Why are there restrictions on the hourly rate? Thread poster: Ramon Somoza
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I tried to change my rates because I found one of my hourly rates was wrong, and suddenly I find that I get the message:
Your minimum per hour rate is out of range. The maximum per hour rate cannot be greater than 200 USD (2.5 times the minimum rate)
You might have thought I tried to place an incredible amount of money... but no, my absolute minimum rate is 0.06 euros/word (for high-volume customers), and as I make easily 1000 words/hour the minimum rate is 60 eu... See more I tried to change my rates because I found one of my hourly rates was wrong, and suddenly I find that I get the message:
Your minimum per hour rate is out of range. The maximum per hour rate cannot be greater than 200 USD (2.5 times the minimum rate)
You might have thought I tried to place an incredible amount of money... but no, my absolute minimum rate is 0.06 euros/word (for high-volume customers), and as I make easily 1000 words/hour the minimum rate is 60 euros (=0.06 x 1000).
If I multiply 60 by 2.5, I get 150 euros. Apparently due to the currency fluctuations right now that amounts to more than 200 USD. So what does this mean? That I have to LOWER my minimum rates because somebody thinks that 200 USD is too much, while it is ridiculous to assume that my price range should be from 1 to 2.5 (i.e., up to 150% over my minimum price?)
Mi ACTUAL price range is only 65% over my minimum, so the 2.5 factor is in my particular case not applicable, so I do not see a reason to limit my minimum rates by this stupid factor or by an arbitrary figure of 200 USD, that I do not even reach with my REAL maximum figures (120 euros for a different language combination).
Similarly, I do not see why a weak dollar (and hence a high exchange rate with the euro) should force me to lower my rates if 95% of my customers are in Europe. If the dollar weakness makes our US colleagues more competitive that is fine for them, but I see no reason why I should be forced to lower my rates because of that....
I think you should have a nice hard look at this feature, it does not seem to make much sense, or at least have a look on the 200 USD limit, which might have been reasonable when the dollar was much stronger than the euro, but not when it is the other way round.
And, what the heck, if I wanted to ask for 300 euros/hour, why should anybody have to limit that as long as there is somebody out there that is willing to pay for it?
[Editado a las 2007-09-15 23:37] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Edward Potter 
Spain
Local time: 04:41
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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| Submit a support ticket | Sep 16, 2007 |
I'd be surprised if this were anything more than a programming glitch.
I'd bet you a pound to the penny that the site staff would reprogram their software if you make them aware of the problem.
| | | | | I wish I could say the same | Sep 16, 2007 |
Ramon Somoza wrote:
...and as I make easily 1000 words/hour ...
This is very impressive, I am light-years away from this kind of figure and I have been using voice recognition software...
The question is:
Why would you increase your min rate by 2.5times ?
And collaterally, how do you justify your min rate to be 2.5 times lower than say your max rate ? This is a heck of a difference...
Anyway, I think min rates can be hidden.
Maybe you should review your rate strategy. Like Naomi Campbell, I don't even get up for 0.06... Maybe you should stop getting up for these rates too.
Kind regards,
Philippe
PS: sorry, actually I am with you, there shouldn't be any rate limit. But there should be a max rate that is some computation of min/standard rate.
[Modifié le 2007-09-16 20:31]
| | | | Ramon Somoza
Spain
Local time: 04:41
Dutch to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | But the minimum rate is already exceptional... | Sep 16, 2007 |
Philippe Etienne wrote:
This is very impressive, I am light-years away from this kind of figure and I have been using voice recognition software...
Thirty years of experience beat any voice-recognition software... 8>)
I usually don't get up either for 0.06 euros/word. The fact is that my minimum rate is only for high-volume clients. And to get that particular rate they have to provide me with an amount of work that exceeds 200,000 words!
[Editado a las 2007-09-16 21:27]
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megane_wang
Spain
Local time: 04:41
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| I only consider my published rates as "orientative"... | Sep 17, 2007 |
... But I found the same problem at the beginning in ProZ. The difference between my minimum and maximum rates is actually larger than 2.5, and the "average" the system computes from them does not really correspond to my real base rate for anyone.
Then I simply forgot about that, since my lowest rates only apply to long-lasting projects, where marketing, sales, research, learning and invoicing tasks are minimized to an extent that makes that feasible (this rarely occurs in my case).... See more ... But I found the same problem at the beginning in ProZ. The difference between my minimum and maximum rates is actually larger than 2.5, and the "average" the system computes from them does not really correspond to my real base rate for anyone.
Then I simply forgot about that, since my lowest rates only apply to long-lasting projects, where marketing, sales, research, learning and invoicing tasks are minimized to an extent that makes that feasible (this rarely occurs in my case). And I always provide a specific rate for those projects.
I'm not really sure that anyone is taking these on-line rates very strictly. In fact... If anyone thinks tat my "average" rate is too high, and does not even consider what "average" means, maybe that customer is not so interesting after all
In any case, if this still bothers you, a support ticket could be a good idea to start with.
Best regards,
Ruth @ MW ▲ Collapse
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