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

[PointsLawyer]

Can I ask you, PointsLawyer, why is it worth someone to retain you when their card was shut down, and what do you estimate the cost to them will be (in terms of your billing and hours)?

I take almost all of my cases on a contingency (like 99% of cases). The contingency is typically a sliding scale (smaller settlement figures means a larger percentage to recoup my time). I think it's the only way to make the model work. Doing it this way, people come to me with closed cards (or whatever), and I aim to monetize their claims. The cards are already closed, and so I try to make some "found money."

I'd say my average contingency is 40%. But that's because the typical recovery is not particularly large (think 4-figures). I do occasionally have larger claims, and that brings the contingency down.

[PointsLawyer]

A. The banks have a hole in their defenses. First, the CRAs allow piggybacking to work. Second, the CRAs are overly reliant on the credit reporting system in granting credit lines. This is for the banks to fix--not the cardholder's fault.

The financial industry could shut this down immediately if they set it up so that piggybacking doesn't work. Already doesn't work with American Express because they report the date the AU was added where others report the date the credit line was opened.

Agreed. I think the explanation is that these are large, slow-moving institutions. I'm reminded of manufactured spend. Banks came out with rewards programs to encourage spending and compete for customers. Then a small subset of savvy folks started gaming the system hard. And banks are finally starting to crack down and introduce defenses.

I expect the same thing will happen with the banks and their reporting of AU lines. But it's a matter of when it happens.

[PointsLawyer]

Can I ask you, PointsLawyer, why is it worth someone to retain you when their card was shut down, and what do you estimate the cost to them will be (in terms of your billing and hours)?

Cost of lawyer will eventually fall on the bank if the bank is found to be in the wrong.

Yep. I don't know of a single attorney who would do this with any other arrangement. It'd have to be contingency (if plaintiff wins, attorney gets a percentage of entire award, nothing if they lose usually).

I think ARS and the rest of us would basically like to know what a typical award is, and what percent is lost to legal fees

Lexde is spot on. I do all of these on contingency. It's hard to say what a typical award is because I handle a lot of different claims. Something like a non-compliant closure letter claim might resolve for anywhere from $5,000-$10,000+ (there are a lot of factors that affect this). And then the contingency is around 40% on those. I wish I could give more hard and fast answers for you but there are two limiting functions:

1. Practically every case is unique.
2. Settlement agreements typically have confidentiality provisions that would prohibit parties from getting into the details.

That's why I typically encourage my clients to send me anything that they think might be a claim. Worse case is I tell them "no."

[PointsLawyer]

Basically, what is your opinion of a consumer taking the approach of "Hey, I did nothing wrong.  I used a service you provide, no fraud occurred, any private arrangement I have with my acquaintance is none of your business."  What is the likelihood of that working to keep the account open?

I think it's highly unlikely that that would help your cause. The banks are not particularly good at nuance. A lot of blunt tools doing the work. The banks almost always include a term that they can close an account at any time. If you give them the reason to close the account, they'll go for it (explanation be damned). The banks see cases like these as potential future headaches. They don't want to mess with the potential compliance issues down the line.

Thanks for the good questions everyone. I'm enjoying the conversation. Heading to bed for now, but hopefully there will be more to talk about in the morning.

[arebelspy]

Sounds like you could get quite a bit of work now that you know about piggybacking.

Can you elaborate on what critera does (and doesn't) make for a good case?

Say someone reading this thread had a card shut down, what would make it worthwhile (what red flags should they look for) to send it to you?

I'm sure plenty of people here would happily take 60% of 5-10k for a card shut down anyways.

[PointsLawyer]

Can you elaborate on what critera does (and doesn't) make for a good case?

Say someone reading this thread had a card shut down, what would make it worthwhile (what red flags should they look for) to send it to you?

The "nice" characteristic of these types of closures is that the violation is often times the same. I'm guessing that anyone with a Discover card closed due to piggybacking received the same letter that I think is noncompliant and actionable. In the case of the discover closures I've seen so far, they've all had this same language about "we can no longer meet your servicing needs."

As I said above, banks can typically close your card at any time and for pretty much any reason. But, they have to provide the specific reason for the closure. The point of this legal requirement is to allow someone with credit to understand their credit -- the requirement is educational in nature.

