When unpaid accounts number in the dozens or hundreds, chasing them one by one stops making sense. The solution used by banks, insurers and utilities is the debt portfolio sale: grouping all the receivables together and selling them as a single block to an investor. And it is not just for big companies: any business can do it.
What is a debt portfolio?
A set of unpaid receivables sold as a single package: for example, all the bad debts of the last 3 years, or all the unpaid fees of the customers of a gym, an academy or a service provider.
Advantages of selling in bulk
- An outlet for small debts that individually interest nobody.
- A single price: the good debts "pull along" the difficult ones.
- One transaction: one contract, one buyer, one payment.
- Immediate balance-sheet clean-up of the whole block of arrears.
How to prepare your portfolio for sale
Portfolio buyers always ask for the same thing: a summary schedule (amount, debtor, age, status) and the supporting documents for each receivable. The tidier the information, the better the offers. Classify the debts by type of debtor (companies, individuals, public bodies) and flag which ones have court judgments.
What discount does a portfolio carry?
Bigger than a single debt's, because the buyer takes on receivables of uneven quality. Recent, documented portfolios can sell for 20–40% of face value; older or fragmented ones for less. The price is always negotiable and depends on each investor's analysis.
Listing your portfolio on debtalia
Listing a portfolio costs AU$129 one-off, with no commission on the sale price. You state the number of debts in the package, the types of debtors, the total amount and the asking price. Investors interested in portfolios will contact you directly to request the detail and negotiate.
