Caterpi: a service for freelance translators
Chris Tan
I'm in the process of launching Caterpi, a site for freelance
translators.
The launch is planned to be in April, and we'd be glad if you could
join us.
Features:
- Simple, and easy to use
- An easy way to find and communicate with clients
- Job management
- Payments using PayPal
If you'd like to sign up, please visit the link below. It will give
you until June without fees:
http://www.caterpi.com/sign_up?affiliate=honyaku
Cheers,
Chris Tan
P.S. Any feedback is appreciated
Trevor
I must say, I think a 20% fee for merely providing a website a bit much.
I wonder what others think?
Trevor
Jean-Christophe Helary
On 18 mars 10, at 16:37, Trevor wrote:
> Chris,
>
> I must say, I think a 20% fee for merely providing a website a bit much. I wonder what others think?
That's a joke ?
Jean-Christophe Helary
----------------------------------------
fun: http://mac4translators.blogspot.com
work: http://www.doublet.jp (ja/en > fr)
tweets: http://twitter.com/brandelune
Chris Tan
The cost of running the site's servers is negligible. However, there
are the costs of time spent working on it and, of course marketing.
Marketing will be quite expensive at first, and I definitely won't be
turning a profit in the beginning. As for value provided to the
translator, it would be in easily finding clients.
Let me state this for the record:
The overall goal is to be a low margin, high volume business (think
Amazon). Once we get going, fees will go down as the site gets more
traffic.
The reason I chose 20% as a starting point is because it's a lot
easier to lower fees than to raise them.
I hope this answers your question =),
Chris
Jean-Christophe Helary
On 18 mars 10, at 16:55, Chris Tan wrote:
> The reason I chose 20% as a starting point is because it's a lot
> easier to lower fees than to raise them.
If most of your activity were centered on Japan I'd suggest to make it 5% _at most_.
The reason is that below a certain income level businesses/freelancers do not have to pay for VAT in Japan (it is below 1000 man a year). But they can still charge it.
Trevor
I see Veronica has signed up already, but there is no indication if she
specializes. How does a client with a translation to be done know if
there is a Translator on your website who works in a particular field of
translation such as law or medicine?
Trevor
On 17/03/2010 18:09, Chris Tan wrote:
Chris Tan
Yes, filtering by specializations will be added, but not until after
launch.
Trevor & Jean,
Thanks for your feedback.
I've had a little talk with my friend regarding fees, and he agrees
that 20% is too high, especially for attracting translators.
What are your opinions on having a 20% fee to a *maximum* of $5? Do
you think would be fair?
Trevor
$5 on a project worth $1000? You are doing yourself a disservice. What
about 5% with a minimum charge of $5?
Trevor
P.S. I think filtering by specialization essential and should be added
before launch. If I were a client with a patent to have translated, I'd
want to look only at translators with experience in patent translation.
On 18/03/2010 09:04, Chris Tan wrote:
> Trevor,
> Yes, filtering by specializations will be added, but not until after
> launch.
>
> Trevor& Jean,
Chris Tan
I've hired freelancers through other sites before. The logo for
caterpi was done by 99designs. I paid $200 USD for the design, $40 of
which went to 99designs, and the rest to the artist.
Yes, 99designs provides value to the artist by providing clients.
However, I still can't help feeling that the artist is getting a
shoddy deal, since 99designs is getting a much higher return relative
to the amount of effort put in.
I did miss something important though. PayPal fees are approximately
3%, so I couldn't set a cap even if I wanted to. I also can't do
minimum charges, because there could potentially be some short
translations which cost less than said charge =)
Jean-Christophe Helary
On 18 mars 10, at 18:55, Chris Tan wrote:
> Yes, 99designs provides value to the artist by providing clients.
> However, I still can't help feeling that the artist is getting a
> shoddy deal, since 99designs is getting a much higher return relative
> to the amount of effort put in.
You can ask a real graphic designer for a logo and pay that person 100% of the value you get. That's your choice.
Chris Tan
soon.
Thanks for the valuable feedback :)
On Mar 18, 3:06 am, Jean-Christophe Helary
Joseph Kei Nagai
If it is a bulletin board, you might run it free as a hobby or you skim
off the top for yourself and put the rest up.
If it is a marketing service to promote a translator into an otherwise
impossible client, the one-time commission could be worth 90%. You must
know the translators, clients, and marketing technique.
If it is a hobby, you'll enjoy running a free service or use it as your
own advertisement, skimming off the top for yourself and display the rest.
If it is for finding jobs paying near machine-translation rate, the
translators won't be able to afford any commissions.
If it is a business, how much you invest and profit is your problem. If
it is a hobby, they might appreciate you and send you a Christmas card.
So, what is Caterpi and what does it do for any commission?
Joseph Kei Nagai
Chris Tan
It's a business, although I enjoy working on it as much as a hobby :)
It is designed to be a service for translators rather than an agency.
In general, I'm trying to make the whole process of translation easier
for both translators and clients.
> What exactly does Caterpi provide?
Here's what it offers (so far):
- Marketing: it should make it easier to find jobs and clients
- Job management: translations are pre-paid, and money is transferred
to your account when a job is successfully completed
- Directory: after you specify your language pairs & rates, clients
can order directly from your profile page
> If it is for finding jobs paying near machine-translation rate, the
> translators won't be able to afford any commissions.
The front page is meant for casual translations (so low rates for low
quality). The directory is for finding professionals (will be adding
specializations after launch). Translators can set their own rates.
See link below for an example:
http://www.caterpi.com/translators?source=en&target=ja
Hope this helps,
Chris
Friedemann Horn
> - Job management: translations are pre-paid, and money is transferred
> to your account when a job is successfully completed
Why would a translation client prepay for a translation by an unknown
translator and why would he order through your site instead of
contacting the translator directly (all translators seem to list their
email address)?
Friedemann Horn
www.horn-uchida.jp
Chris Tan
You're correct though, it's perfectly reasonable to contact the
translator directly though email, especially for more complicated
jobs. Also, it's possible to order directly from a translator's
profile.