So from that rule we can work out the characteristics of a non-compliant letter. Any one of these things is typically going to mean you have a claim:

1. There is no reason given for the closure. I've seen this from Citibank, Fidelity, Bank of the West, and US Bank (to name a few).
2. There's a reason given but it isn't specific. This is where you get the vague closure. Closed due to "risk," for example. Or, with Discover "we can no longer meet your servicing needs." Huh? Is Discover getting out of the credit card game? What does that mean? This gets to the educational aspect of the law. Has the bank informed you about what's going on? If the answer is "no," then you probably have a claim.
3. There's a specific reason give but it isn't true. For example, I have a case going right now. The client got a call from his bank asking about his activity. The client explained what he was doing and offered to adjust his behavior if the bank didn't like it, and the bank (a high level compliance representative) said "no, you're fine." Three weeks later, his accounts were closed due to "unacceptable activity" on the account. My argument is that this is not a truthful reason because a compliance rep explicitly said the conduct was acceptable.

Once again, I'll note that none of this is legal advice. Don't go to small claims court and say you're entitled to $10,000 because some lawyer on MMM forum said you are. There's always nuance and detail. But if anyone has more questions or wants some clarification, please feel free to shoot me a message.

[robartsd]

As I said above, banks can typically close your card at any time and for pretty much any reason. But, they have to provide the specific reason for the closure. The point of this legal requirement is to allow someone with credit to understand their credit -- the requirement is educational in nature.

So basically all the banks have to do is say, "We closed your account because we don't like how often you change authorized users on your account," and they'd be in compliance with the law, but instead they are being vague about their reasons. All the while it would be super simple for them to make changes that would make piggybacking ineffective and it would just stop happening.

[Russ]

Dumb Q: does "no late payments" refer to a payment past due date which goes away after you pay the late fee, or a payment 30+ days past due date which shows up on your credit report?

[arebelspy]

Dumb Q: does "no late payments" refer to a payment past due date which goes away after you pay the late fee, or a payment 30+ days past due date which shows up on your credit report?

If it doesn't show up on the credit report, it shouldn't have any negative effect on the AU, so the latter.

[ravevan]

For those of you who have your and spouse's cards enrolled: do you typically call for your spouse to ask for the AU removal, or do you have her/him call? It's easier for me to just call but I don't want to get sent to fraud detection, etc.

[erutio]

For those of you who have your and spouse's cards enrolled: do you typically call for your spouse to ask for the AU removal, or do you have her/him call? It's easier for me to just call but I don't want to get sent to fraud detection, etc.

I call for my wife.  I don't think having a female or male voice would get you sent to fraud department. 
If I were to get sent to fraud, I could answer any security questions they would ask of my wife. 

[katsiki]

I would not expect a problem but would assume they will require authorization from spouse.  Unless you are planning to impersonate them.  Not recommended.

Typically, a csr from any financial company is going to require auth from spouse for you to speak on their behalf.

[topshot]

For those of you who have your and spouse's cards enrolled: do you typically call for your spouse to ask for the AU removal, or do you have her/him call? It's easier for me to just call but I don't want to get sent to fraud detection, etc.

If you are not a co-signor on the account, they should not allow you to make changes. If they do then any other AU could as well. It turns out I had been considered just an AU on my wife's card so I had to actually fill out an app to get approved to be a joint owner before I could add/remove AUs so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

[frugalnacho]

How quickly do you add AU?  I got an email monday evening saying I had new AU to add, but I didn't have time to log in and get the info and call yet.  I got an email from TL company today asking if they were added saying there were due by 5/21 (the night I got the notification).  Now I'm ready to add them, but the email made it sound like if they weren't added by 5/21 she had to replace them, so I don't know if I should go ahead and add them or if she's going to move them to another card.  This card has been filling up consistently and I just removed 2 AU last week, so I expect I'd get another 2 slots right away.

Do you jump on adding AU immediately? What's a reasonable time frame to get them added?  I feel like it often takes a week or so to show up after adding them anyway.

[frugalnacho]

Fuck it I added them before hearing back.  20 minute phone call to citi.  I'll probably have to call back at least once to re add them because citi.

