One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

by Harold Morse Dunphy

PLAN No. 455. A GOOD COLLECTION SYSTEM

There have been many forms of collection agencies designed, some being good, some bad and some indifferent, but the system planned and worked by a man in a northwestern city is certainly novel in its every detail. It “gets the money,” and nets its promoter from $12,000 to $15,000 a year. So the idea must be good.

This agency, incorporated, has the creditors sign a contract assigning to it all the accounts, judgments and notes listed underneath, in consideration of the services to be performed by the agency, and authorizes the agency to use its discretion in settlements, to collect, receive, adjust and discharge the same.

The names, last-known addresses and occupations of the debtors are given, with the date of the last item, the amount due, name of employer, etc., and on all of these accounts collected the agency is to receive a commission of 50 per cent for the first $100, and 15 per cent on all amounts in excess of that sum, except on notes, judgments and accounts over three years old, all of which shall pay a 50-per-cent commission, the commission to be due and payable to the agency whether the debtor makes payment to it or to the creditor. On any account withdrawn from the agency by the creditor, the commission to be considered as earned in full, and be due and payable to the agency at once. The creditor is to report promptly to the agency any payments made on the accounts after being listed, and the refusal of the creditor to report shall be held as a payment, the other accounts listed being considered as security for the payment of commissions on claims withdrawn or paid, or refusal to report. The contract to be enforced for six months, except as to judgments, notes or accounts upon which payments have been made, suit commenced in process of settlement, or secured in any manner. Creditor not required to pay any advanced fees or retainer, except 10 cents on each claim for address verification. In case the services of an attorney are advisable, creditor agrees to employment of one and to pay 50 per cent commission on amounts collected, where agency assumes responsibility for costs and attorney’s fees.

The creditor signs his name, with his business, the date and his address, and lists below the names, etc., of those debtors he desires to turn over to the agency, and for each name or account so listed he pays 10 cents to the solicitor who retains the entire amount as part of his commission.

The solicitor then forwards or brings to the office of the agency the lists thus secured, and the agency thereupon pays him 20 cents more for each account so listed, making 80 cents in all. Therefore, a solicitor securing 100 accounts in a day makes $30 a day.

This seems like pretty good pay for the man who solicits the accounts, and it is, but when it is considered that the head of the agency, who perfected this plan, collects practically 95 per cent of these accounts, and retains one-half of most of these collected, it will be very apparent that he can well afford to be liberal with the man or woman who goes out and picks up this business for him.

As an indication of the magnitude of the business, he performs services for 4,000 to 6,000 clients in a year, employs five girls as stenographers and multigraph operators, and sends out thousands of letters every month, most of which, bring tangible results.

It’s a big business, and there is a big field in which to work it.

The success of his plan lies in the rapidity with which he handles a voluminous correspondence, and in this he is materially assisted by the use of an electrically-propelled multigraph, rubber stamps, etc. His business is conducted almost entirely through letter-writing and he has hundreds of forms of original letters and follow-ups suited to all classes of debtors, enabling him to make attacks from every angle.