You are in the middle of an administrative process, and an organisation or institution has asked you to get your documents translated into a different language. And they need the documents translated now. Urgently. It’s a matter of life and death. “Hopefully I’ll be able to find cheap certified translation services online”, so there you go.

You google “translate document into X” and reach the first translator you can find online, ask for a quote to translate your documents URGENTLY, and then you get scared with the amounts of ceros included in that quote. Does it sounds familiar?

Most people may think that translating a few words in a one page long document just takes a few minutes – why should this service be that expensive then?

And I don’t blame you if you think like that. Obviously when you need a translation, you’re not necessarily aware of everything that is involved in the translation process. And why should you? At the end of the day, you just need your documents translated, and that’s all.

Personally, I have no idea what mechanics do to fix a car, and I still pay their prices when I need mine fixed. (And yes, I admit that sometimes I think these prices are quite expensive as well.) And the same can be applied to the different industries, right?

However, it’s still annoying that just after receiving your university diploma and paying their corresponding issuance fees, you have to pay more money to get it translated and certified to apply for a programme abroad, isn’t it? I can totally relate, I’m a certified translator, but I had to do the same before becoming one to apply for my masters in the UK!

If you want to spend as little as possible and make the most of your translated documents, you need to understand how the certified translation process works. You still have to invest in a translation at the end of the day, so why don’t you make the most of this investment then?

Why is it so difficult to find cheap certified translation services?

People tend to think that they are just paying for words that are going to be translated into a different language. It’s NOT just that, and that’s why people are shocked when they see the price included in a quote.

What are you paying for when you invest in certified translation services?

• Translators are liable for every certified translation that they issue.

So if there’s a mistake, the translator will be hold accountable for the consequences. And these consequences can be quite significant in sensitive cases (court trials, annual accounts for a business, etc.)

• Knowledge of both cultural systems to convey exactly the same meaning from the original text.

A translation into Spanish that is going to be used in Spain will be different from a translation into Spanish that is going to be used in Latin America. Cultural knowledge plays a crucial roles when translating and certifying documents that will be used in a different administrative or legal system.

• Knowledge of both languages.

You may think that a relative that had lived a broad for a few months can translate the document much cheaper (or even for free) than a professional translator. However, think about the consequences of submitting a translation that don’t meet the minimum requirements. It can be devastating in certain cases.

It’s not just about knowing a bit of X language. It’s also about understanding the process and the field of expertise in which this language will be used.

• Tools needed to process documents.

Professional translators invest (quite a lot of) money in what is called CAT (computer-assisted translation) tools. Do not panic, I guarantee that we don’t use Google translate to deal with your documents! These are tools that we use to translate in a more effective and efficient way providing better quality.

But why do you need to know all this? Well, because if you get a very cheap estimate for the translation of your documents, maybe it’s because some of these points may not meet the requirements of your project. So be careful with cheap translations!

“I don’t care about how translators translate my documents. I just need the translation and that’s it”. It’s not the first time I hear this, but let me tell you a story first:

When cheap certified translation services become expensive

This is a real story of one of my clients. (I just had to omit the name for privacy reasons).

The first time that this client, C from now on, contacted me was on 30^th December 2015. Yes, Christmas time… Great timing. I was having dinner with my family back in Spain when I got their first email.

They wanted to get their website translated, a 20,000 word-long document in total. As most translators know, this isn’t a cheap translation project. And they needed a translation into three different languages (English, French and Portuguese), which made things even trickier.

Well, even though I was on holidays, I planned and drafted an estimate with different prices for the translations in different languages and a breakdown of the services included in the project. Obviously, when they saw the total amount of the project, they rejected the estimate saying that they personally will carry out the translation of the document into English, as someone in the office knew English and that they would get back to me once it was done.

On 7^th May 2016, 4 months later, they sent me the English version of the translation and asked for another estimate for the translations into French and Portuguese. As I was expecting, the quality of the translation into English wasn’t great. Just have a glance at this paragraph:

After a long experience adquired from the business of motorcycle and scooter with our brand. C born with the objective of supply to motorcycle owner or professional mechanic of motorcycle and scooter spare parts.