[secondcor521]

How quickly do you add AU?  I got an email monday evening saying I had new AU to add, but I didn't have time to log in and get the info and call yet.  I got an email from TL company today asking if they were added saying there were due by 5/21 (the night I got the notification).  Now I'm ready to add them, but the email made it sound like if they weren't added by 5/21 she had to replace them, so I don't know if I should go ahead and add them or if she's going to move them to another card.  This card has been filling up consistently and I just removed 2 AU last week, so I expect I'd get another 2 slots right away.

Do you jump on adding AU immediately? What's a reasonable time frame to get them added?  I feel like it often takes a week or so to show up after adding them anyway.

I usually add the same day if possible.  But to the best of my recollection, both companies usually give me at least two or three days notice (i.e., if my closing date is the 19th I'll get the email on the 16th or 17th).

If you didn't add them by the deadline (which is probably also your card closing date), I can understand them moving that AU to another card.  But I also think they should give you more than a few hours' notice, because most of us aren't always able to check email and do an add every day.

[lexde]

Fuck it I added them before hearing back.  20 minute phone call to citi.  I'll probably have to call back at least once to re add them because citi.

Do you have issues with Citi cards? I added my AUs online to my AAdvantage cards with no problems.


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[ditkanate]

Fuck it I added them before hearing back.  20 minute phone call to citi.  I'll probably have to call back at least once to re add them because citi.

Do you have issues with Citi cards? I added my AUs online to my AAdvantage cards with no problems.

Citi's site doesn't let me add the SS# online so I have to call, and the calls to them generally suck and take forever.  I tried adding online once but the AU didn't post since I didn't add the social. 

[frugalnacho]

Fuck it I added them before hearing back.  20 minute phone call to citi.  I'll probably have to call back at least once to re add them because citi.

Do you have issues with Citi cards? I added my AUs online to my AAdvantage cards with no problems.


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Yes citi customer service sucks.  Last round I ended up having to call 3 times to add the AU.  See page 43 of this thread for my numerous posts on the topic.  Last night ended up being a 20 minute phone call and got transferred to fraud prevention.  They also don't let you add the SSN online, you have to call in.

Card closing date is the 22nd.  Got the email around 6pm on the 21st, with an apparent deadline of the 21st.  With a full time job and a 7 month old baby I don't always have the time to drop what I'm doing and spend 20 minutes on the phone with citi. 

If my card closing date is the 22nd, why did they wait until the 16th to request I remove the previous AU?  What advantage did having them on from the 23rd to the 16th if I just remove them at that point?  I could have had a much more reasonable window to get more AU sales and actually get them on my card before the statement closing date if they requested an earlier removal. It usually takes citi several days (and multiple call ins) before the AU is actually added to my account, so at least a few days notice would be nice.

[beekayworld]

If my card closing date is the 22nd, why did they wait until the 16th to request I remove the previous AU?  What advantage did having them on from the 23rd to the 16th if I just remove them at that point? 

They like us to leave a user on for a full two months. For some cards it's three months.  Look at your card history and I bet that user they asked you to remove on May 16th was added on March 16th.

I assume that having a user on for less than two months looks suspicious.

[Car Jack]

I tend to have an AU added and confirmed within an hour of notification.  A lot of good it's done me.  I'm now over a year without an AU.

[frugalnacho]

If my card closing date is the 22nd, why did they wait until the 16th to request I remove the previous AU?  What advantage did having them on from the 23rd to the 16th if I just remove them at that point? 

They like us to leave a user on for a full two months. For some cards it's three months.  Look at your card history and I bet that user they asked you to remove on May 16th was added on March 16th.

I assume that having a user on for less than two months looks suspicious.

I get that, but then it jams me up for the next round by only allowing like 5 days to sell the tradeline, notify me, and have me contact citi, and have citi actually add them.  The same thing happened last time.  I was contacted on the 21st to add AU, and it ended up being an ordeal because I had to call citi 3 times before they actually showed up.  A few hours notice is not enough time to get me to add them, and have citi actually add them to my account. 

[hunt2eat]

When is the last time payments were sent from the new TL?  I haven't' rec'd payments for 2/3 or 3/3 ads.  I have emailed the owner and haven't heard back.

[arebelspy]

When is the last time payments were sent from the new TL?  I haven't' rec'd payments for 2/3 or 3/3 ads.  I have emailed the owner and haven't heard back.

