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

[dragoncar]

Ditto. I've sold many lines on Discover in the last three years with no issues.

While there's a risk a card gets shut down at any time, I would still follow best practices to hope it lasts as long as possible.

I'd say go full out on Discover if you are going to use it.

So this seems like bad advice, to me. Valid based on the sample size of 1 for DC, but when you look at all the users selling lines on Discover (or any issuer, for that matter), versus the few that have been shut down, it seems worth it to limit the AUs, keep your head down, and cross your fingers. Tends to work out more often than not.

(Also if we all keep pretending this is a real thing, maybe we can get DC to try again and lose more cards! Good work, team.)

Fair, You probably have a better summary of the data.  I was going on a few anecdotes here that stuck out in my mind as not being heavy use, but if the data shows that higher use increases risk I agree my reasoning  wouldn’t apply

[DavidAnnArbor]

Settlement was a check.
The terms bar me from sharing the amount, but I was very pleased with the what we received.
Yes, @PointsLawyer  represented me.
We began the process last October, and I signed the agreement last month.
I fully endorse @PointsLawyer
He was excellent throughout the process

Can also reccomend and vouch for PointsLawyer.
Worked with him on closed Discover card. Easy from my side of the equation

Yes I concur. I got a settlement too. I think I got the taxation figured out for it which PointsLawyer helped with.

I hate to give up money for work I could do myself, but at this point I’m obviously too lazy to file anything solo.  Did he me mention what the statute of limitations is on these claims?

I don't know, but you can private message PointsLawyer.
If you have better things to do with your time then have him handle it for you. He's a nice guy and is from Columbus Ohio.

[jdnews0614]

First post here...
I started selling tradelines with another non-MMM endorsed company (not the OLD or the NEW) company discussed here in February 2019. I got orders pretty much every month that I marketed, mostly every other month 1-2 users. I sold a 31k 14 year Citi, 30k 2 year Discover, and 15 year 10k Capital One. Made a pretty good amount. Started marketing with the NEW company in maybe April/May. I've had 2 orders total so far. One on Discover and one on Capital one. Payment on the Discover took about 4 months with multiple emails. Super frustrating. Capital one user is still added and no payment yet.

Got a call from the Capital One fraud department this week and my card is restricted. Asking for copies of the social security card and drivers license of ALL AUs I've ever added, which is 8 in total (including 6 from other company, 1 from NEW company, and my husband, who was added over a decade ago). Contacted other company and they were semi-helpful, I got most of the SS cards and DLs from 2 AUs added this month. Erica from NEW company basically said...in so many words...they are shutting down your card we're not helping you and no we don't get ID from our customers.

I'm...peeved. I thought that this new company would at least TRY to support us in case of an audit/restriction. Clearly they know capital one does this, so why not require the DL and SS card if you order a tradeline? Makes sense to me.

Anyway, right now my plan is to stall with capital one as long as possible, it's my oldest credit line and I'll be bummed if it closes. I'm uncertain if I should send all the documents I have in terms of DL and SS cards for AUs to capital one or just ignore them. Or just call them every 2 weeks and say I'm still working or getting the documents for the foreseeable future and hope they give up? I seem to remember reading here that people had restricted cards for like 6 months or more and when they called they got the restriction removed easily.

Has anyone here successfully gotten and capital one restriction removed and kept your card open? Or am I doomed regardless and I should just ignore CO until I get the cancellation notice?

[ducky19]

Had the exact same thing happen to my Capital One card a couple of years ago. They put a restriction on it and asked for all of that documentation, Erica said "they are closing your account, sorry but there's nothing we can do about it", etc. etc. I decided to just ignore Capital One's requests and they never did close my account - although it was restricted and I was unable to use it. A year or so later, I thought what the hell, let's see if we can get that removed. Called Capital One and after a five minute phone call, was told the account should have never been restricted and was offered an apology! They removed the restriction and I've been using the card periodically ever since.

[erutio]

First post here...
I started selling tradelines with another non-MMM endorsed company (not the OLD or the NEW) company discussed here in February 2019. I got orders pretty much every month that I marketed, mostly every other month 1-2 users. I sold a 31k 14 year Citi, 30k 2 year Discover, and 15 year 10k Capital One. Made a pretty good amount. Started marketing with the NEW company in maybe April/May. I've had 2 orders total so far. One on Discover and one on Capital one. Payment on the Discover took about 4 months with multiple emails. Super frustrating. Capital one user is still added and no payment yet.

