What's the general rate to charge for voice translation and voice overs?

[dean_a_plus]

I've started a new gig where I do translations/transcribing from English to Jamaican or vice versa. I did my first order where I was required to voice over a short script for an Ad from English to Jamaican. It went well and the buyer was very pleased. I charged $5 for 2 days (but she chose extra quick at $10 for 1 day).

But now I'm wondering if I should charge more seeing as I'm "selling my voice". Or should I wait a little further until my gig is more established?

Any advice/suggestions out there from the forum community? 

[smashradio]

16 minutes ago, dean_a_plus said:

I've started a new gig where I do translations/transcribing from English to Jamaican or vice versa. I did my first order where I was required to voice over a short script for an Ad from English to Jamaican. It went well and the buyer was very pleased. I charged $5 for 2 days (but she chose extra quick at $10 for 1 day).

But now I'm wondering if I should charge more seeing as I'm "selling my voice". Or should I wait a little further until my gig is more established?

Any advice/suggestions out there from the forum community? 

Charging five dollars will generally attract bad buyers. The algorithm prefers higher-priced gigs these days, so charging five bucks may make you less visible on Fiverr. 

A voice-over gig and a translation gig are not the same thing. I have both a translation and a voice-over gig. These are two completely different niches. I don't expect you will get much voice-over work from your translation gig, so you should price it according to translation rates, not voice-over rates. If you want to get into voice-over, you'd need professional recording equipment, preferably training with a coach, talent, and lots and lots of practice. 

As for the translation rate: you should never charge five bucks for anything. If someone isn't willing to pay you more than the price of a cup of coffee to render professional services, you're a) doing something wrong, or b) you've met a buyer who doesn't value your skills, and you should avoid working with them. 

Based on your competition ( https://www.fiverr.com/search/gigs?query=patois to english&source=drop_down_filters&search_in=category&search-autocomplete-original-term=patois to english&sub_category=108 ) you could probably charge 10 - 15 dollars per 200 - 300 words. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by smashradio