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Poll: Do you accept lower rates in exchange for a shorter payment time?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Oct 16, 2021

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you accept lower rates in exchange for a shorter payment time?".

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Hayatullah Dadkhah
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:51
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
No Oct 17, 2021

Payment turnaround time isn't that important to me.

Josephine Cassar
Liena Vijupe
ahartje
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Thayenga
Ventnai
Christine Andersen
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 10:51
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
No Oct 17, 2021

Do you accept lower rates in exchange for a shorter payment time?

No. It affects my eagerness to do work for that client, but it doesn't affect the rate that I charge. Surely, only translators with serious cash-flow problems would accept lower rates for quicker payment.

I have had a client that offered this in their system. The mechanism deducted 0.5% (half a percent) from the invoiced amount if the translator chose to receive payment 5 days earlier than the stated payment date. This was not a permanent setting: the translator would get a notification about 7-10 days before the payment date, with a link to click if he accepts the arrangement for that payment.

But I suspect the poll asker had much larger discounts (e.g. 10%) and much quicker payments (e.g. 30 days instead of 60, or 15 days instead of 30) in mind.

Kay Denney
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:51
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Oct 17, 2021

My longest-standing customer (an agency) has been paying like clockwork the day after receiving my invoice. Then my regulars have quite different payment schedules from 1 week to 30-days and everything in between. Big international organizations have their own payment schedules and some follow rather complex procedures but like Muriel I’m happy to wait (provided they keep on sending work my way).
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:51
French to English
. Oct 17, 2021

Those who drag their feet and require systematic reminding don't get priority with me, those who pay promptly do.
It so happens that the prompt payers are also pleasant and reasonable about deadlines, while those who require reminding are less organised, and more likely to impose stressful deadlines, so I'm not actually sure how important the time they take to pay is in my decision to prioritise a client.
 
Ventnai
Ventnai  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:51
German to English
+ ...
Why? Oct 17, 2021

Why should I? I should charge them interest if they take a long time. Most of my clients are legally required to pay within 30 days and payment practices seem to have improved . Most do, give or take a few days. Some even pay within fifteen days or immediately.

Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:51
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Oct 17, 2021

There are several factors that may lead to a discount (not lower rates), and faster payment may be one of them. All this is negotiable. If you are too strict about your rates, you'll have trouble negotiating and closing deals. This is valid for any area and any product or service. Harvard Manage Mentor teaches us very well how to do this type of negotiation, but it also teaches us that being inflexible is a negative thing, and makes you lose business.
 


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Poll: Do you accept lower rates in exchange for a shorter payment time?






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