Late payment is one of the biggest problems facing US small businesses. When a customer will not pay, you lose more than the revenue: you lose time, focus and working capital. Selling unpaid invoices is a fast-growing alternative to handing the account to a collection agency.
Which invoices can you sell?
Any invoice that is due, payable and provable: sales of goods with signed delivery receipts, services under a contract or accepted purchase order, subcontractor billings, and more — whether or not you have already filed suit.
Debt sale vs. a collection agency
- Immediate cash: you get paid when the assignment is signed, instead of waiting on a contingency recovery that may never come.
- No contingency fee eating your recovery: agencies typically keep 25% to 50% of what they collect, and only if they collect.
- Clean closure: the invoice leaves your books and you stop spending resources on it.
- No insolvency risk: if the customer files for bankruptcy tomorrow, it is no longer your problem.
And compared with factoring?
Factoring advances money against current, not-yet-due invoices from creditworthy customers, and usually requires assigning your whole ledger with ongoing fees. A debt sale focuses on invoices that are already delinquent, one deal at a time, with no ongoing commitment. They are complementary tools, not substitutes.
How selling on Debtalia works
- List the debt with its basic details: amount, year, type of debtor and documents available.
- Your listing is published confidentially — no names or identifying details are shown.
- Interested buyers contact you directly and you negotiate the price and assignment yourself.
Debtalia is a marketplace that connects sellers with buyers; it never buys the invoice and charges no commission on the sale, so 100% of the agreed price is yours.
Know your rights on late payment
Federal small-business resources on cash flow and collections are available from the government. If a third party will collect from a consumer, the process is regulated by the CFPB (Regulation F / FDCPA).
Final tip
Do not let unpaid invoices age. Every month, your invoice loses market value and moves closer to the statute of limitations. Once the friendly route is exhausted, list the debt and let the market work for you.
