The short answer: the profitable ones are. The unprofitable ones don't survive — the contingency model ensures natural selection.
A commercial B2B collection agency earning 20% commission on EUR 10 million in annual recoveries generates EUR 2 million gross revenue. Deduct staff costs (collectors, lawyers, support), technology infrastructure, legal network fees, insurance, and compliance overhead. Net margins for well-run agencies range from 10-25%.
Claim freshness. Fresh claims (under 90 days) recover faster with less effort. Agencies that attract clients who place early are structurally more profitable. Jurisdictional depth. Agencies with genuine local expertise achieve higher recovery rates at lower cost per claim. A German collector who files Mahnverfahren routinely processes ten times the volume of a generalist trying to learn the procedure. Technology leverage. Automated workflow, AI-powered debtor assessment, and digital case management reduce per-claim operating costs as volume scales.
Commercial collection is generally more profitable than consumer collection: higher average claim values, less regulatory overhead, access to commercial court procedures, and more sophisticated enforcement tools. A single B2B recovery can generate more commission than hundreds of consumer claims.
Demand is permanent. As long as businesses sell on credit terms, some will fail to pay. The collection industry is tied to the fundamental mechanics of trade — recession increases claim volumes, recovery increases claim values. Either way, the work continues.
Our debt recovery agency with over 21 years of experience provides: Business to Business Collections Services, Legal Debt Collections and worldwide Skip Tracing services.