Got a call from the Capital One fraud department this week and my card is restricted. Asking for copies of the social security card and drivers license of ALL AUs I've ever added, which is 8 in total (including 6 from other company, 1 from NEW company, and my husband, who was added over a decade ago). Contacted other company and they were semi-helpful, I got most of the SS cards and DLs from 2 AUs added this month. Erica from NEW company basically said...in so many words...they are shutting down your card we're not helping you and no we don't get ID from our customers.

I'm...peeved. I thought that this new company would at least TRY to support us in case of an audit/restriction. Clearly they know capital one does this, so why not require the DL and SS card if you order a tradeline? Makes sense to me.

Anyway, right now my plan is to stall with capital one as long as possible, it's my oldest credit line and I'll be bummed if it closes. I'm uncertain if I should send all the documents I have in terms of DL and SS cards for AUs to capital one or just ignore them. Or just call them every 2 weeks and say I'm still working or getting the documents for the foreseeable future and hope they give up? I seem to remember reading here that people had restricted cards for like 6 months or more and when they called they got the restriction removed easily.

Has anyone here successfully gotten and capital one restriction removed and kept your card open? Or am I doomed regardless and I should just ignore CO until I get the cancellation notice?

I had two capital one cards.  Both were restricted about 3 years ago.  I got the DLs and SS cards for all the AUs for one card, and CapOne removed the restriction. 

The other card was a low limit card and not getting high enough commissions or sales, so I didn't bother with getting the additional documents.  It remains "restricted", meaning it's still open, aging, and actively reporting to the credit bureaus, but I can't use it for purchases.  One day I plan to do what @ducky19, call and feign ignorance, hoping someone will be able to just un-restrict it.

[Car Jack]

My Rule #1 for every single card I use for tradelines:  Expect them all to be shut down.

If you can't live with that, don't use that card.  I just recently put one of my Chase cards back on the market.  I had pulled it because it was one of my older cards and I have several other Chase cards and I do know that if Chase shuts you down, all of the cards are getting shut down.  I realized I don't use any of their cards and my score is in the 825 range, so who cares (I don't) if they shut me down.

If I were ever to get a question from a card company asking for information on an AU, I'd either say "No" or tell them "Sure", then do nothing and wait for the closing to come.

[chuckster]

Yep, I have no problem burning a card. If it gets shut down, fine. Have to be OK with that.

The credit card company can "ask" for whatever they want. I don't have to give it to them. They don't have the time to chase after me.

Most banks I have several cards with. If I'm getting heat on one, I have no problem telling the CSR "yeah, sure, I'll get back to you", hanging up, then calling another CSR ten minutes later and asking to transfer my credit limit to another card I have with them. Take my 10K citi card A and move that to my 1k other citi card B. Then if the one getting heat gets shut down, I still have the credit limit on another card. Open a new card and move on.

[jdnews0614]

Had the exact same thing happen to my Capital One card a couple of years ago. They put a restriction on it and asked for all of that documentation, Erica said "they are closing your account, sorry but there's nothing we can do about it", etc. etc. I decided to just ignore Capital One's requests and they never did close my account - although it was restricted and I was unable to use it. A year or so later, I thought what the hell, let's see if we can get that removed. Called Capital One and after a five minute phone call, was told the account should have never been restricted and was offered an apology! They removed the restriction and I've been using the card periodically ever since.

Interesting. I can't decide if I should do the same as you and ignore them or go ahead and send the documents I do have and hope it's enough. I only for sure have 3 of 8 users with both DL and SS card. Not sure if sending some would be worse than sending nothing. Might get more, waiting on tradeline company. Although if I was an AU that purchased a tradeline and the company contacted me 6 months later asking for a copy of my drivers license I would think they were crazy. The tradeline company should definitely get them up front when they purchase the lines to protect cardholders.

[secondcor521]

The tradeline company should definitely get them up front when they purchase the lines to protect cardholders.

Maybe.  Since only a small percentage of added AU's have problems, getting documents upfront on 100% of the customers to address problems with the 5% (?) may not be very efficient.  Also, asking customers for that kind of stuff may result in lost sales.  Finally, keeping that kind of information is a security / id theft nightmare waiting to happen for the TL companies.

