[drstewart]

> They made more than what you actually owed them by doing that

This makes absolutely zero sense and does not happen. Why would the collections agency pay more for debt than it's worth? Why wouldn't they sell all their accounts then? Free increase in profits!

[lostcolony]

Yeah; that is absolutely false.

They make more, across all accounts, than they would in lost time/expenses -pursuing- those debts. But the collection agency did not pay them > X to collect on X. Far from it; the collection agency paid them a small percentage of the total debt for the 'right' to try and collect on it.

[daenz]

I've been pursued by a collection agency for a bogus account with a very low value. The collections agency tacked on a ton of additional costs. Hundreds of dollars. Related to them processing the account, and said that I owed them for it. So my understanding of how it works, and maybe I'm completely wrong, that's possible too, is that collections agency stand to gain far more than just the original amount owed, if they can add their overhead costs to the account.

[thrwyoilarticle]

They 'owed' zero.