PM me with the email address you signed up under.

All payments for February adds (where the statement closed in February) should have been paid. I've been assured most March payments have been made as well, and the rest should be within the next week (so getting somewhat caught up, in that the next set of payments is due in a week, but at least none will be outstanding).

If anyone hasn't been paid for a February add, please PM me so I can look into it!

[katsiki]

I get that, but then it jams me up for the next round by only allowing like 5 days to sell the tradeline, notify me, and have me contact citi, and have citi actually add them.  The same thing happened last time.  I was contacted on the 21st to add AU, and it ended up being an ordeal because I had to call citi 3 times before they actually showed up.  A few hours notice is not enough time to get me to add them, and have citi actually add them to my account.

I would call the company and see what they can work out with you.

I had a situation with the old company where a card was overloaded and the dates for removal and add were overlapping.  They had me remove a day early.

Good luck.

[missundecided]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

[arebelspy]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Real weird. Both companies claim they've never had an AU make an unauthorized purchase.

I don't even know how that AU would, since they don't have a card, the card number, etc.

How do you know it's unauthorized activity from the AU, and not normal fraud, which happens randomly (and from compromised cards?

The fact that Barclays flagged it as unauthorized suggests to me it's more likely "regular" fraudulent activity unrelated to AU activity (because if it was an authorized user doing it, why would they flag it as potential fraud? The user would be authorized).

Contact the tradeline company, see what they say, but sounds like Barclays just froze the card temporarily, and they'll ship you a new one, per regular fraud activity. No big deal, IMO.

[katsiki]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Is it showing the transaction on the AU's card # or yours?

[SwordGuy]

@arebelspy , could you tell us how much you've been making via tradelines the last few years?

Ditto with others.   It's a very, very, very long thread to slog thru, and I would love some summary info to share with others.

[medinaj2160]

I just received a call from Capital One they asked me questions about the authorized user and the mentioned that they could not verify a connection to me through public records. They said that they will send a package that requires more information about the Authorized user.

Any ideas? What do you guys say when they ask you who is the authorized user?

[missundecided]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Is it showing the transaction on the AU's card # or yours?

The transactions show the last four digits of the AU's card.

The  two charges are very suspicious-looking, regardless of which card. Just gobbledygook letters stringed together for the vendor name. Like this: ouorjlfjflmf (not the actual name, but for illustrative purposes). So Barclays would likely have flagged them even if the purchases were made on my own card.

I spoke with the rep from the "old" company, and I asked whether it was possible it is just run-of-the-mill fraudulent activity that just happens to be on the AU's card, trying to give the AU the benefit of the doubt. She said it's possible, but she's calling the user to get some extra details. I've been instructed to hold off just yet in calling Barclays back while they assess the situation, but she said the likely next step is to remove him as an AU as a precaution.

I had two orders through them and received two separate unmarked envelopes with what felt like cards inside; to be transparent, I never opened the envelopes because they were the only CCs I was expecting and I assumed that what's they were, so I can't say with 100% certainty that I do have the AU's card. That's my mistake, and one I won't repeat.

I will report back!

[arebelspy]

@arebelspy , could you tell us how much you've been making via tradelines the last few years?

Ditto with others.   It's a very, very, very long thread to slog thru, and I would love some summary info to share with others.

Low five figures.

The wife and I have a lot of cards enrolled between us.

From talking to other Mustachians, it ranges from a few hundred to a couple of people similar to myself. Average (for those getting sales) is probably a couple thousand, from what I've seen.

It very much depends on how many cards you have, and how desirable you are.

For a broad rule of thumb, without knowing anything about the ages, card types, etc., I think it's reasonable to assume 1-2 sales every 2 months per card that is at least 3-5 years old (a lot older, and you'll see closer to 2+ reliably, younger more towards 1). Times, say $150 per sale (assuming a 20k limit or so). That leaves you with 150-300 per two months times 12 months a year = $900-1800 per card per year.

If your card is newer, or lower limits, cut that in half or more (since the amount when you make a sale is half as much, plus you'll make them much less frequently). Say $300/year for a weaker card (a handful of sales at $75 per sale)?

