Going rates for proofreading work in Germany

Hi,
I've been asked to proofread a 4,500 word text for someone, and they were asking for a price. I researched what some companies charge and thought maybe something between 40-60€. I've asked for some sample material to check the quality of English.
Any thoughts or experience with this, i.e. is this quote too high/low?

Thanks

sharp

I think the going rate is around 1-2 cents per word for proofreading.

But take a look at the text - if it needs a lot of editing, aim high on your pricing.

That's about how much I thought it was, and how much I've seen other places charge, which in this case works out to be about 45e.

Thanks

probably not the right place to ask, but i am wondering what is the average for proofreading a page an hour? it has become a major part of my job at the moment, which i am fighting tooth and nail, now i want to document it and be able to give good estimates and present it to my boss. one guy just gave me a 37-page, single spaced article to proofread, saying I could just "fly over it"! and if anyone said he should rewrite it he can say "well, a native speaker read over it". so "having a quick read" is not enough! he wants it by thursday, i already told him, not possible.

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Hi, elfenstar,

It depends on whether you're an in-house employee, a freelancer working for an agency or a freelancer working for a direct customer. If your're an employee, I'd try for €25-30/hour; if you're a freelancer working for an agency, charge €25-30/hour PLUS VAT. If you're a freelancer working for a direct client, charge €50/hour PLUS VAT. Whatever you do, don't go below €20/hour PLUS VAT under any circumstances. If you're an in-house employee, remember you will have to pay tax on the extra earnings - unless the boss gives you the money in cash, of course ;-))

Hope this is of some use. If you have any other questions, give me a yell.

onemark

oh i guess i asked the wrong question. sorry, was in a bit of a rush. i wasn't wondering how much to charge him, but how many pages on average i could proofread an hour. and trying to get him to understand i'm not just reading it like i would read a book, but looking at grammar, sentence structure and seeing if i comprehend the d*mn thing.

Elf - I usually work on between 6 and 7 normally printed pages an hour - so I'd quote five to six hours for that document.

I find it really hard to give time estimates. I'm able to fly through some of the documents I work on, but others turn into massive reconstruction sites. One thing is constant, however: The authors always overestimate their English/writing ability and underestimate the amount of time/work I have to put into it. And they easily shrug all responsibility since they're not the last set of eyes giving it a look.

It also depends on if you're solely smoothing the readability, or if these are technical documents that you'll be fact-checking. Not much help here... as usual. Best of luck with this.

Elf, do a trial run of 2 - 3 pages and then you can give him a precise idea of how long it will take.

Sound advice from Crusoe. Even though you seem to be a somewhat unwilling participant, doing a proper estimate is part of the game.

If ithe whole turns out to be a long term chore - this is especially the case if you are reading for a number of people with varying degrees of English competency - there is no shame in demanding that quotes are received from professional services (I normally pick one big firm and one private individual) as a point of comparision for some of the more troublesome authors.

The expectations of the author are normally in inverse proportion to their personal competence - and it is often easy for management to dodge the situation. You do have to be firm.

I can get through around 3,000 words an hour if the quality is good or if the end result doesn't has to be perfect. Anything else can be as slow as 1,000 words an hour. Thirty-seven pages of single-spaced text will be a full day's work unless the standard is already very high.

To anyone charging by the word:

How much do you charge exactly?

1 cent per line or 2 cents per line?

Please someone give an actual and specific answer here.

Thanks