d.tradlogo Rates

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten

Benjamin Franklin

The following rates are provided for information purposes only: the rate applied depends on several factors including complexity and urgency and are in line with ASTTI recommendations.

We are happy to send you a quote. We guarantee value for money.

Translation

market-compliant rates per standard line

1 standard line = 55 chars incl. spaces in target text

Lectorship

CHF 80.00 / hour

Proofreading

Post-Editing

CHF 100.00 / hour

Express surcharge

20%

for delivery within 24h (weekend 72h) after reception of the source text

Discount

50%

for repetitions

50%

for 100% matches in Translation Memory

For large assignments and regular clients, discounted rates can be agreed.

Please note that we produce machine translations with Post-Editing only on specific customer request. Usually, we translate conventionally including adequate terminology research to identify the most fitting terms. In the case of uncommon legal terms, for example, this can easily take between 15 and 30 minutes.

If you require checking of machine translations and post-editing, please contact us by phone or email!

Quality vs. price

We Swiss translators are often told by clients that we are too expensive. In most cases, we are compared with machine translation and translators in other countries working in different conditions. What those clients forget is that the quality of machine translation cannot be compared to that of an experienced human translator. They also forget the use of French and Italian terminology specific to Switzerland, unfamiliar to translators outside of the country. Which French translator would use "septante", "huitante" and "nonante", terms commonly used in the Swiss Federal Administration?

Finally, those who consider us too expensive tend to forget that the cost of living in Switzerland is higher than elsewhere in Europe. On average, a single page takes around 60-90 minutes to translate depending on the complexity. A page typically consists of 40-50 lines. At CHF3 per line, a translation typically costs CHF80-150 per hour. An engineer’s hourly rate is CHF120-180, and a lawyer doesn't even pick up the phone for less than CHF200. Translators study just as long, and their work is often far more creative.

A freelance translator is an entrepreneur, the same as a carpenter, a dentist or an architect, and faces the same financial risk. We do not just pay the employer's share of OASI contributions as well, we also manage our pension funds ourselves. During the Corona crisis we felt the caution of our customers as a painful experience. Therefore, we rely on fair remuneration for our work, failing which we cannot afford to provide the high standard of quality our clients expect and deserve.

In other words,
you get what you pay for.