| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | US agencies' rates Thread poster: Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez
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Dear colleagues,
I am currently busy trying to establish contacts with agencies in the USA.
My language pairs are EN>ES(ES) and DE>ES(ES).
What is your experience with the rates US agencies usually offer when they negotiate with you? I have realized that many agencies in the US only look for freelancers located in the US and, if they answer to my e-mails, their rates are ridiculous, way down of the rates in Europe. I mean, I have been contacted by some agen... See more Dear colleagues,
I am currently busy trying to establish contacts with agencies in the USA.
My language pairs are EN>ES(ES) and DE>ES(ES).
What is your experience with the rates US agencies usually offer when they negotiate with you? I have realized that many agencies in the US only look for freelancers located in the US and, if they answer to my e-mails, their rates are ridiculous, way down of the rates in Europe. I mean, I have been contacted by some agencies with a 5 LWA in the Blue Board and they intend me to translate for them for 0.03 USD. In Europe, agencies accept higher rates and I think that I don't have the most expensive rates yet.
The issue is that, even one agency in Turkey, which hasn't given me any job yet but the contact person made all his efforts to find a way for me to receive payments from Turkey and which has algo got a 5 LWA, accepted my rates (the same one I have for every agency in Europe and anywhere). I think that the affordable rates for a Turkish agency should be lower than for a German one, for instance.
As far as I know, in same countries, like the US, there aren't Bachelor's Degrees for Translation and Interpretation studies, like in Spain, but, according to what I see in Linkedin, there are associations of translators and interpreters there. Do the American agencies value even less our job than the rest of the countries?
Maybe it's me who don't know how to negotiate with an agency and re-offer a higher rate to find a satisfactory rate for both parties.
Best regards,
Jorge ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 16:52
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
What is your experience with the rates US agencies usually offer when they negotiate with you?
In my experience, about half of them offer good, average rates. A quarter offer low rates, and a quarter offer high rates.
| | | | | US agencies' rates | Dec 13, 2021 |
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Samuel.
Mm, I am not sure if I have ever got an offer for my combination German into Spanish. I think so and it was not much better than English into Spanish but maybe it's a matter of language pairs. English into Afrikaans is much more difficult to find that my language pairs.
I am already working to add Dutch into Spanish to my language pairs. I hope it make a difference with those agencies in Germany, for example, that t... See more Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Samuel.
Mm, I am not sure if I have ever got an offer for my combination German into Spanish. I think so and it was not much better than English into Spanish but maybe it's a matter of language pairs. English into Afrikaans is much more difficult to find that my language pairs.
I am already working to add Dutch into Spanish to my language pairs. I hope it make a difference with those agencies in Germany, for example, that tell me that they do not need my language pairs at the moment but they will keep my details for the future.
In any case, I love how Dutch sounds so I do not feel I am wasting time.
Greetings,
Jorge ▲ Collapse
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I only work with a handful of US agencies for several reasons: 1. I have plenty of work from European agencies and direct clients; 2. They insist on paying by PayPal and I insist on being paid by bank transfer or Wise; 3. I find that they usually are much more filled with red tape than their European counterparts (endless registration processes and NDAs); 4. Like you much of the offers I receive are ridiculous (for the lack of a better word)…
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Hello, Teresa,
That is another point. They insist on paying via PayPal and I completely refuse to use PayPal. In addition, they can do kind of a local transfer to our USD Wise accounts, so I do not see where the problem is.
Obrigado for sharing your experience,
Jorge
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 10:52
Japanese to English
+ ...
| US Agencies rates | Dec 14, 2021 |
US agency rates are by and large determined by who is running the agency. More and more US agencies are owned and run by people who come from outside the US: Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India. You can expect the rates these agencies "offer" to reflect the economic culture from which they come. Most likely this will sound biased, but I increasingly make decisions based on the name of the owner/PM. Of course the US is a nation of immigrants. But there are immigrants and ther... See more US agency rates are by and large determined by who is running the agency. More and more US agencies are owned and run by people who come from outside the US: Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India. You can expect the rates these agencies "offer" to reflect the economic culture from which they come. Most likely this will sound biased, but I increasingly make decisions based on the name of the owner/PM. Of course the US is a nation of immigrants. But there are immigrants and there are immigrants. Also, you will find agencies with offices in New York or LA but they are most likely headquartered somewhere in East Gavnyukistan. They want Oxford quality at Calcutta rates. And you can find the usual caveats: "best rates", "rate based on long-term cooperation", etc., etc. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 10:52
Japanese to English
+ ...
| US agency rates | Dec 14, 2021 |
Jorge, another caveat is that agencies in the US largely source their Spanish translators in Latin America and expect rock bottom rates as translators there are willing to work for a pittance given the dire economic circumstances the countries find themselves in. You would be better off looking for direct clients. Good luck!
| | | | | US agencies' rates | Dec 14, 2021 |
Thank for sharing your opinion, Michael.