We are developed a success working system which allows us to obtain a continous spare parts supplying with our partners.

As you can imagine, I wasn’t able to work with this text.

Conclusion: They spent 4 months doing a translation that they can’t use for their website (and I’m not sure if they even had to pay for it), and they still need to invest in translation services to launch their website in two international markets.

Time is money. I haven’t actually calculated how much time they spent doing this, but it’s a lot, probably more than the total amount of the initial estimate. And they’re also losing money for not having launched their website after four months.

This is how the price of cheap certified translation services can become much more expensive.

What can be the consequences of cheap certified translation services?

Now, let’s imagine that C wasn’t aware of the quality of the translation they personally did (or invested in), and they end up publishing it on their website. What could be the consequences of cheap translation services in this case?

• Discredit of your business’ reputation.

A bad translation can damage the image of a brand. They can even scare customers, which is the worst thing that can happen, especially when you’re trying to penetrate a new market.

• Economic losses.

If you’re planning to use a translation to earn money or attract clients (marketing materials, contracts with clients, website localisation, and so on), a good translation will make you maximise the sales of your business, whereas a bad translation can make you lose (a lot of) money.

• Time wasted.

This is just the perfect example. They could have had their website ready 4 months earlier if they’d have accepted the initial estimate. Bear in mind that saving time is also saving money, and even gaining money.

• Miss a deadline.

And this can be very serious if it’s an important deadline. I remember another client, whose certified translations were rejected by a university. Due to a bad translation, she missed the deadline to apply for a postgraduate programme, and had to postpone it for a year.

Add all these losses due to the price of a cheap translation – don’t you think that it’s more expensive than investing in a good translation from the very beginning?

Ok, but I still can afford these prices – what can I do to find cheap certified translation services?

1// Plan your translation assignment in advance

The problem with translation services is that you don’t even consider them until you need them. You probably don’t know a professional certified translator until you need your documents translated URGENTLY.

That’s why a lot of the assignments that translators get are urgent, and obviously we need to charge some extra money to work on urgent projects. If you want to avoid extra charges, plan your translation assignment in advance, and contact a translator as soon as possible to plan your project together.

2//Gather all the documents that you need to translate beforehand

Translators normally have minimum rates and they charge these rates even if they work on very small projects. It’d not be profitable for us to charge a few pennies for translating and certifying a sentence in a document.

If you need to translate more than one document, wait until you have them all ready. Otherwise, you may have to pay for this minimum rate twice.

For example, imagine that you need to translate two one-page long documents. If you don’t send them together, you may have to pay for a minimum rate (let’s say £50) twice, which amounts to £100. However, if you send them together, you may have to pay a bit more than the minimum rate, but it’d still be cheaper than in the first case.

3// Provide editable files when possible

As mentioned before, professional translators work with specialised software to provide better translation. The thing is that we normally need editable files (.docs, editable PDFs, etc.) so these tools can support the documents we work with. Providing editable files will save the translator a lot of time, and the project may not be as expensive.

4// Negotiate with the translator

I remember this particular client who told me once that she couldn’t afford my services. She was very interested in my services and she was being honest with me, so I suggested a win-win deal. I told her that I’d charge less for her translation assignment if she gave my business cards to at least 5 people who were in the same situation than her. Thanks to this deal, I ended up winning 3 more clients. It was profitable for me, and she could afford her certified translations.

Don’t be afraid of being honest, because in most cases, both parties can find a solution and reach an agreement. But, obviously, if you’re expecting a discount, make sure that you have something to offer in exchange (an extended deadline maybe?).

It’s a shame that, no matter what we recommend, people normally tend to go for the cheapest provider, and then they have to face problems or even extra charges for not having worked with professionals.

I hope that I’ve shed some light on how to work with professional translators and maximise your investment in translation services with this post. Leave a comment a below and let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear from you!