount of hours in the day. When the water gets over my head, it is useless to beg and beg (which rarely happens).

Usually a high tide does not come from one day to the other, this is rather a piling up of jobs with extended deadlines. I see the red line coming.
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:09
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Of course not! Jan 23, 2021

What kind of question is this? So the client has to pay more if my availability is "tighter"?? What would you think about this if you were the client?

 
Nikolay Novitskiy
Nikolay Novitskiy  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 16:09
Member (2018)
English to Russian
A brilliant idea Jan 23, 2021

This is a brilliant idea! But you should enjoy a kind of monopolistic advantage to be able to do so without hurting your reputation.

[Edited at 2021-01-23 07:39 GMT]


 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:09
German to English
+ ...
makes no sense Jan 24, 2021

and doesn't make sense. Fees should be based on the work.

 


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Poll: Do you adjust your rates based on your current availability?






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