Question 1

Which factors affect the price/ cost of a translation?

Accepted Answer

Translation costs are based on 3 factors:

1) Size
     The larger the document, the higher the cost to translate.
     The size of documents is typically measured either by the 
     number of pages to be translated, or the number of words
     contained in each page.
     As an example, an A4 sized page, would typically feature a
     total of 250 words.

2) Delivery speed
     The second factor which affects translation pricing is the
     speed of the delivery requested by the client.
     Obviously, the more time allowed for a translation to be 
     performed, the cheaper that service is offered.
     However, many times translations are required urgently, 
     due to a number of reasons, such as medical issues, which
     dictate that a medical report issued in a foreign country be
     translated into the client's native language, or due to legal
     issues such as theft during travel abroad etc.
     A typical turnaround time for a translation featuring anything
     under 3 pages in size would be 72 hours.
     However, upon request, translations can be delivered during
     the same day or even within a few hours following the
     assignment.

3) Difficulty
     The last factor affecting translation pricing is the difficulty
     in translating the material at hand.
     Example: It is obviously far easier to translate a Birth Certificate
     than to translate a Court/Legal Document or a Medical Report.
     Therefore, some translations command a far higher price than
     others, simply because the staff/ translators which can actually
     perform such work are very, very difficult to find indeed.
     Example: Many people may speak Greek and English.
     However, how many people can accurately translate Medical 
     Reports between those two languages, when said reports 
     contain very, very specialized terminology, regarding 
     Blood tests, Nuclear Medicine, Neurology Operations etc?
     The same holds true of Legal and Financial Material:
     Most people are not familiar with exact terminology between
     Greek and English, when it comes to very, very important
     material, such as Court Documents, Legal Disputes, Lawsuits,
     or Banking/ Financial subjects, such as Stock Market regulation,
     Stock Market Derivatives (Options etc) and Banking Legislation.

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Question 2

Why are some translations far more expensive than others?

Accepted Answer

This mostly depends on the Translator actually performing the work.

Many companies based in obscure countries and or abroad, such as Pakistan, India and China, claim to offer "Simple Translations", "Certified Translations" and or "Sworn Translations", in the Greek to English language pair.

However, in truth, such companies most often do not employ a single person which even speaks the target languages, never mind being able to translate between those languages.

Instead, they typically hire anyone (literally anyone) they can find, in order to perform the work, simply based on the cheapest labor they can find, i.e. they use the cheapest translator available.

Therefore, and obviously, work performed by such individuals is most often of laughable quality, since those "translators" lack any and all forms of professional education and training regarding translations in the chosen language pair.

And it comes as no surprise that the product of such "Translations" is typically of terrible quality.

On the opposite side, when a client needs the absolute highest quality of translation work, due to the importance and or official nature of the documents to be translated, true professionals must be hired instead.

Example: 
When translating a Court Document, or a Lawsuit, or Banking Documents, where the client stands to gain or lose a fortune (literally), it would most obviously be not advisable to hire "just about anyone" to do the work.
Instead, actual professionals must be hired; people who feature actual University Level Education, years of training, but also specialization in that specific field; e.g. Banking Legislation, Medical Reports, Commercial Law.

Therefore, when hiring actual, professional translators, who feature over 20 years of experience, as well as the highest accreditation in the industry, the price/ cost of translation work is increased considerably.

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Question 3

Typical Costs

Accepted Answer

The following prices are merely indicative of market rates in the industry.

Most often, pricing is negotiable between the end client and the translation company.

This because many a time clients will offer recurring/ constant work, especially if they represent Attorney Firms, Banks or Large Companies, who are in constant need of translation work between 2 or more languages.

In any case, what follows is sample pricing which is deemed acceptable in most Western Nations, and specifically when considering the highest quality of translation work in the industry.

A) Cost per word
     This typically ranges between 0.09 and 0.20 Euro per word.
      Example: An A4 page would typically feature a total of 250
      words.
      Therefore, in order to translate a single A4 sized page, 
       featuring 250 words, a client would be expected to pay 
       anywhere between:
       250 (words) * 0.09 Euro (per word)= 22.50 Euro
       and:
       250 (words) * 0.20 Euro (per word)= 50 Euro.
       The difference in pricing largely depends on:
        The size of the document to be translated.
        The difficulty of the material 
        (e.g. legal and medical material is harder to translate than say, a 
         simple Birth Certificate).
         The speed of delivery.
          (The faster the client needs a translation delivered, the higher
           the price).

B) Cost per page
       Following the aforementioned method of pricing, translation
       work is typically priced between:
       22.50 and 50 Euro per page.
       The main exception to this rule typically involves the need for
        "Certified" or "Sworn" Translations, which can command far
       higher prices, easily reaching or exceeding 100 Euro per page,
       due to extreme difficulty associated with such Official 
       Translations, especially "Sworn Translations".
       Again, pricing is largely associated with:
       The difficulty of the material to be translated.
       The speed of delivery.
       The size of the original documents.

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Frequently asked questions

Which factors affect the price/ cost of a translation?

Why are some translations far more expensive than others?

Typical Costs

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