Yes, I tought about the US' agencies finding their freelancers in Latin America but it's not that usual that a translator from Latin America can translate from DE into ES(ES).
Apart from that, I would like to remark in this thread the practice of some US agencies when they post jobs on Proz. it's usually not very successfull to apply to those jobs posted because there are a lot of quoters but I have got a couple of jobs that way.... See more Thank for sharing your opinion, Michael.
Yes, I tought about the US' agencies finding their freelancers in Latin America but it's not that usual that a translator from Latin America can translate from DE into ES(ES).
Apart from that, I would like to remark in this thread the practice of some US agencies when they post jobs on Proz. it's usually not very successfull to apply to those jobs posted because there are a lot of quoters but I have got a couple of jobs that way.
I have read from time to time a job post from the US (I don't know if it's always the same agency) that finishes with the sentence "the lowest rate gets the job". It's obvious that agencies take into account the rate but it's offensive for us, as professionals, to read such statements. Of course, I don't send quotes to such jobs and I would like nobody else does.
Best regards,
Jorge ▲ Collapse
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 17:52
Member
English to Turkish
| Couldn't agree more | Dec 14, 2021 |
Michael Newton wrote:
US agency rates are by and large determined by who is running the agency. More and more US agencies are owned and run by people who come from outside the US: Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India. You can expect the rates these agencies "offer" to reflect the economic culture from which they come. Most likely this will sound biased, but I increasingly make decisions based on the name of the owner/PM. Of course the US is a nation of immigrants. But there are immigrants and there are immigrants. Also, you will find agencies with offices in New York or LA but they are most likely headquartered somewhere in East Gavnyukistan. They want Oxford quality at Calcutta rates. And you can find the usual caveats: "best rates", "rate based on long-term cooperation", etc., etc.
The same goes for the agencies 'headquartered' in 'London' (though their IP addresses always lead to Moldovia or some such place) and run by people with Eastern European/Slavic sounding names.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 10:52
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Language pairs | Dec 14, 2021 |
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
Thank for sharing your opinion, Michael.
Yes, I thought about the US' agencies finding their freelancers in Latin America but it's not that usual that a translator from Latin America can translate from DE into ES(ES).
Jorge
I don't think many American agencies work from DE into ES and vice versa. Most American agencies work only with languages pairs of which English is one of the languages.
[Edited at 2021-12-14 18:39 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 16:52
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
That is another point. They insist on paying via PayPal and I completely refuse to use PayPal. In addition, they can do kind of a local transfer to our USD Wise accounts, so I do not see where the problem is.
The problem is that electronic funds transfer is complicated and unusual in the United States, whereas payment by cheque or PayPal is considered so normal that you would be considered weird if you did not acccept either of them. So you have to ask yourself the question: do you want US clients or not?
Not accepting US payment methods for US clients is almost like refusing to use US spelling when translating into English for US clients.
[Edited at 2021-12-14 10:47 GMT]
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Dear @jyuan_us,
Yes, you are right, but I have either receive offers or found posted in Proz for the language pair DE>ES(ES) from countries like the US, Brazil, Italia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.
Of course, is not that usual, but there are some of them.
Note: Would someone be so kind to teach me how to quote someone in my reply? I am not get used to use forums and I have tried with "" and " " and I think it doesn't work on ... See more Dear @jyuan_us,
Yes, you are right, but I have either receive offers or found posted in Proz for the language pair DE>ES(ES) from countries like the US, Brazil, Italia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.
Of course, is not that usual, but there are some of them.
Note: Would someone be so kind to teach me how to quote someone in my reply? I am not get used to use forums and I have tried with "" and " " and I think it doesn't work on the preview (of course, without ", like HTML tags).
Thank you and best regards,
Jorge ▲ Collapse
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Ok, the HTML tags work on the final view, but not in the preview.
Thank you,
Jorge
| | | | | Amazing! (off topic) | Dec 15, 2021 |
Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
I love how Dutch sounds
Most foreigners I know close their ears when they hear my native language. Just try to pronounce this (nonsense) sentence correctly: Er liggen negen brullende brillen te gorgelen in de Scheveningse grachten. And you'll know exactly what I am talking about.
[Edited at 2021-12-15 16:24 GMT]
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 17:52
Member
English to Turkish
| What's wrong with Dutch? | Dec 15, 2021 |
Robert Rietvelt wrote:
Most foreigners I know close their ears when they hear my native language.
It's a profitable language! I wish I knew it 
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