When you are talking about services, you will often times think about what kind of payment is accepted before you even begin to consider accepting an agreement with a company. This of course also includes translation services that you may want to get done for your own personal reasons. But, as with any other field, it will really all depend on the company’s preference. While one company may take a check, credit card, or a money order, another may only accept cash and credit cards. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance that you sort out payment before agreeing to any terms of service with your local translator.
Once the payment options have been reviewed and agreed to, you will then begin to get down to the nitty-gritty of it all. Namely, you will want to discuss the languages that you would like your translator to translate the document into and what language the document is in originally. While most of the time these translators won’t charge extra per language, they may very well ask for a bump in the pay if you’re trying to have a document translated from an otherwise dead language of the past.
Just like the payment methods, you will want to ensure that your translator isn’t going to tack on any extra costs. While if you’re a corporation or a law firm having a translation done, it may not be such a big deal, if you’re an every day Joe or Jane, it may very well break the bank as some translators will charge either per the word or per hour for their services if you aren’t careful in pinning them down for an up-front cost of translating the document.
As a whole, pricing on translation services is fairly straightforward, if you’re dealing with an honest translator, they won’t have any problems discussing price-range with you so that you aren’t left holding the bill without any way to pay for it. With this said it is your responsibility to contact any references that may have been given to you as well as ask to see credentials for their specialty. If you aren’t willing to put in some amount of legwork with your translation service requirement, you’ll likely find that there has been much left to be desired in a too-cheap translation service.
But, what should it cost me? You might be asking yourself. Well, that really all depends on the length and complexity of the document you are having translated. If it is in good condition and fairly short it won’t take you but perhaps one to two hundred dollars to have a document such as a birth certificate or a clearly typed letter translated. However, if you’re offering an entire book for the translator to bring into your national language, the price will be much higher.
If this hasn’t frightened you away from having your documents translated, then good. You’re now ready and willing to get those important papers translated into a language that you can actually read! The next step, to sign on the dotted line!