Times the number of cards you have.  2-3 strong ones, and a handful of weaker ones should net you in the 4-5k range. If you and a spouse can each do that, you get to the low five figures pretty easily. Not a bad supplemental FIRE income, for almost no effort.

The key though is that the amount of work is so low--the dollar per hour is great whether you see a few sales or a lot.

[arebelspy]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Is it showing the transaction on the AU's card # or yours?

The transactions show the last four digits of the AU's card.

The  two charges are very suspicious-looking, regardless of which card. Just gobbledygook letters stringed together for the vendor name. Like this: ouorjlfjflmf (not the actual name, but for illustrative purposes). So Barclays would likely have flagged them even if the purchases were made on my own card.

I spoke with the rep from the "old" company, and I asked whether it was possible it is just run-of-the-mill fraudulent activity that just happens to be on the AU's card, trying to give the AU the benefit of the doubt. She said it's possible, but she's calling the user to get some extra details. I've been instructed to hold off just yet in calling Barclays back while they assess the situation, but she said the likely next step is to remove him as an AU as a precaution.

I had two orders through them and received two separate unmarked envelopes with what felt like cards inside; to be transparent, I never opened the envelopes because they were the only CCs I was expecting and I assumed that what's they were, so I can't say with 100% certainty that I do have the AU's card. That's my mistake, and one I won't repeat.

I will report back!

Very interesting. Thanks for the updates!

[Slow2FIRE]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Is it showing the transaction on the AU's card # or yours?

The transactions show the last four digits of the AU's card.

The  two charges are very suspicious-looking, regardless of which card. Just gobbledygook letters stringed together for the vendor name. Like this: ouorjlfjflmf (not the actual name, but for illustrative purposes). So Barclays would likely have flagged them even if the purchases were made on my own card.

I spoke with the rep from the "old" company, and I asked whether it was possible it is just run-of-the-mill fraudulent activity that just happens to be on the AU's card, trying to give the AU the benefit of the doubt. She said it's possible, but she's calling the user to get some extra details. I've been instructed to hold off just yet in calling Barclays back while they assess the situation, but she said the likely next step is to remove him as an AU as a precaution.

I had two orders through them and received two separate unmarked envelopes with what felt like cards inside; to be transparent, I never opened the envelopes because they were the only CCs I was expecting and I assumed that what's they were, so I can't say with 100% certainty that I do have the AU's card. That's my mistake, and one I won't repeat.

I will report back!

So, does the person who purchased the AU line have the ability to check their own credit history and see the account number?  Not sure how it shows up on someone's credit report when they are an authorized user.

I think some of my credit reports show all but the last four digits of the credit card numbers for any accounts I have.  I don't think it would be too hard to get a company rep to give up the "last four" because that is usually tossed around quite a lot and I don't think many people are as concerned about the security of the last four digits (call up bank, state your name and ssn and that you have an account, convince the cust svc rep to give you the last four of your card, etc).

[chuckster]

It very much depends on how many cards you have, and how desirable you are.

For a broad rule of thumb, without knowing anything about the ages, card types, etc., I think it's reasonable to assume 1-2 sales every 2 months per card that is at least 3-5 years old (a lot older, and you'll see closer to 2+ reliably, younger more towards 1). Times, say $150 per sale (assuming a 20k limit or so). That leaves you with 150-300 per two months times 12 months a year = $900-1800 per card per year.

If your card is newer, or lower limits, cut that in half or more (since the amount when you make a sale is half as much, plus you'll make them much less frequently). Say $300/year for a weaker card (a handful of sales at $75 per sale)?

Times the number of cards you have.  2-3 strong ones, and a handful of weaker ones should net you in the 4-5k range. If you and a spouse can each do that, you get to the low five figures pretty easily. Not a bad supplemental FIRE income, for almost no effort.

The key though is that the amount of work is so low--the dollar per hour is great whether you see a few sales or a lot.

Haha my experience is the opposite... I have one card that is very old (20+ yrs) and has a high limit (20k+) and I rarely see any sales on it. I also have a very new card (2 yrs) with a middling limit (10k) that books solid, every slot always full.

[arebelspy]

Interesting!

My data is quite limited, so always good to hear other people's experiences. :)

In any case, a mix of cards by various issuers, of various ages, and limits, seems to be the best. You can make a pretty solid income if you can round up a half dozen of them (and ditto for a SO).

