STA International collection rates, fees and minimums on real claims

STA International charges a contingency fee on what it collects: 25% on the first $5,000 and 20% on the balance for US commercial debts, and 30% to 33% when the debtor is outside the US. Nothing is owed if nothing is collected. It takes commercial claims of $2,500 and above and says it is generally not a fit for businesses whose debts average under $1,000 (stacollect.com rates and FAQ pages, read September 2026). On a single stuck B2B invoice between $5,000 and $50,000, that is a fair, published price. On a steady run of invoices that are simply late, it is a quarter of the money for work you can start yourself for a flat fee.

Below is the full rate card, what STA does not publish, worked numbers on five claim sizes, how it compares with the other commercial agencies that post their rates, and when to place with STA instead of chasing the invoice yourself.

STA International collection rates

STA publishes one blended structure for US commercial collections and a range for international files. It states that the actual rate on a placement depends on four things: the age of the debt, the dollar amount, the number of debts you place, and the country where the debtor is located. The published figures are the starting point for that conversation, not a guarantee.

The blended structure is worth understanding. Because only the first $5,000 carries 25%, the effective rate falls as the claim grows: 25% on a $5,000 recovery, about 21.7% on $15,000 and about 20.5% on $50,000. It never drops below 20%, which is where STA differs from agencies that step down to 15% or 10% on very large claims.

What does STA International not publish?

The rate page and FAQ leave out several terms that change what a placement really costs. None of them are unusual, but you should have each one in writing before you sign:

• Suit and attorney forwarding. STA does not post a rate for files forwarded to an attorney, court cost advances, or any non contingent fee. Across the industry, suit usually moves the contingency to 30% to 50% plus filing costs.
• Payments made directly to you. Most placement agreements still earn the agency its percentage when the customer pays the creditor directly after placement. Ask whether STA's does, and for how long after placement.
• Withdrawing a file. Ask what you owe if you pull an account back, for example because the customer calls you to settle.
• Old or small files. STA says contingency depends on the amount and aging of the debt, so expect a higher rate on claims near the $2,500 floor or more than a year old.

A company that posts its base rates is already more transparent than most commercial agencies, several of which publish nothing at all. Treat these gaps as the questions for your first call rather than as red flags.

What does an STA International placement cost on real claims?

These are the fees at the published rates, assuming the claim is collected in full and no suit is needed.

The international row is where STA has real strengths. It says it has offices in England and Mexico City, and it lists memberships in the Commercial Law League of America, the International Association of Commercial Collectors, the Chartered Institute of Credit Management and the Credit Services Association in England, and the European Collectors Association. For a US exporter with a claim in Latin America or Europe, that network is the thing you are paying the extra 5 to 8 points for. Our international debt collection page explains why cross border rates run about 1.4 times domestic.

STA International vs other commercial collection agencies on published rates

Only a handful of US commercial agencies post a rate card. Here is how STA's compares with the others we have read at source, on three claim sizes.

Kaplan figures are from kaplancollectionagency.com and Creditors Adjustment Bureau figures from cabcollects.com (50% on the first $500 and 20% on the balance for fresh claims), both read in September 2026. The spread between the three agencies is small below $15,000 and opens up on large claims, where Kaplan's 15% band is the cheapest published rate. The bigger difference is minimums: STA starts at $2,500, while Kaplan wants a new client's average claim above $5,000. Seven agencies' floors side by side are in our page on the collection agency minimum amount. See the Kaplan Group collection agency rates and Creditors Adjustment Bureau fees for the full cards.

Is STA International a legitimate collection agency?

Yes. STA International was founded in 1955 by Stanley Tulchin as Stanley Tulchin Associates and is based at 225 Broadhollow Road in Melville, New York. It works commercial debts only, contingency only, and states that it maintains a surety bond for the benefit of its clients and that its UK office is ISO 9001 certified. It serves manufacturing, distribution, financial services, advertising and publishing clients, offers skip tracing and a web based reporting portal, and says its frontline collectors average 20 years of experience.

One point that confuses searchers: a UK site under the same name, stainternational.com, lists a registered address in Maidstone, Kent and publishes different figures, 10% for UK debts and 15% for international ones, with a £500 minimum. Those are UK market rates quoted in pounds. A US creditor should quote from the US office's card and confirm in writing which rate applies to a debtor abroad. If your customer is in Britain, the debt collection agency UK fees for US companies comparison prices one £8,000 invoice through US and UK agencies, and Atradius Collections fees works through Atradius' published US schedule, which charges $55 plus 25.5% on most foreign files.

When should you place a claim with STA International instead of chasing it yourself?

STA's own FAQ gives a sensible rule: place accounts at 60 or more days past due when the customer is not communicating, or at 90 to 120 days when the customer is talking but not paying. It also says it often recovers accounts more than a year past due, which is where an agency earns its fee.

Before either point, the cheapest recovery is almost always your own. Invoices under 90 days past due recover at roughly 70% or better, and past 180 days the rate often falls below 15%. What moves a slow B2B customer in that window is a dated written demand repeated on schedule, which is exactly the work nobody on a small finance team has time for. DebtAgent drafts a friendly, firm and final email sequence from the real invoice figures, you approve it once, and it runs in your name for a flat $49 to $499 a month with no share of what you recover. The files still unpaid after the final notice are the ones worth sending to STA, with a clean demand history attached. If you are pursuing mid-size claims and want to avoid legal fees entirely, our guide to how you can recover unpaid invoices without legal fees prices every route side by side.

When you do place a file, send the agency a complete package: the contract or signed terms, every invoice, proof of delivery or completion, and your correspondence. If those records live as scanned paper, it is faster to extract the line items from scanned invoices and delivery receipts into a spreadsheet than to retype them, and a tidy file gets worked sooner.