Cost of translation – what does it depend on? Practical tips

We can give you an answer to the question in the title as easily as we can answer the question: “What is happiness?” The answer, of course, is out there, a very good one we suppose, but it depends on 263 different factors! Maybe not quite that many… Some of the most important factors affecting the price are listed below.

Read what affects the price of the translation you need the most!

A story from our office

George, a potential client: “Hello. I need a translation. How much does it cost?”

Tjaša, our project manager: “Hello. Thank you for calling. What language combination are we talking about?”

George, a potential client: “English and German, I think. What is the price of the translation, then?”

Tjaša, our project manager: “Are we talking about a translation from English to German?”

George, a potential client: “Oh, no. From Slovenian into English and German. We may also need Slovenian into French. What is the price for that?”

Tjaša, our project manager: “I understand. Do you maybe know the scope of the original text? How many pages?”

George, a potential client: “What is a translation page?”

Tjaša, our project manager: “One translation page is 1,500 characters without spaces or 250 words.”

George, a potential client: “Oh, I can see this up there in Word, right?”

Tjaša, our project manager: “That’s right.”

George, a potential client: “Let me see… (calculating) It’s 5.6 translation pages. But I don’t have the final documents yet. We are still doing some corrections and the document will probably be finished sometime next week. So how much does it cost?”

Tjaša is now squeezing the anti-stress ball in her left hand whilst calmly stirring her second coffee of the day with her right hand, breathing deeply to keep herself in check. You probably understand why, don’t you?

WHAT ACTUALLY AFFECTS THE PRICE?

Let's check the basic factors that impact the price so such unnecessarily long conversations can be avoided!

1^st FACTOR: LANGUAGE PAIR OR COMBINATION

The language pair or combination is one of the most important factors determining the price of the translation. The more exotic the language, the higher the price. The basic rule of thumb in sales (the price is proportional to the number of providers and the demand) is also true in this case.

How to get a lower translation price?

Find a local translation agency where the language is not considered as exotic or a professional translation agency in your area that offers translations into many languages with its wide team of translators. If you opt for a local translation agency (even if you don’t), let us give you some advice: always do a quality check before commissioning a translation: request a test translation and have it checked independently by a native language speaker to ensure its quality.

2^nd FACTOR: DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF THE TEXT

If you have ever ordered a translation (or not), you might realise that the translation of a user manual for a medical device will cost more than the translation of the assembly guide for a table you can put together yourself in 5 minutes.

How to get a lower translation price?

With difficulty (but not impossible). If you work in an industry with more demanding and complex texts, you cannot simply change the complexity of the texts the industry works with. However, there is a secret to reducing the price in the long term: find an agency that uses translation tools (CAT tools). The latter will certainly reduce the price over time and also increase the quality and consistency of your translations. Also, your translations will be completed more quickly.

3^rd FACTOR: SPEED

If you need a translation very quickly, the price will go up at many agencies due to the short delivery deadline. In this case, the project managers must quickly assemble a team with a translator, a bilingual proofreader, a DTP specialist and others who will focus only on your project in the next few days.

How to get a lower translation price?

Plan ahead. Draw up at least a three-month plan of translations you will need and factor in enough time from the moment you send the texts for translation to the moment your translation needs to be delivered (add a day or two, maybe even three so you won't be sitting there clicking “Refresh” in your mailbox while biting your nails because you just need that translation).

4^th FACTOR: A TURNKEY SERVICE

Some agencies only offer translations without proofreading, which means you will get the text back a lot quicker than with a comprehensive translation service (remember that in the former case, the text will only be checked by a single pair of eyes).

In addition to a translation by a native speaker, a comprehensive translation service usually includes a bilingual editing or proofreading followed by graphic design. Sometimes, the text is even published online (for the translation of a website). You might even be offered subtitling. If you rely on a large language services provider, the price will also be lower in the long term due to repetitions within the text. These are determined using computer-aided translation tools (CAT tools) and databases with your existing and past translations, which are updated regularly.

How to get a lower translation price?

If you need a translation for external stakeholders or the general public, we strongly recommend not trying to save money and opt for a turnkey service (at least for a translation that includes bilingual proofreading). However, if you only need a translation for yourself and perhaps a couple of your colleagues with no one else actually laying their eyes on the text (because you are personally interested in the findings in an expert publication written in a language you don’t understand), a basic (good) translation may do.

If it sounds too cheap to be true…

… it probably isn’t good.

You know the rule you see in the picture below?

You can never get all three – no matter how hard people try to make you believe otherwise. If you want to get something fast but with good quality, it will not be cheap. If you want to get something cheap and fast, it will not be good. However, if you want to get something good and cheap, it will not be fast. Easy as pie!

You need to keep your feet on the ground (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Be realistic. How many pages can a translator or even a true expert in the industry reasonably translate in one hour? How much time do you want the translation agency to dedicate to making a crucial text for your business, image, or reputation? How long have you been drawing up the original document yourself? How much are you willing to pay for true high quality?

When choosing a language services provider, take into account the time you needed to develop the products, services, and the reputation of your company at home and abroad. Professional, high-quality translations are a key part of any international business model. If you cannot afford them, your organisation may not be ready to enter the global markets – nothing wrong with that, just be honest with yourself.

The value of a professional translation agency – from the selection of translators, project management, quality assessment to document conversion and final quality assurance – has its price. It will still save your organisation many valuable hours and increase your value in the market though.

It reminds us of that good old saying “you get as much as you give”, doesn't it?