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Agency's payment portal requires me to pay yearly
Thread poster: A Zafar
A Zafar
A Zafar
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Arabic to English
+ ...
Feb 17, 2021

Hello all, new translator here. I started setting up as a freelancer last month.

I am in the process of onboarding with an agency. After completing my profile, they have now sent information about how to set up on their payment portal. The payment system they use requires *me* to pay $30 a year.

I'm now reluctant to finish signing up with this agency, because having to pay to get paid does not seem right. Then again, if I can guarantee that I will actually get work with
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Hello all, new translator here. I started setting up as a freelancer last month.

I am in the process of onboarding with an agency. After completing my profile, they have now sent information about how to set up on their payment portal. The payment system they use requires *me* to pay $30 a year.

I'm now reluctant to finish signing up with this agency, because having to pay to get paid does not seem right. Then again, if I can guarantee that I will actually get work with this agency, maybe it's worth it just to get my foot in the door. But then, would they actually be able to guarantee that?

Has anyone else experienced a payment method like this?

Thanks in advance for your comments!
Anam
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Ramesh Kulandaivel
 
Mohamad Alayoubi
Mohamad Alayoubi
Lebanon
Local time: 11:04
English to Arabic
It's probably a scam Feb 17, 2021

No agency ever will ask you for payment to get work , and i read various posts before that this is a kind of scamming , so i suggest looking for opportunities elsewhere .
Stay safe .


Sheila Wilson
Marina Taffetani
Ester Vidal
Tina Vonhof (X)
Robert Rietvelt
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Stepan Konev
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Unheard of Feb 17, 2021

Drop them !

Josephine Cassar
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
ahartje
Tina Vonhof (X)
Robert Rietvelt
Stepan Konev
Yolanda Broad
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:04
Danish to English
+ ...
Run Feb 17, 2021

No decent agency would you require you to pay them, which is utterly absurd. Don't go any further.

Tom in London
Josephine Cassar
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
ahartje
Marina Taffetani
Ester Vidal
Jana Teteris
 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:04
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Stay clear Feb 17, 2021

Any agency that demands you to make an upfront payment to them or, as in your case, a yearly fee is not interested in a serious business relationship with you, or anybody else. Let alone a collaboration in good standings. They only want to make money. Or did they, by any chance, provided you with a guaranteed monthly income? I doubt it.

Tom in London
Josephine Cassar
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
ahartje
Aline Amorim
Marina Taffetani
Robert Rietvelt
 
Peter Motte
Peter Motte  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 10:04
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Never heard of such a thing Feb 17, 2021

Has anyone else experienced a payment method like this?
Anam


I never heard of such a thing.
Fishy. Drop them


ahartje
Robert Rietvelt
Yolanda Broad
Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 10:04
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Ask them to cover it. Feb 17, 2021

Are you talking about Payoneer, is this their payment method?

Here's a quick test: if they need you and you are likely to stay, they'll agree to cover the cost. Also if you earned 1k+ on a project it makes sense to pay it.

It sounds like you have not earned anything with this agency yet. Once you do and it's $500+, it will make sense to pay $30 to withdraw it, even if it's just that one project. Not sure why you have to pay it before you have any money pending to withdr
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Are you talking about Payoneer, is this their payment method?

Here's a quick test: if they need you and you are likely to stay, they'll agree to cover the cost. Also if you earned 1k+ on a project it makes sense to pay it.

It sounds like you have not earned anything with this agency yet. Once you do and it's $500+, it will make sense to pay $30 to withdraw it, even if it's just that one project. Not sure why you have to pay it before you have any money pending to withdraw. You are probably still able to onboard without this part.
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Yolanda Broad
 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 10:04
Italian to English
What? Feb 17, 2021

Lingua 5B wrote:

Also if you earned 1k+ on a project it makes sense to pay it.

It sounds like you have not earned anything with this agency yet. Once you do and it's $500+, it will make sense to pay $30 to withdraw it, even if it's just that one project.



No agency should be asking you to pay under any circumstances. Agencies make money from us for every job we do for them, because they take care of certain tasks such as finding clients and handling the communication between client and translator.

No need to pay anything else to them.


Marina Taffetani
Jana Teteris
Robert Rietvelt
Peter Motte
Yolanda Broad
Philip Lees
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 10:04
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Not to them. Feb 17, 2021

Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:

Lingua 5B wrote:

Also if you earned 1k+ on a project it makes sense to pay it.

It sounds like you have not earned anything with this agency yet. Once you do and it's $500+, it will make sense to pay $30 to withdraw it, even if it's just that one project.



No agency should be asking you to pay under any circumstances. Agencies make money from us for every job we do for them, because they take care of certain tasks such as finding clients and handling the communication between client and translator.

