Selling Tradelines / Piggybacking Part II: $1000+/hr, 20-40k/yr. Side Gig

[HAPPYINAZ]

For me, it's been really lame sales with the new TL company.  In about 6 months, with two cards, I have had one sale, for $250, which recently was paid.  The old tradeline company made me $1500 in four months with just one of those two cards.  not sure why the sales are so much slower for me with the new company.   

[powskier]

I finally got an add on Discover, but the web site won't take the address line, even though it seems to be valid.  Hoping they know what the problem is, but just curious to see if anyone else has hit this issue.

I just had this happen. I googled the address which turned out to be a "po box etc" in a mall......
 TL company advised to call it in instead, which I did, no problem.

[arebelspy]

Thanks everyone for chiming in with your experiences!  :)

[fiveoh]

Is boa still aggressively shutting down cards for this?  Got an add on a boa card and I'm a little apprehensive to add it.

[Car Jack]

Is boa still aggressively shutting down cards for this?  Got an add on a boa card and I'm a little apprehensive to add it.

Interesting.  Just went to check and my BoA card still says "resting".  I've got 4 BoA cards and if they were all shut down, I wouldn't care at all.  Opened them all just to get the sign on bonus but one's old enough to use for tradelines. 

[ducky19]

Just got a text from the new company saying I had an AU to add! I have to say, I like that feature - has anyone else started getting these? YTD including this AU I'm at $2175! Not ARS money for sure, but I'm happy to take it as long as it keeps coming! Thanks, ARS!

[Car Jack]

The texts must have just started.  Did not get one to add an AU in June but got one last week (along with an email) to take the April one off.

[hgjjgkj]

Is boa still aggressively shutting down cards for this?  Got an add on a boa card and I'm a little apprehensive to add it.

Interesting.  Just went to check and my BoA card still says "resting".  I've got 4 BoA cards and if they were all shut down, I wouldn't care at all.  Opened them all just to get the sign on bonus but one's old enough to use for tradelines.

Any interest in sharing info on the vintage and limit of your cards? I have a pair, one at 3 years, the other at 1 year, 10 months, both with limits of about 12k and no bites at all

[Car Jack]

citi mc, 7 years old, $10k.  2 AUs added this year
discover, 2 years old, $14.5k.  1 AU added this year
cap one visa, 3 years old, $20k, no AU
BoA visa, 2 years old, $14k, no AU (resting)

[MsFrugalista]

Just got a text from the new company saying I had an AU to add! I have to say, I like that feature - has anyone else started getting these?

Received first text (and an email) for an AU add yesterday. The texts are definitely helpful!

[sw1tch]

I've been enrolled with 2 cards since February with not a single bite...

Both are just over 2 years old; one with a 10k limit, the other with a 12k limit.

[N]

Ive been enrolled since January with one discover with 20.5 limit. Just got my very first add yesterday.

N

[dakota5176]

Hi all,

I got two adds for my Discover Card yesterday.  I went online and added them and I got an email back asking me to upload documents such as security card, birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.  Anyone else had this get flagged?

[arebelspy]

Glad to see more people are starting to see sales!

Hi all,

I got two adds for my Discover Card yesterday.  I went online and added them and I got an email back asking me to upload documents such as security card, birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.  Anyone else had this get flagged?

This is fairly common with Discover. It's not a "flagged" issue. The tradeline company should provide these docs.

They started it last fall, and no one's had their Discover closed yet because of it, so no need to worry (ditto if you get a call from fraud prevention; they just want to ensure it's YOU adding the AUs, and not anyone else). :)

I stopped getting the document upload after a bit, they switched back to autoaccepting again, not sure why, but plenty of others are seeing the document upload thing when adding AUs, no big deal.

[Double0000000]

I've lurked around the columns here, but this is the first thread that I've really gotten into...

Read the whole thread yesterday - you guys have been through quite a journey! I haven't seen an updated summary, so here goes:

In summary, tradelining is selling (renting) AU slots on credit cards to people that want to improve their credit through a broker (New/Old Company).

New company seems to be the front runner right now. ARS' participation and relationship with the NC looks to be a huge asset. NC's had their issues, but feel that they're honestly trying their best to have a good product on the provider end.

