Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Payment: transaction fees from the agency Thread poster: Mathilda Haraldsson
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Samuel Murray wrote: mathildaeleonor wrote: I think this is insane. How can they expect that I will agree to get 20 dollars less on my job just because I want a bank transfer? The agency wants to use the cheapest and most convenient money transfer method. You can't blame them for that. The cheapest and most convenient method for them is cheque. If you're happy to receive cheques, then there is no problem (...but if you're in Sweden, then I don't think you want to receive cheques). If you do not want them to use the cheapest and most convenient money transfer method, but instead you personally prefer them to use a more expensive, less convenient method (e.g. bank transfer or PayPal), then don't you agree that you should be willing to help pay for your preference? Not "insane", just unfair. As others have said, by receiving a payment through PayPal or wire transfer, you're already "paying for your preference" in the form of bank/PayPal and conversion fees. The point is the client doesn't want to even pay their part of such expenses and instead wants the vendor to bear all of them, or accept a(n obsolete) form of payment that is not really used anymore outside of the US. That's unfair and unreasonable. Besides, we're talking about a BIG multinational company with offices (and vendors) all over the world (EU included), so in addition to the above, their lack of helpfulness also extends to the fact they insist on paying in $ and from US banks, while they would definitely have the means to arrange payments in other currencies and/or from overseas branches. | | | Samuel Murray Netherlands Local time: 02:44 Member (2006) English to Afrikaans + ...
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote: I too know this mega-agency. ... I automatically add an extra 10 USD to my invoice. ... If this is the agency that I think it is, then adding USD 10 to an invoice won't work because all PO amounts are registered on their invoice submission system, and attempting to submit an invoice with an amount higher than the registered amount will cause the invoice to be rejected by the system. The agency that I think of deducts money only per transfer, and not per invoice, and I can't combine multiple POs on a single invoice. So if they pay 100 invoices all at once, then the PayPal charge happens only once for all 100 invoices combined. Do the mega agency that you have in mind allow you to put multiple POs on a single invoice, and do you add USD 10 to every invoice that you send them? | | | Sheila Wilson Spain Local time: 01:44 Member (2007) English + ... Not necessarily true | Jun 27, 2017 |
Philippe Etienne wrote: bank transfers US>Europe are also notoriously expensive on both sides. From 2012 to 2014 I worked regularly on projects for the largest CAT/MT developer and was paid by their US office. They had (probably still have) a brilliantly simple interface where everything ran like clockwork. They paid by bank transfer, for any USD amount, and just days after the end of the month in which the jobs were performed. They didn't charge me anything and nor did my EU bank, although I think that might charge EUR 12 per transaction nowadays. That agency said they were using a really efficient batch processing system provided by their US bank. So while clients dealing with small and/or irregular payments abroad may find bank transfers too costly, the big agencies don't. What do you bet that that enormous one just has to press one button to kick off the bank transfer, and pay a few cents, and yet charges their suppliers ridiculous amounts for the pleasure? | | |
What century are they in? America is a funny old place. Samuel Murray wrote: If you do not want them to use the cheapest and most convenient money transfer method, but instead you personally prefer them to use a more expensive, less convenient method (e.g. bank transfer or PayPal), then don't you agree that you should be willing to help pay for your preference? Absolutely not. The cost of paying you is their problem. Always. PS OMFG I wrote "check".