No need to pay anything else to them.


You're paying to Payoneer, and Payoneer is their payment method. I asked her if this may be the situation.

For instance, one of my clients insisted on Payoneer payment which I did not use. Then realized Payoneer costs $30 per year and the client agreed to cover the fee. It payed off in many ways not only because the client sent a lot of projects for that year, but also because Payoneer withdrawal and conversion fees are a lot lower than PayPal fees.

I don't get why or how she's supposed to pay to the agency, agencies usually use external payment services/providers. Perhaps she misunderstood something. Agencies are not banks.

Anam Zafar wrote:

The payment system they use requires *me* to pay $30 a year.



Words should be read carefully and precisely. She said "the payment system they use", not "they/the agency"... requires her to... careful reading, helps with translation too.

Eg. if my client uses Paypal (Paypal=a payment system), it's on *me* (surprise, surprise) to cover any internal fees that come with PayPal.

@OP you are not necessarily obliged to provide payment information before you actual 1st project and will probably be able to onboard without that. I did that many times and never provide any of my payment information before my 1st invoice to that client.

[Edited at 2021-02-17 14:53 GMT]


Tretyak
Karahan Sisman
 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 10:04
Italian to English
My mistake Feb 17, 2021

Lingua 5B wrote:


You're paying to Payoneer, and Payoneer is their payment method. I asked her if this may be the situation.



Ah, okay. Sorry, I misunderstood.


 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:04
French to English
Cowboys Feb 17, 2021

The internet has become such a comfortable place for a number of lazy cowboys to set up some rather sleek-looking websites where you get the distinct impression that this is a serious outfit. Trust your instinct. Forget it.

I recall having seen one such outfit a couple of years back in France. They registration process was really sneaky and you had to get quite far before even realizing you were being expected to put your hand in your pocket in order to access a list of clients - p
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The internet has become such a comfortable place for a number of lazy cowboys to set up some rather sleek-looking websites where you get the distinct impression that this is a serious outfit. Trust your instinct. Forget it.

I recall having seen one such outfit a couple of years back in France. They registration process was really sneaky and you had to get quite far before even realizing you were being expected to put your hand in your pocket in order to access a list of clients - potential clients. It was nothing more than a fancy list. A list of gullible but probably honest translators hoping to get some work. In the meantime, 30, 50 or 100 bucks to wind up on a list. Er, no thanks.
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Adieu
Daryo
Dalia Nour
 
Giovanni Milone
Giovanni Milone  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 10:04
Member (2020)
English to Italian
+ ...
Wait and see Feb 17, 2021

Do you have to set up in their payment portal in advance?

If not, you could wait and see if they actually intend giving you any translation job.


 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Have you looked up this outfit? Feb 18, 2021

Doing due diligence sometimes helps.

For example, just the other day, I was about to start writing a serious response to an interpreting outfit, but googled them and learned that, according to different sources, they pay $8 - $13 hourly.

AND recently settled an unpaid back wages lawsuit for $1,500,000, which with that kind of rate, is pretty dang impressive.

So yeah, apparently, you can not only pay below minimum wage, but also scam people for ONE HUNDRED F
... See more
Doing due diligence sometimes helps.

For example, just the other day, I was about to start writing a serious response to an interpreting outfit, but googled them and learned that, according to different sources, they pay $8 - $13 hourly.

AND recently settled an unpaid back wages lawsuit for $1,500,000, which with that kind of rate, is pretty dang impressive.

So yeah, apparently, you can not only pay below minimum wage, but also scam people for ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND HOURS OF WORK...and still be in business.
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Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 12:04
Member
English to Turkish
Payoneer Feb 18, 2021

I remember one US agency that charged 15 USD per Payoneer transaction and deducted another 6% from your pay if you wanted to get paid within 10 days. Talk about thievery...

 
A Zafar
A Zafar
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Arabic to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Lingua5B Yes, it's Payoneer. Feb 19, 2021

To those who were wondering what the system I'm referring to, it is Payoneer. Interesting to note that a client agreed to cover the $30 cost - will keep this in mind!

This agency is acting as if Payoneer set up is a part of the onboarding process - they said that before adding me to the project I signed up for, I need to set up on Payoneer. I'm still unsure about whether I would get work with them, though.

Thanks, all, for your points. Will really help me decide what t
... See more
To those who were wondering what the system I'm referring to, it is Payoneer. Interesting to note that a client agreed to cover the $30 cost - will keep this in mind!

This agency is acting as if Payoneer set up is a part of the onboarding process - they said that before adding me to the project I signed up for, I need to set up on Payoneer. I'm still unsure about whether I would get work with them, though.

Thanks, all, for your points. Will really help me decide what to do next.

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
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Agency's payment portal requires me to pay yearly







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