Steps: PM ARS for the referral; sign up with Old or New Company with your cards; wait; when AUs are brokered, work with the CC company to assign them to the credit card; wait; remove AU; profit; rinse; repeat

Risks: CC companies aren't huge fans of this so assume that the credit cards that you're offering will be closed. It's possible that doing this could put a strain on a financial relationship (USAA seems to be the biggest - are there any documented cases of total blacklisting?)

Good CCs: Barclaycard, Discover (to a lesser extent)
PITA CCs: USAA, Chase
Suspicious CCs: BoA
Generally Acceptable CCs: Citi, US Bank, CapOne, PNC
Not really talked about: Elan (brief discussion about not being accepted anymore?), World's Foremost (who dat?)

Payback seems to be $150-200 per AU every two months; YMMV in fees and use

Pro tips: make sure all the data provided is given to the CC company; don't exceed your AU slots; contact the TL company if something happens that is not expected

Another thing that I noticed is that a lot of people are disappointed that their great cards (+10yrs, +$20K) aren't getting much action. It feels like that the average (+2yrs, +10K) cards are getting the most slots. If this has been the case from your perspective, I think it makes sense from a market point of view: the payouts are in three tiers, yes? Call them budget, value, and premium. It appears to an outsider that the budget and value cards are the most utilized. Agree/disagree?

Two opportunities I see then: 1) adjust your premium cards to appear as value cards (move the CL down to the lower threshold). And 2) How do you tap into the premium market? Is there a premium market? Are the New Company's affiliates pursuing these customers? Maybe that's a question for the TBD MMM Tradeline Co. to address.

Feel free to correct me.

[LessIsLess]

I've lurked around the columns here, but this is the first thread that I've really gotten into...

Read the whole thread yesterday - you guys have been through quite a journey! I haven't seen an updated summary, so here goes:

In summary, tradelining is selling (renting) AU slots on credit cards to people that want to improve their credit through a broker (New/Old Company).

New company seems to be the front runner right now. ARS' participation and relationship with the NC looks to be a huge asset. NC's had their issues, but feel that they're honestly trying their best to have a good product on the provider end.

Steps: PM ARS for the referral; sign up with Old or New Company with your cards; wait; when AUs are brokered, work with the CC company to assign them to the credit card; wait; remove AU; profit; rinse; repeat

Risks: CC companies aren't huge fans of this so assume that the credit cards that you're offering will be closed. It's possible that doing this could put a strain on a financial relationship (USAA seems to be the biggest - are there any documented cases of total blacklisting?)

Good CCs: Barclaycard, Discover (to a lesser extent)
PITA CCs: USAA, Chase
Suspicious CCs: BoA
Generally Acceptable CCs: Citi, US Bank, CapOne, PNC
Not really talked about: Elan (brief discussion about not being accepted anymore?), World's Foremost (who dat?)

Payback seems to be $150-200 per AU every two months; YMMV in fees and use

Pro tips: make sure all the data provided is given to the CC company; don't exceed your AU slots; contact the TL company if something happens that is not expected

Another thing that I noticed is that a lot of people are disappointed that their great cards (+10yrs, +$20K) aren't getting much action. It feels like that the average (+2yrs, +10K) cards are getting the most slots. If this has been the case from your perspective, I think it makes sense from a market point of view: the payouts are in three tiers, yes? Call them budget, value, and premium. It appears to an outsider that the budget and value cards are the most utilized. Agree/disagree?

Two opportunities I see then: 1) adjust your premium cards to appear as value cards (move the CL down to the lower threshold). And 2) How do you tap into the premium market? Is there a premium market? Are the New Company's affiliates pursuing these customers? Maybe that's a question for the TBD MMM Tradeline Co. to address.

Feel free to correct me.

After all that reading, re you in?  Put  your knowledge to work otherwise all you'll get is a big headache.

[secondcor521]

<snip>

Feel free to correct me.

Good summary.  Not corrections, just comments:

1.  My opinion is that USBank cards are actually great to work with.  Not suspicious, very quick add over the phone.

2.  People have expressed concern about USAA because they have CCs *and* insurance *and* banking with them, and the fear is that they will lose more than just a credit card.  I don't recall any actual adverse action from USAA, and haven't experienced any myself.  I can understand the concern, though.

3.  The value segment as you describe it probably has the most adds because it's the largest population of cards.  Cards in the premium segment are rare and thus get fewer adds as an absolute number.  But for me, my percentage of adds per available slot is definitely higher in the premium segment.  It seems to me the value slot is picking up in the last month or two.

