This post is designed to begin to introduce readers to the costs of translation, for the translator as well as for the client. For the moment, I'll consider the costs to the translator. Later we'll look at how prices are set.
For the translator, the major costs are:
- tools, like software, dictionaries, hardware (computers), supplies, Internet access
- self-promotion, including advertising, fees paid to listing services, business cards and letterhead, website set-up and maintenance
- professional accreditation and affiliations, to include attendance at conferences, fees to professional organizations, and examinations
- perhaps a bit of additional travel, but not likely (not like the interpreters, who usually have to be present at the work site)
A freelance translator has few other work-related costs. There is no inventory, the final "product" can often be delivered electronically or by mail on a reimburseable basis, and there is no need for special equipment beyond the PC and software. Agencies, on the other hand, have all the costs above plus the traditional overhead costs of utilities, rent, payroll, bookkeeping, quality control, employee training, insurance, etc. Before we leave the freelancer, I must point out that his/her "overhead" is the family car, the kids' doctor visits, the mortgage, self-insurance, etc.
Before the Internet, competition was fixed to the point where a translator had a pretty good shot at making a living in the local market if he/she worked hard at working hard. This was because costs were fairly similar for each translator in the market area. Now that the Internet has made it possible for translators in relatively inexpensive places, let's say Honduras or India, to compete with translators in expensive locations like New York City, the whole industry is changed. I have my American rent, car payment, and grocery bills while another translator, competing for the same jobs and therefore able to earn the same income, pays one tenth of that amount for self-maintenance. When a job is offered, I bid an amount to support my lifestyle. The foreign-based translator bids far less. He gets the job; I don't. This isn't a complaint; just a fact of life in the cyber-World. The equalizers--why I still win jobs--are my reputation, perhaps a better facility to gain the confidence of the prospective client, and sometimes because I'm closer, the ability to deliver the hardcopy faster.
Let me know if I left out anything.
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