In translation studies, the practice of translation is depicted both as a professional service and as a poorly paid occupation with low status and little power. This conceptual paper is motivated by this apparent contradiction, seeking to clarify, first, what exactly is meant by the concept of professional service by scholars in business studies focusing on services and, second, to what extent the fragmented translation sector meets the criteria of professional service. The overview presented in the paper readily confirms that while the translation sector meets some criteria of professional services, it also lacks some. In addition, the field is by no means homogeneous, providing an example of a sector with a substantial internal variation in terms of dimensions related to professional service.