Poll: What percentage of your translation rate is your MTPE rate? Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What percentage of your translation rate is your MTPE rate?".
View the poll results »
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I have no standard fee, as it all depends on the “quality”. I never accept a job without having first a good look at the document to be translated/edited. One of the MTPE jobs I’ve done was charged at full rate after long discussions, while others were charged at 50%. Anyway, I refuse most of the MTPE jobs, I’m at the end of my career and I only accept the ones I find kind of enjoyable.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Německo
Local time: 06:31
angličtina -> němčina
+ ...
I am 100% opposed to editing machine translations and therefore do not offer this service. Sometimes, I will half-jokingly offer MTPE at 200% of my translation word rate, and yes, if anyone ever actually accepts this, I am absolutely going to take the job and then proceed to clear the machine gibberish in its entirety and provide a regular human translation.
On a side note, I would be really interested in the reasoning of those that selected any of the options below 50%. I mean, at some po... See more I am 100% opposed to editing machine translations and therefore do not offer this service. Sometimes, I will half-jokingly offer MTPE at 200% of my translation word rate, and yes, if anyone ever actually accepts this, I am absolutely going to take the job and then proceed to clear the machine gibberish in its entirety and provide a regular human translation.
On a side note, I would be really interested in the reasoning of those that selected any of the options below 50%. I mean, at some point, this pays less than a regular review/proofreading job, while the quality of the machine output is still anything but acceptable. Why would anyone accept such deductions? The only possible justification I can make up in my own mind is that they will just rubber-stamp the raw output with no edits at all and cash in some easy money. At least this is how most product descriptions on Amazon read.
[Edited at 2024-01-13 09:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | important question | Jan 13, 2024 |
This is a very important question. MTPE has been rushed into our industry during the last few years, and we've been told that it will save us time. Sometimes it does, sometimes not. There is no real study about exactly how much time MTPE saves, and under what sorts of conditions, etc. Still, agencies are pushing us to accept specific discounts, often 30%, sometime 50% and so on. Where did they get those numbers from, what are they based on?
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Thomas Johansson wrote:
This is a very important question. MTPE has been rushed into our industry during the last few years, and we've been told that it will save us time. Sometimes it does, sometimes not. There is no real study about exactly how much time MTPE saves, and under what sorts of conditions, etc. Still, agencies are pushing us to accept specific discounts, often 30%, sometime 50% and so on. Where did they get those numbers from, what are they based on?
I imagine they worked out a fair price based on time saved by their in-house staff rubber-stamping MTPE jobs - and then halved it.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Německo
Local time: 06:31
angličtina -> němčina
+ ...
| Ludicrous discounts | Jan 13, 2024 |
Thomas Johansson wrote:
Still, agencies are pushing us to accept specific discounts, often 30%, sometime 50% and so on. Where did they get those numbers from, what are they based on?
They have learned that there are people who are willing to accept these discounts (see the results of this very poll) and therefore are trying to push them as "normal". Why translators are (and have always been) so incredibly accepting of the unacceptable is beyond me.
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Belgie
Local time: 06:31
Člen (2020)
francouzština -> nizozemština
+ ...
| 60-70% of my conventional translation rate | Jan 13, 2024 |
I've learnt that this is an acceptable MTPE rate that allows me to stay profitable the way I was, while delivering at least the same quality. In my experience anything below this percentage is unacceptable and makes it impossible to either deliver the same quality or stay profitable.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgie
Local time: 06:31
Člen (2020)
francouzština -> nizozemština
+ ...
Christopher Schröder wrote:
I imagine they worked out a fair price based on time saved by their in-house staff rubber-stamping MTPE jobs - and then halved it.
A few years ago I had a long e-mail discussion with an agency general manager, who was claiming that inhouse tests showed that in some cases it was possible to post-edit 3000 words per hour. I didn't know if was supposed to laugh or cry. I think I did both.
3000 words is about the maximum I can just READ per hour.
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| I don't like it. | Aug 13, 2025 |
MTPE is continually inviting new linguists to this industry—giving agencies more options and increasing pricing pressure on professional linguists.
| | | | Liena V.
Lotyšsko
Local time: 07:31
Člen (2014)
francouzština -> lotyština
+ ...
Whichever is acceptable when converted to my hourly rate. In my view, MTPE is only justified for one type of client – large international organisations which produce hundreds of pages every week and can't wait months to have them translated. They typically also use their own MT which is specifically developed for their needs and only works in limited language combinations.
A couple hundred words per month with MT discount and no minimum fee because an agency or company wants to sa... See more Whichever is acceptable when converted to my hourly rate. In my view, MTPE is only justified for one type of client – large international organisations which produce hundreds of pages every week and can't wait months to have them translated. They typically also use their own MT which is specifically developed for their needs and only works in limited language combinations.
A couple hundred words per month with MT discount and no minimum fee because an agency or company wants to save a little or somebody needs to promote their tool? Thank you, I have better things to do.
If MT really was just a tool and as helpful as they claim, nobody would have to force us into using it. Just replace "discount" with a "usage fee" and suddenly it all makes a lot more sense. ▲ Collapse
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