Reasons Why Clients Want a Translation Discount…

You must give us a discount…

1. …because we are a new client.
2. …because we are an old client.
3. …because this job is for a new client.
4. …because this job is for an old client.
5. …because last time you gave us a discount.
6. …because last time you didn't give us a discount.
7. …because you always give us a discount.
8. …because you never give us a discount.
9. …because the other guy who translated for us always gave us a discount.
10. …because everybody else gives us a discount.
11. …because if you want to work for us you must give us a discount.
12. …because if you don't give us a discount we will have to look for another translator.
13. …because you will make up for the discount in future jobs.
14. …because it is a big job, months of guaranteed work.
15. …because it is a small job and you will make a quick buck.
16. …because you can squeeze it into whatever you are doing now and do it in a moment-and it will be extra money you were not even counting on.
17. …because it is a simple job of a type you have done dozens of times.
18. …because it is something short you can do over the weekend.
19. …because it is an easy text.
20. …because it is a subject you are very familiar with.
21. …because it is a subject you are not very familiar with and your "expert rate" will not apply.
22. …because it is a subject you are not familiar with and thus a great opportunity for you to enter a new field that will bring you a lot of work in the future.
23. …because it is just like something you did two years ago.
24. …because we are going to send you several hundred pages' worth of reference files where you can find all the terminology you will ever need.
25. …because we are going to send you glossary you can search for words you don't know.
26. …because we are going to send you a TM you can search for words you don't know.
27. …because you will use our proprietary CAT tool which you will simply love.
28. …because it is a very interesting text.
29. …because you've never done something like this.
30. …because it is a non-technical text. Just plain yadayada.
31. …because it is a technical text. No need to worry about style or yadayada.
32. …because it is just for information. No need to worry about style or yadayada.
33. …because we just want a summary, the gist of it. You do not even have to translate it all: just summarize what is important.
34. …because it is already in PowerPoint format, you just have to overwrite the source text.
35. …because it is already in Excel format, you just have to overwrite the source text.
36. …because it is already in .pdf format, you just have to overwrite the source text.
37. …because it has already been translated by our people here and you just have to give it a look to see whether something escaped them.
38. …because a good part of it has already been translated and you only have to fill in the gaps and have a look at what the other people have done, to see whether something escaped them.
39. …because my secretary could do it herself, but she is too busy to handle it now.
40. …because my sister could do it herself, but she is too busy to handle it now.
41. …because I could do it myself, but am just too busy too busy to handle it now.
42. …because we have already had this translated, the translation was horrible and we had to junk it, but we had to pay the translator all the same and now we are out of funds for this project.
43. …because we will send you a copy of the translation we had to junk, so that you can see what can be saved.
44. …because this is a job for a client and they already know someone who charges less than you but we want you to do the job because we trust your work.
45. …because this is a job for a client and one of our guys has already given the client an estimate and now we cannot tell the client it is more than we had said.
46. …because this job will not be charged to a client, it is for our firm.
47. …because this is not for the Company. It is my CV, and I am leaving.
48. …because this is not for profit: it is just something I need for my doctoral thesis.
49. …because we want you to do the job, but there is a new policy here and we now have to assign jobs to the lowest bidder and our purchasing department has found a firm in Country X…
50. …because the exchange rate has moved against us.
51. …because the exchange rate has moved in your favor.
52. …because this is a low-priority, low-budget project.
53. …because we are on a tight budget for this job.
54. …because we already have two estimates for this job: a guy who wants ten and another who will do it for eight; we cannot even think of doing it for twelve.
55. …because we have already overrun our budget.
56. …because we are building a new wing for our corporate headquarters and that is costing us more than we expected and we have to preserve cash.
57. …because we already have an internal cost estimate for this job and it is a lot lower than that.
58. …because my boss thinks translation is very simple work and will never agree to pay that much.
59. …because if I tell my boss this is the price of a translation he will kill me.
60. …because the total price exceeds my approval authority and I will have to submit the quote to my boss-who will never approve it.
61. …because there is someone who will do it for less. Much less.
62. …because we are looking to a translator who will do this for a maximum of $100. Of course, for our next assignment in your pair…
63. …because we are located in Country X, where rates are much lower than in your country.
64. …because this was outsourced by an agency located in Country X, where rates are much lower than here and there is nothing we can do.
65. …because we know what rates are in your country.
66. …because it is a huge project, including 25 languages in all and we had to bid low.
67. …because it was a cutthroat bid, against people who debase the market and underpay their translators and we had no alternative.
68. …because it is for a new client and we had to bid low to win the guys from the guys who worked for them.
69. …because this is for an old client and we had to bid low or lose them to the competition.
70. …because this is for one of our oldest clients and we have not had the courage to increase our prices.
71. …because this job is for an old friend who always gets a special deal from us.
72. …because we are in a crisis.
73. …because this particular client is in a crisis.
74. …because we are still feeling the negative effects of the latest crisis.
75. …because this particular client is still feeling the negative effects of the latest crisis.
76. …because there is a crisis looming in the horizon.
77. …because there is a crisis looming in the horizon for this particular client.
78. …because, please, see what you can do for us.
79. …because… because… just because, man!