[ThatGuy]

My Barclay account shows shopping activity by a recently added AU through the "old" company. I just got notification of a fraud alert from Barclay. I received the card a week or so ago and never activated it. I'm going to notify the "old" company, but does anyone have any advice or seen this happen before?

Is it showing the transaction on the AU's card # or yours?

I've added my sister as an AU on a few of my cards over the years and I'm pretty sure that the account number on her card has always been the same as the number on my card.  The current card she has is the same account number.
The transactions show the last four digits of the AU's card.

The  two charges are very suspicious-looking, regardless of which card. Just gobbledygook letters stringed together for the vendor name. Like this: ouorjlfjflmf (not the actual name, but for illustrative purposes). So Barclays would likely have flagged them even if the purchases were made on my own card.

I spoke with the rep from the "old" company, and I asked whether it was possible it is just run-of-the-mill fraudulent activity that just happens to be on the AU's card, trying to give the AU the benefit of the doubt. She said it's possible, but she's calling the user to get some extra details. I've been instructed to hold off just yet in calling Barclays back while they assess the situation, but she said the likely next step is to remove him as an AU as a precaution.

I had two orders through them and received two separate unmarked envelopes with what felt like cards inside; to be transparent, I never opened the envelopes because they were the only CCs I was expecting and I assumed that what's they were, so I can't say with 100% certainty that I do have the AU's card. That's my mistake, and one I won't repeat.

I will report back!

[robartsd]

So, does the person who purchased the AU line have the ability to check their own credit history and see the account number?  Not sure how it shows up on someone's credit report when they are an authorized user.

I don't think full account numbers show on any credit report (I doubt the issuer provides the full account number to the credit reporting agencies). Piggybacking largely works because the account shows up on the AU's report almost the same as if they were the primary account holder.

[frugalnacho]

How quickly do you add AU?  I got an email monday evening saying I had new AU to add, but I didn't have time to log in and get the info and call yet.  I got an email from TL company today asking if they were added saying there were due by 5/21 (the night I got the notification).  Now I'm ready to add them, but the email made it sound like if they weren't added by 5/21 she had to replace them, so I don't know if I should go ahead and add them or if she's going to move them to another card.  This card has been filling up consistently and I just removed 2 AU last week, so I expect I'd get another 2 slots right away.

Do you jump on adding AU immediately? What's a reasonable time frame to get them added?  I feel like it often takes a week or so to show up after adding them anyway.

Well apparently if you don't add them by the due date you don't get paid.  So I got 6 hours notice to add them (got emails at 5:29 PM and 5:48PM on 5/21 that were apparently due to add by 5/21).  Since I added them late (48 hours after notified) I got to take all the risk of adding weird names to my card, used up my 2 slots (since it's suspicious to remove AU so quickly I've been instructed to leave them), got to sit on the phone with citi for 20 minutes, and I don't get paid.  wtf new company?

[dragoncar]

So, does the person who purchased the AU line have the ability to check their own credit history and see the account number?  Not sure how it shows up on someone's credit report when they are an authorized user.

I don't think full account numbers show on any credit report (I doubt the issuer provides the full account number to the credit reporting agencies). Piggybacking largely works because the account shows up on the AU's report almost the same as if they were the primary account holder.

I think it's still possible to obtain the account number in some circumstances.  I won't go into too much detail, but it's a risk.

[MasterStache]

It very much depends on how many cards you have, and how desirable you are.

For a broad rule of thumb, without knowing anything about the ages, card types, etc., I think it's reasonable to assume 1-2 sales every 2 months per card that is at least 3-5 years old (a lot older, and you'll see closer to 2+ reliably, younger more towards 1). Times, say $150 per sale (assuming a 20k limit or so). That leaves you with 150-300 per two months times 12 months a year = $900-1800 per card per year.

If your card is newer, or lower limits, cut that in half or more (since the amount when you make a sale is half as much, plus you'll make them much less frequently). Say $300/year for a weaker card (a handful of sales at $75 per sale)?

Times the number of cards you have.  2-3 strong ones, and a handful of weaker ones should net you in the 4-5k range. If you and a spouse can each do that, you get to the low five figures pretty easily. Not a bad supplemental FIRE income, for almost no effort.

