TJ Blog
Friday, October 29, 2004
Late Payments and Non-Payments
The translation industry is probably the only one where thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise is custom-made and delivered often on the basis of a phone call or e-mail from an unknown client, without credit check or down payment. Individual translators, working hard to make ends meet, often finance large corporations by unwillingly extending interest-free credit for months. Is late payment or non-payment for translation work a serious problem? And what can or should translators and their organizations do about it?
posted by Gabe Bokor at 7:32 AM
Table of Contents
Entering the Translation Market
Translation Industry Survey
Communication is Power
Translators and the Recession
Quality
Contracts
Edit or Not to Edit
Specialist or Generalist
Certification
Machine Translation
The Goalie
Liability Insurance for Translators
Translator Licensing
Brave New World of Translation
Globalization
Professor Camayd-Freixas and the Postville, Iowa Raid
Who Pays for Technology?
Test Translations
Globalization
Good Translations from Poor Originals?
Simple comme bonjour
How to Predict Translator Performance
Holidays and Missed Calls
Late Payments and Non-Payments
On-Line Job Mediation Services: Are They Worth It?
The Role of Translation "Agencies"
Native Language
The Internet and the Translation Profession
6 Comments:
Since my going international in late 2005, I've never found a non-payment case. Thanks God for this luck. Unfortunately, ate payments frequently happen. Nevertheless, the lateness is tolerable. It just in the range of days or weeks rather than months. Visiting potential client's website and checking their payment record will provide the translator with adequate insight into their trustworthiness.
Certain publishers are renowned for late/ non-payments. In such cases, what is involved is not payments that have slipped through the cracks but organized schemes to defraud translators of their labor and money in order to line the pockets of the publisher.
This has only happened once in my experience but, after some research, I learned that non-payment was systematic with the publisher (Arfise Paris / Sirrocco London / Parkstone Press New York).
For those interested, I've started a blog to document the matter at: http://artifiseinparis.blogspot.com/
Hi, for payment matters you might like to check out my new website:
http://translationpayments.com/
It is a website to help starting or experienced translators decide if they should work for a new client. The website has the following useful links:
- a submit form where to post comments concerning the payment practices of clients they have worked for
- a freely accessible and strictly moderated online database where they can view these comments posted by other translators
- legal tips on getting paid for translation work
- suggestions of what one might charge for their translation service, based on what others are charging and other factors
- extensive translation tips
- translation resources
Karel Kosman
KENAX
I just keep my fingers crossed for payment whenever I work for a new client. Fortunately,as of now no payment scenario never occurred with me but late payment is a common syndrome.
I am a free lance translator. On the average i earn about Ringgi Malaysia 500 per month average. I receive documents (mostly legal, Court Applications, and Affidavits) by email from regular clients (lawyers). I take about 1 hour to translate from English to Malay. I send the finished work by email, and the fee (i charge 0.07sen per word of target language)is credited into my bank account. The bank sends me a sms saying so much has been banked in. So far I have had no problems with this.
first of all, let me thank you for your input as I have found it very helpful. Out of curiosity, what languages do you translate to and from? the reason I am asking, is because I am fluent in Spanish and English, and although I have yet to become a member of the translatorbase, i receive up to 8 notifications each day about translation jobs in Spanish/ English.
I am really on the fence about paying for the full membership because if it is not in fact a legitimate investment, then I simply cannot afford to part with the almost $200. However, if it is going to generate work for me then I want to do it as soon as possible. I have been wavering on this decision for quite some time now and I appreciate any and all feedback
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