Short answer. By accepting a guarantee commission, you take on the risk of collection. Article 1907 of the Civil Code provides that when a commission agent receives a guarantee commission in addition to the ordinary commission, they bear the risk of collection and must pay the principal the proceeds of the sale on the same terms agreed upon with the buyer.
What the law says
Should the commission agent receive on a sale, in addition to the ordinary commission, another called a guarantee commission, he shall bear the risk of collection and shall pay the principal the proceeds of the sale on the same terms agreed upon with the purchaser.
Civil Code, Article 1907 — Guarantee Commission (Del Credere). Read the full provision →
What a guarantee commission means
A guarantee commission — also called a del credere commission — is an extra fee paid to a commission agent in exchange for the agent guaranteeing that the buyer will pay. Article 1907 states the consequence plainly: "he shall bear the risk of collection." Normally, if the buyer does not pay, that is the principal's problem. When you accept a guarantee commission, you shift that risk onto yourself. You are, in effect, guaranteeing the buyer's creditworthiness to your principal in exchange for the additional compensation.
The obligation to pay the principal
Article 1907 imposes a specific payment obligation on the agent who takes a guarantee commission: you "shall pay the principal the proceeds of the sale on the same terms agreed upon with the purchaser." This means if you sold the goods on 30-day credit and the buyer does not pay at 30 days, you — the agent — must pay the principal on day 30 anyway. You cannot tell the principal to wait for you to collect from the buyer. You step into the buyer's shoes for purposes of payment to the principal. Whatever the buyer agreed to pay, and on whatever schedule, is what you owe the principal.
The trade-off in accepting the extra commission
The guarantee commission is compensation for taking on this risk. If the buyer pays on time, you earn both the ordinary commission and the guarantee commission without bearing any additional burden. The extra fee becomes meaningful — and potentially costly — only when the buyer defaults. At that point, the risk you were paid to assume is realized: you must cover the buyer's default from your own resources. Before accepting a guarantee commission, therefore, you should assess the creditworthiness of the buyer carefully. Accepting the higher fee without investigating the buyer's ability to pay is accepting the risk blind.
Distinguishing this from an ordinary commission sale
Without a guarantee commission, a commission agent who sells on credit with the principal's authority is simply an intermediary. If the buyer defaults, the loss is the principal's — the agent has done their job. The agent has a separate duty under Article 1906 to disclose the buyer's name and the credit terms, but not to guarantee payment. The guarantee commission arrangement changes this entirely: the agent becomes the guarantor of the buyer's debt to the principal. If you are uncertain whether your arrangement includes a guarantee commission or not, review the agency agreement carefully — the distinction has significant financial consequences.