Buy translation tool first in order to work on a project? Thread poster: Carolin Haase
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Dear colleagues,
seeing a job posting in the English>German section had me laughing out loud. The agency offered long-term cooperation including steady a workflow provided you buy their translation tool first. Quote outsourcer: "Compared to what you spend on Trados, this cost is negligible."
I am rather shocked by this approach.
Needless to say, I am not going to apply altough the projects sounds interesting.
What do you think?
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| interesting---not | Feb 14, 2012 |
Of course the projects sound interesting. They don't exist !
This is obviously a scam.
[Edited at 2012-02-14 14:14 GMT]
| | | | John Di Rico 
France
Local time: 13:10
Member (2006)
French to English
| Invest in translation tool first... | Feb 14, 2012 |
Hi Carolin,
Not sure about the project or agency and what they get out of selling you the tool (some tool providers give a commission on sales) but a CAT tool should always be considered an investment, not a cost. It helps a translator do his or her job as does the computer, telephone, word processing and email software, etc.
I love this quote from a colleague:
"...My investments in [insert CAT tool name here] and training were the best ones I've ever made! My bus... See more Hi Carolin,
Not sure about the project or agency and what they get out of selling you the tool (some tool providers give a commission on sales) but a CAT tool should always be considered an investment, not a cost. It helps a translator do his or her job as does the computer, telephone, word processing and email software, etc.
I love this quote from a colleague:
"...My investments in [insert CAT tool name here] and training were the best ones I've ever made! My busy season has been going incredibly well... The only thing I would add is that the payback period on my investment (software plus training...) was less than two days. Since then, it's been day after day of less tedium and more money. Why didn't I do this years ago?!"
Personally, I would sign the long-term cooperation agreement before buying the tool.
Best,
John ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule |
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| A better idea | Feb 14, 2012 |
I have a better offer.
I can provide you with a regular stream of really interesting translation jobs, at a rate of Euro 20.00 per word.
However you must first buy a copy of my special translation tool "TomTrans" for only €199.99
Please send the money and then I'll begin sending you the jobs.
[Edited at 2012-02-14 14:39 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 13:10
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Depends on the tool | Feb 14, 2012 |
Carolin Haase wrote:
The agency offered long-term cooperation including steady a workflow provided you buy their translation tool first. Quote outsourcer: "Compared to what you spend on Trados, this cost is negligible."
Well, we can't really comment unless we know more about the tool and about the price.
Is the cost of the tool really a fraction of what Trados costs? Is it a vendor-independent CAT tool that can be used for other clients' work as well? These are two very important questions, since if the tool is fairly cheap and can be used for other clients' work as well, then the only other issue is whether the tool will actually pay for itself in a reasonably short period of time.
As you can see, I don't think this is a scam and I don't have any objection to buying a client's CAT tool per se, but the proposition has to be judged on all three these questions.
| | | | avsie (X)
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
| If it's the agency I'm thinking about... | Feb 14, 2012 |
If it's the agency I'm thinking about, this agency has their own online CAT tool, and you must pay a subscription to use this tool in order to receive jobs from them. There are plenty of topics about this, it has been discussed at large on ProZ.
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
| workflow standards | Feb 14, 2012 |
I see it this way:
- there's a company which uses a certain (non-standard?) software;
- they want to have the job consistent and consolidated, so they require their tool
- they want a translator to pay its cost...
But what is this tool and how much does it really cost?
Why it's not Trados/WF compatible or cannot export/import standard TM's?
Why didn't they choose Trados/WF, MemoQ or something mainstream?
Why should one pay just to be paid?!
... See more I see it this way:
- there's a company which uses a certain (non-standard?) software;
- they want to have the job consistent and consolidated, so they require their tool
- they want a translator to pay its cost...
But what is this tool and how much does it really cost?
Why it's not Trados/WF compatible or cannot export/import standard TM's?
Why didn't they choose Trados/WF, MemoQ or something mainstream?
Why should one pay just to be paid?!
Nope, I'd answered that I have this and that tool, I can provide the translation, but I don't care about their 'negligible' pretext. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
DZiW wrote:
I see it this way:
- there's a company which uses a certain (non-standard?) software;
- they want to have the job consistent and consolidated, so they require their tool
- they want a translator to pay its cost...
But what is this tool and how much does it really cost?
Why it's not Trados/WF compatible or cannot export/import standard TM's?
Why didn't they choose Trados/WF, MemoQ or something mainstream?
Why should one pay just to be paid?!
Nope, I'd answered that I have this and that tool, I can provide the translation, but I don't care about their 'negligible' pretext.
yes- and note that what you pay is not to PURCHASE their tool but a "subscription" - meaning you will probably need to pay for it every year !
| | | | | | | Sounds like scam! | Feb 15, 2012 |
Beware!
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 13:10
French to German
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| Floating licences | Feb 15, 2012 |
Some colleagues seem to have more luck, as agency clients grant them floating licences for the CAT tools they are supposed to use.
It cannot be that complicated. Of course, this presupposes that these agencies are more than mere translation brokers... not to speak of scam artists.
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Damien Poussier
France
Local time: 13:10
Member (2012)
English to French
+ ...
| That's definitely not a scam... | Feb 15, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
I have a better offer.
I can provide you with a regular stream of really interesting translation jobs, at a rate of Euro 20.00 per word.
However you must first buy a copy of my special translation tool "TomTrans" for only €199.99
Please send the money and then I'll begin sending you the jobs.
[Edited at 2012-02-14 14:39 GMT]
Oh my God where do I sign where do I sign ?!
Also, I happen to be the former Prime Minister of Slobadistan, and I just don't know what to do with all these millions of dollars I have. Would you mind taking them, for a upfront payment ?
| | | | Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
French to English
+ ...
| Not necessarily | Feb 15, 2012 |
It could equally be a large multinational agency with whom many here will be familiar (I think Marie-Claude and I are thinking of the same one), who have their own proprietary tool for which one needs to pay a subscription fee. Not technically a scam, though it may look very much like one.
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