The key though is that the amount of work is so low--the dollar per hour is great whether you see a few sales or a lot.

Haha my experience is the opposite... I have one card that is very old (20+ yrs) and has a high limit (20k+) and I rarely see any sales on it. I also have a very new card (2 yrs) with a middling limit (10k) that books solid, every slot always full.

Ditto for me. Signed up with the "newer" TL company 1.5 years ago with a card that is 15+ years and 20K+ credit limit. Saw sales immediately and then nothing for over a year. Unfortunately I don't have any middle of the road cards.

[wudged]

How quickly do you add AU?  I got an email monday evening saying I had new AU to add, but I didn't have time to log in and get the info and call yet.  I got an email from TL company today asking if they were added saying there were due by 5/21 (the night I got the notification).  Now I'm ready to add them, but the email made it sound like if they weren't added by 5/21 she had to replace them, so I don't know if I should go ahead and add them or if she's going to move them to another card.  This card has been filling up consistently and I just removed 2 AU last week, so I expect I'd get another 2 slots right away.

Do you jump on adding AU immediately? What's a reasonable time frame to get them added?  I feel like it often takes a week or so to show up after adding them anyway.

Well apparently if you don't add them by the due date you don't get paid.  So I got 6 hours notice to add them (got emails at 5:29 PM and 5:48PM on 5/21 that were apparently due to add by 5/21).  Since I added them late (48 hours after notified) I got to take all the risk of adding weird names to my card, used up my 2 slots (since it's suspicious to remove AU so quickly I've been instructed to leave them), got to sit on the phone with citi for 20 minutes, and I don't get paid.  wtf new company?

I was worried something like this might happen so first I took the payment due day, instead of the closing day, then built a 1-2 days buffer on top of that as the "closing day" I provided to them.

They also "lost" one of the AUs I added.  Apparently another card holder failed to add the AU in proper time (whether it was done late or not at all, I don't know) so the AU was transferred to me for an April add.  This month, I get another add, look at my order history, and the AU from April doesn't show anywhere.  I contacted the company, and they "fixed" it, however it now shows as a May add.  So I imagine for this April add, I'll be paid sometime mid July instead of the end of May like it should be.

They really aren't on top of their stuff.

[wudged]

The old tradeline company is looking for more cards.
...
Disclaimer: I will get a referral commission when you sell AU spots, but you will get paid the same whether you use my referral or not--it will not reduce your payment to have me as the referral, and for this month, you'll make $150 more than you would otherwise due to the signup bonus.

The old company shows the commission amount / date to be paid.  Is this supposed to include the referral bonus?  Mine only shows the base amount for the card issuer/limit.

[lexde]

I have already gotten five calls to my personal phone asking for my authorized user since adding them a few days ago. The people calling do not identify themselves and tell me that the line is being recorded and ask for them by name. Has anybody else had this issue?

[frozen]

I have already gotten five calls to my personal phone asking for my authorized user since adding them a few days ago. The people calling do not identify themselves and tell me that the line is being recorded and ask for them by name. Has anybody else had this issue?

Yes, but not recently.
In my case, it seemed to be debt collectors looking for the AU.

[lexde]

I have already gotten five calls to my personal phone asking for my authorized user since adding them a few days ago. The people calling do not identify themselves and tell me that the line is being recorded and ask for them by name. Has anybody else had this issue?

Yes, but not recently.
In my case, it seemed to be debt collectors looking for the AU.

Well on the upside it looks like the AU add was successful at least

[katsiki]

Wow, that seems incredibly fast.  Maybe it is a big debt.

[secondcor521]

I have already gotten five calls to my personal phone asking for my authorized user since adding them a few days ago. The people calling do not identify themselves and tell me that the line is being recorded and ask for them by name. Has anybody else had this issue?

Yes, but not recently.
In my case, it seemed to be debt collectors looking for the AU.

Well on the upside it looks like the AU add was successful at least

As long as we're looking at silver linings, you could monitor the calls for FDCPA violations... ;-)

[arebelspy]

Crazy. I haven't gotten any calls, but I think my number isn't very Google-able. I know some people have gotten a few.

Can you block the number(s)?

[DavidAnnArbor]

I've received calls too.