[Double0000000]

After all that reading, re you in?  Put  your knowledge to work otherwise all you'll get is a big headache.

I think so - it's a market, I have the product, and the $/hr seems to be reasonable!

1.  My opinion is that USBank cards are actually great to work with.  Not suspicious, very quick add over the phone.

That's great to hear - I have a couple USBank cards that would be good candidates.

3.  The value segment as you describe it probably has the most adds because it's the largest population of cards.  Cards in the premium segment are rare and thus get fewer adds as an absolute number.  But for me, my percentage of adds per available slot is definitely higher in the premium segment.  It seems to me the value slot is picking up in the last month or two.

Good perspective - there's probably some bias going on there when I was reading through since they showed up the most.

[monarda]

1.  My opinion is that USBank cards are actually great to work with.  Not suspicious, very quick add over the phone.

That's great to hear - I have a couple USBank cards that would be good candidates.

+1 on USBank. The only card I'm using (5 total sales in 2017 so far) is a US Bank card.

[cheapass]

I'm having trouble removing users under "My Cards" in the system. I've had a couple users on for 3 months already and I'd like to remove them (they're already off my cards) but I can't select the "remove user" button. Is this an email to support or does anyone have another way to remove?

[Car Jack]

I'm having trouble removing users under "My Cards" in the system. I've had a couple users on for 3 months already and I'd like to remove them (they're already off my cards) but I can't select the "remove user" button. Is this an email to support or does anyone have another way to remove?

Did you get an email/text from the TL company telling you to remove them?  If not, it's too soon and you should not have removed them.  If you did, I've found that the button immediately appears in the online portal.  Never remove an AU until they specifically tell you to.

[cheapass]

I'm having trouble removing users under "My Cards" in the system. I've had a couple users on for 3 months already and I'd like to remove them (they're already off my cards) but I can't select the "remove user" button. Is this an email to support or does anyone have another way to remove?

Did you get an email/text from the TL company telling you to remove them?  If not, it's too soon and you should not have removed them.  If you did, I've found that the button immediately appears in the online portal.  Never remove an AU until they specifically tell you to.

Hmm... okay. It appears I removed them before they told me to, although it was past the 60 days I'm required to keep them on.

[ducky19]

I was told that AUs needed to stay on for 75 days minimum.

[charuhans]

On one of my cards, the 2 AUs are now 90 days old but still can't remove them online. Going to send an email to the company since those might be blocking any new adds that might have come my way.

[arebelspy]

It does not block any adds. You can see the card availability in the my cards tab.

[Joel]

I'm having trouble removing users under "My Cards" in the system. I've had a couple users on for 3 months already and I'd like to remove them (they're already off my cards) but I can't select the "remove user" button. Is this an email to support or does anyone have another way to remove?

I've had a similar issue with one of my earlier adds. The remove user button isn't here and I've been working with them to resolve the issue. They haven't understood my problem though, and we have exchanged several messages. I've got an outstanding email from them I still need to respond to, so maybe this exchange will go better.

[BC_Goldman]

Quick question: Does it matter which Barclay card you're using? I'm planning to open up a couple cards tomorrow for signing bonuses and one is the Barclay CashForward since it doesn't have an annual fee. I'm not particularly interested in accumulating miles so I don't see the need to bother with one of their cards that has an annual fee otherwise.

Also looking at a DiscoverIT to season for two years. Sadly, they don't look like they have any cards with signing bonuses.

[arebelspy]

Quick question: Does it matter which Barclay card you're using?

No.

[TomTX]

Quick question: Does it matter which Barclay card you're using? I'm planning to open up a couple cards tomorrow for signing bonuses and one is the Barclay CashForward since it doesn't have an annual fee. I'm not particularly interested in accumulating miles so I don't see the need to bother with one of their cards that has an annual fee otherwise.

Also looking at a DiscoverIT to season for two years. Sadly, they don't look like they have any cards with signing bonuses.

Here's a $50 referral bonus (no min spend) - it should also qualify you for the "double cashback" for the first year, which gets you another $50 after a year (plus matching whatever other bonuses you managed in the meantime)

https://refer.discover.com/s/37e3u

[BC_Goldman]

Thanks! Speaking of referrals: if anyone doesn't already have a Chase Freedom, they are offering me $100 for up to 5 people that I send them who spend 500 in the first couple (3?) months and they also give the people $150.

