No surprises

Some transcription firms offer apparently low prices with many unrealistic provisos. If you have perfect audio, one speaker who sounds like a CNN announcer, and are willing to wait two weeks, prices are fantastic. 

Alternately, someone might offer you a deal on transcripts if you’ll buy something else from them as well — recruiting, facility space, etc. Why? Because the seller can move margin from one service to another. 

Then there are dubious add-ons like timestamps. The chances are excellent that the transcription firm actually had to take the timestamps out to deliver transcripts to you without them. How could the firm possibly check quality without them?

Babbletype offers reliable pricing that stays the same from order to order, and we rarely charge for anything extra. We don’t charge for challenging audio. We don’t charge for timestamps. You can find the whole list of everything extra we do charge for in Options. If it’s not there, we don’t charge for it. 

Can you find less expensive transcription?

Absolutely — by paying a price somewhere else. Offshore transcription (e.g., India or the Philippines) is a little cheaper, but the price you’ll pay in quality and reliability throws into question the whole point of getting transcripts in the first place. (This is not idle criticism — we know whereof we speak. Ask us if you’re curious.)

Alternately, you can convince somebody you know to transcribe for you. If an employee, the chances are high that between salary, benefits and other things not done, the work will cost you more than we’ll charge you. If a friend or relative (who you know can transcribe) it will cost you less, but at the price of turnaround. If you only need a couple of interviews transcribed, you’ll probably be fine. But if you need 10 or more, be prepared to wait a long time.

Or, you could go out and recruit transcriptionists and manage it yourself. Give out assignments, check quality, execute payments, handle problems. The price paid here, of course, is in your time. 

Can you find lower prices among legitimate competitors offering comparable services? No. Babbletype is built for a level of efficiency few companies can manage. See our Price Guarantee for details.