[Edited at 2017-06-27 09:42 GMT] | |
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Yes they can | Jun 27, 2017 |
Sheila Wilson wrote: ...They paid by bank transfer, for any USD amount, and just days after the end of the month in which the jobs were performed. They didn't charge me anything and nor did my EU bank, although I think that might charge EUR 12 per transaction nowadays. That agency said they were using a really efficient batch processing system provided by their US bank. So while clients dealing with small and/or irregular payments abroad may find bank transfers too costly, the big agencies don't. What do you bet that that enormous one just has to press one button to kick off the bank transfer, and pay a few cents, and yet charges their suppliers ridiculous amounts for the pleasure? Thank you Sheila, that's good to know. I don't think I've ever experienced payment-friendly agencies in North America, large or small, so my base rate there is higher and matched to the current EUR/USD exchange rate. Agencies that have efficient payment processes should advertise it as an incentive for translators to work with them. But as long as people accept to have their invoice amount cut by up to 10% without frowning, there is no financial gain in trying to make the process less expensive. And maybe they even earn on that indeed, so why kill the hen. Philippe | | |
Thank you everyone for very helpful input in this subject! In the future I will remember to ask for a higher rate for North American companies from the start. I guess I did a rookie mistake. But what do you all think of adding a charge to your own invoice? For example: "xx hours : xx USD invoice charge/fee : 10 USD" Then they would have to pay that, right? As I've understood, we have the right, as any company, to have an invoice fee. (Me mysel... See more Thank you everyone for very helpful input in this subject! In the future I will remember to ask for a higher rate for North American companies from the start. I guess I did a rookie mistake. But what do you all think of adding a charge to your own invoice? For example: "xx hours : xx USD invoice charge/fee : 10 USD" Then they would have to pay that, right? As I've understood, we have the right, as any company, to have an invoice fee. (Me myself I always hate it when I get one, but why not use it in situations just like this?) Thanks again for all your help! I am very glad this forum exists. /M ▲ Collapse | | | Nice to meet my fellow "linguist" comrades | Jun 27, 2017 |
What I find most interesting about this thread is seeing the number of fellow linguists working for this agency. Great to meet you all! Hope your experiences have been as fulfilling as mine! lol to the OP - it's worth it, believe us! | | |
Samuel Murray wrote: Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote: I too know this mega-agency. ... I automatically add an extra 10 USD to my invoice. ... If this is the agency that I think it is, then adding USD 10 to an invoice won't work because all PO amounts are registered on their invoice submission system, and attempting to submit an invoice with an amount higher than the registered amount will cause the invoice to be rejected by the system. The agency that I think of deducts money only per transfer, and not per invoice, and I can't combine multiple POs on a single invoice. So if they pay 100 invoices all at once, then the PayPal charge happens only once for all 100 invoices combined. Do the mega agency that you have in mind allow you to put multiple POs on a single invoice, and do you add USD 10 to every invoice that you send them? I think we are talking about the same agency having their head office in the US (as others have implied). To make myself clear, I ask the PM BEFORE s/he creates the PO. So, for example, if I do a 100 USD worth of job, and if I have Paypal in mind for payment, I tell the PM that your company automatically deducts 10 USD from the payment, so I would like to add an extra 10 USD so that I can receive 100 USD (not to be exact since Paypal deducts transactions fee but that is not the point here). So far, they have all agreed to my request. Like I wrote earlier, all of the PMs I dealt with were understanding, and they issued a PO with 110 USD as the total amount. The agency I have in mind does not allow multiple POs on a single invoice, so I submit and upload say, 2 invoices separately to their system. But everytime I do a job for them, I ask beforehand if I can add the extra 10 USD before the PM in charge creates a PO, since sometimes, they do not add up the payment but pay separately for the submitted invoices, resulting in multiple times of Paypal transactions. Oh, one more thing just to check if we are talking about the same agency: They always pay me in e-checks, which takes a few days to clear and gets credited to my Paypal account. | |
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S_G_C Romania Local time: 03:44 English to Romanian Talk to them and your bank | Jun 27, 2017 |
I know the agency. I agreed to checks based on incomplete information provided by my bank. It's not unusual for banks in Romania to "forget" to give their clients all the details needed. It turned out that my bank's policies applying to USD checks from the US were so client-unfriendly, that I couldn't cash those checks. For one of the checks, the agency misspelled my name and they had to re-issue the check. It was sent by regular mail, not secure mail (registered letter... See more I know the agency. I agreed to checks based on incomplete information provided by my bank. It's not unusual for banks in Romania to "forget" to give their clients all the details needed. It turned out that my bank's policies applying to USD checks from the US were so client-unfriendly, that I couldn't cash those checks. For one of the checks, the agency misspelled my name and they had to re-issue the check. It was sent by regular mail, not secure mail (registered letter, acknowledgement of receipt), so anyone could have taken possession of it.
[Edited at 2017-06-27 17:41 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | S_G_C Romania Local time: 03:44 English to Romanian
I live in Romania and I use PayPal. Here are the fees that PayPal imposes on me when I receive money for goods and services and withdraw it to my linked card: 0.35 EUR + a percentage of the amount received - it depends on the amount + 2 EUR/each withdrawal. | | | Joana Polonia Portugal Local time: 01:44 English to Portuguese + ...
I know the agency you're talking about. Their bank will also charge you $45 for international wire transfer, so in $100 you lose $65. You can set a minimum value for the wire, that will save you some money. Is it worth working for this agency? Maybe, they usually have a lot of work. But prepare yourself for fast turnarounds and delays in payment, mostly if they owe you a lot of money. They still owe me $4.000... | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Payment: transaction fees from the agency Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
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