[Joel]

Has anyone used one account for both you and your spouse's cards?

My wife has two cards that I would like to sign-up, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having her setting up another account.

[DarrellEW]

Has anyone used one account for both you and your spouse's cards?

My wife has two cards that I would like to sign-up, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having her setting up another account.

I have an account that I use to list both my wife's and my own cards. The TL company said this was ok, and we haven't run into any issues yet.

[RedwoodDreams]

Has anyone used one account for both you and your spouse's cards?

My wife has two cards that I would like to sign-up, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having her setting up another account.

I have an account that I use to list both my wife's and my own cards. The TL company said this was ok, and we haven't run into any issues yet.

How do you get paid? Under one of your SSNs, or both get paid under your SSNs?

[DarrellEW]

Has anyone used one account for both you and your spouse's cards?

My wife has two cards that I would like to sign-up, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having her setting up another account.

I have an account that I use to list both my wife's and my own cards. The TL company said this was ok, and we haven't run into any issues yet.

How do you get paid? Under one of your SSNs, or both get paid under your SSNs?

The payments just come into one of our joint bank accounts. As for the tax information (W-9), I just filled it out once and provided my SSN.

Here's what the TL company said: "If you will be interacting with us separately and/or having your payments go to separate accounts, then use 2 contracts, otherwise 1 is fine."

[Joel]

Has anyone used one account for both you and your spouse's cards?

My wife has two cards that I would like to sign-up, but I don't want to go through the hassle of having her setting up another account.

I have an account that I use to list both my wife's and my own cards. The TL company said this was ok, and we haven't run into any issues yet.

How do you get paid? Under one of your SSNs, or both get paid under your SSNs?

The payments just come into one of our joint bank accounts. As for the tax information (W-9), I just filled it out once and provided my SSN.

Here's what the TL company said: "If you will be interacting with us separately and/or having your payments go to separate accounts, then use 2 contracts, otherwise 1 is fine."

Thanks for sharing this. I think I'll reach out to them to confirm and add my wife's cards as well.

[TomTX]

Thanks! Speaking of referrals: if anyone doesn't already have a Chase Freedom, they are offering me $100 for up to 5 people that I send them who spend 500 in the first couple (3?) months and they also give the people $150.

Yep, we should put up a referral link sharing thread, or resurrect one

Chase Freedom is a good "starter" card for people - and $150 back for a $500 spend is pretty tasty.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2/MU4TDQ1N3K

[dragoncar]

Thanks! Speaking of referrals: if anyone doesn't already have a Chase Freedom, they are offering me $100 for up to 5 people that I send them who spend 500 in the first couple (3?) months and they also give the people $150.

Yep, we should put up a referral link sharing thread, or resurrect one

Chase Freedom is a good "starter" card for people - and $150 back for a $500 spend is pretty tasty.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2/MU4TDQ1N3K

We should set up a referral kickback thread.  How much are you willing to pay me to use your referral link?

Piggybacking is all well and good, but lets say I facilitate an exchange where TomTX gets a $100 referral bonus, keeps $45, pays $45 to the referral and I keep a $10 matchmaking fee?

[TomTX]

Thanks! Speaking of referrals: if anyone doesn't already have a Chase Freedom, they are offering me $100 for up to 5 people that I send them who spend 500 in the first couple (3?) months and they also give the people $150.

Yep, we should put up a referral link sharing thread, or resurrect one

Chase Freedom is a good "starter" card for people - and $150 back for a $500 spend is pretty tasty.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2/MU4TDQ1N3K

We should set up a referral kickback thread.  How much are you willing to pay me to use your referral link?

Piggybacking is all well and good, but lets say I facilitate an exchange where TomTX gets a $100 referral bonus, keeps $45, pays $45 to the referral and I keep a $10 matchmaking fee?

That sounds awfully complicated. I just try to use links from people I know or have benefited from their posts.

[dragoncar]

Thanks! Speaking of referrals: if anyone doesn't already have a Chase Freedom, they are offering me $100 for up to 5 people that I send them who spend 500 in the first couple (3?) months and they also give the people $150.

Yep, we should put up a referral link sharing thread, or resurrect one

Chase Freedom is a good "starter" card for people - and $150 back for a $500 spend is pretty tasty.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2/MU4TDQ1N3K

We should set up a referral kickback thread.  How much are you willing to pay me to use your referral link?

Piggybacking is all well and good, but lets say I facilitate an exchange where TomTX gets a $100 referral bonus, keeps $45, pays $45 to the referral and I keep a $10 matchmaking fee?

That sounds awfully complicated. I just try to use links from people I know or have benefited from their posts.

Is it more complicated than selling AUs on your tradeline?  I just try to add friends and family members to my credit lines to improve their credit scores for free.

[dlawson]

If people are looking to sign up for a new Chase card, the Freedom is not a great choice. Much better to use a referral link for the Sapphire Preferred, which has a 50k point bonus (worth $500 minimum) and a waived annual fee for the first year. After 11 months you can call to product change it to a fee-free Freedom.

[turketron]

I just requested Credit increases for two Capital One credit cards- one hasn't had a balance for a couple months but was used a bunch before that, and the other I use for my $10 netflix subscription and then pay in full each month. I just used the "request an increase" option from Capitol One's online portal. Both requests were denied, with the explanation that "Recent use of this account's existing credit line has been too low."

In your collective experiences, is it worth calling to ask them to reconsider, or is that just a waste of time? if they ask why you're requesting it do you just say that it's for better credit utilization on your credit report?

[secondcor521]

I just requested Credit increases for two Capital One credit cards- one hasn't had a balance for a couple months but was used a bunch before that, and the other I use for my $10 netflix subscription and then pay in full each month. I just used the "request an increase" option from Capitol One's online portal. Both requests were denied, with the explanation that "Recent use of this account's existing credit line has been too low."

In your collective experiences, is it worth calling to ask them to reconsider, or is that just a waste of time? if they ask why you're requesting it do you just say that it's for better credit utilization on your credit report?

I wouldn't bother.  I don't think they will give you an increase just for utilization, especially if your utilization is low to begin with.

The two good ways to get an increase are to use the card a lot (like up to 50% of the existing CL) then ask for an increase after a month or two, or if you can legitimately claim a much higher income, they will give you increases based on that.  There are other ways I'm sure.

[secondcor521]

Thought I would throw this out as a data point:

I just received two debt collection messages on my cell phone (which is my main number I use for everything) for an AU that I added last December to my USAA card with Old Company.  I called them back, said he couldn't be reached at this number.  They asked if I had a forwarding number, I said no.  They bleached my number from the collections case and that should be the end of it.

No big deal to me, but in the interest of transparency I thought I should share.

[TomTX]

If people are looking to sign up for a new Chase card, the Freedom is not a great choice. Much better to use a referral link for the Sapphire Preferred, which has a 50k point bonus (worth $500 minimum) and a waived annual fee for the first year. After 11 months you can call to product change it to a fee-free Freedom.

In general, I agree. However, on this site I got a lot of "I could NEVER spend the $4k!"

That said, I'm delighted if anyone wants to use a referral: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6/Z8JIP66H7G

Spend $4,000 in 3 months and get a bonus of 50,000 points ($500 in cash)

This was our first "signup bonus" card - we used it to pay property taxes with a ~2.19% fee, came out WAY ahead. Another option is to pay Fed income tax via one of the various sites for fees around (at least one is below) that amount.

Of course, for Tradelines, the Discover is far superior.

[hgjjgkj]

I just got my first add today after 1.5 months. How do I add them? I was not given the AUs Phone number or address and BoA asks for it. What should i do?

[secondcor521]

I just got my first add today after 1.5 months. How do I add them? I was not given the AUs Phone number or address and BoA asks for it. What should i do?

If you're using New Company, the address is normally given on the portal...although I had one where the address was just "NV".  Usually name, DOB, and SSN is enough to get it to post to the AU's credit report, so you can use your own phone number and address in a pinch.  BofA won't care (although they may think the AU is your SO :-) ).

[flashflooder]

People are getting adds on BofA cards now?  My 2 BofA cards are still "Resting"...

[hgjjgkj]

People are getting adds on BofA cards now?  My 2 BofA cards are still "Resting"...

When I signed up they told me they were slowly taking the BofA cards off rest. You may want to email them.

[cheapass]

What is the minimum age of card that the company will accept? I've got a Barclays that is about 7 months old...

[Optimiser]

What is the minimum age of card that the company will accept? I've got a Barclays that is about 7 months old...

I believe that the new company requires them to be at least 1 year old. It is 2 years with the old company.