I'd like it if they did, but I can certainly understand if/why they don't.

[bernardnb]

Interesting. I can't decide if I should do the same as you and ignore them or go ahead and send the documents I do have and hope it's enough. I only for sure have 3 of 8 users with both DL and SS card. Not sure if sending some would be worse than sending nothing. Might get more, waiting on tradeline company. Although if I was an AU that purchased a tradeline and the company contacted me 6 months later asking for a copy of my drivers license I would think they were crazy. The tradeline company should definitely get them up front when they purchase the lines to protect cardholders.

You can try, but I doubt only providing some of them will work.

I also currently have a card that is "restricted" and has been for about 2 years.  They initially asked for DL and SS cards for all AU's ever added.  Working with the tradeline company I use (neither of the two recommended here) I was able to get 23 of the 25 properly cleared.  The problem with the remaining two were that the SS cards were not signed. The company was not able to reach back out and get signed versions.

After about a year of being restricted I tried calling Cap One back.  I said something like "I haven't used this card in a while and see it's restricted, anyway to get that lifted"?  They immediately referenced the documents needed on the two outstanding users.

Still worth a shot to try, but I wouldn't expect much.

[jdnews0614]

Maybe.  Since only a small percentage of added AU's have problems, getting documents upfront on 100% of the customers to address problems with the 5% (?) may not be very efficient.  Also, asking customers for that kind of stuff may result in lost sales.  Finally, keeping that kind of information is a security / id theft nightmare waiting to happen for the TL companies.

I'd like it if they did, but I can certainly understand if/why they don't.

I mean they clearly already have all that information. It being in image/picture form instead of in an excel spreadsheet hardly seems worse or less secure. I get an excel spreadsheet with my authorized users name, address, dob, ssn, mothers maiden name, the whole nine. And I think the numbers of people selling tradelines having problems with restrictions/shut-downs is MUCH higher than 5%. Most likely over 50%, maybe approaching 80%. I have absolutely no data for this, I just think if you do it enough it's just part of the game. I knew it was a risk when I started, I guess I just wasn't expecting it so early with so few adds. 7 users plus my husband for a 15 year card doesn't seem that "excessive" to me.

[secondcor521]

Maybe.  Since only a small percentage of added AU's have problems, getting documents upfront on 100% of the customers to address problems with the 5% (?) may not be very efficient.  Also, asking customers for that kind of stuff may result in lost sales.  Finally, keeping that kind of information is a security / id theft nightmare waiting to happen for the TL companies.

I'd like it if they did, but I can certainly understand if/why they don't.

I mean they clearly already have all that information. It being in image/picture form instead of in an excel spreadsheet hardly seems worse or less secure. I get an excel spreadsheet with my authorized users name, address, dob, ssn, mothers maiden name, the whole nine. And I think the numbers of people selling tradelines having problems with restrictions/shut-downs is MUCH higher than 5%. Most likely over 50%, maybe approaching 80%. I have absolutely no data for this, I just think if you do it enough it's just part of the game. I knew it was a risk when I started, I guess I just wasn't expecting it so early with so few adds. 7 users plus my husband for a 15 year card doesn't seem that "excessive" to me.

I don't know if they have images or not.  I suspect practices might vary by TL company.  For those who have received images of SS cards or DLs, I think the TL company probably does get those at the time of sale.  It's also possible that a disorganized TL company might get copies some or most of the time but not all of the time.

My 5% is an estimate is based on my personal experience.  I like to believe there are things I do that keep my failure rate low, but I may be fooling myself.  Regardless, like you, I'm comfortable with the risk.

Messy as it might be, I personally am always interested in data points when issues do happen, so we can both (a) more accurately assess the risk(s), and (b) possibly modulate our behavior better.  My suspicions are:  (1) Risky AUs - ones from sketchy TL companies or ones that slip through somehow - are the biggest risk factor, (2) total number of AUs over the history of the card - I suspect CC companies run reports with thresholds and take closer looks at people with "high" numbers, and (3) number of AUs at a given time - I suspect CC companies have policies or systems in place to limit the number to what they consider reasonable.  I don't know which of those, or if another factor, happened to get you.  I also think the CC companies' CSRs vary considerably in their attitudes towards piggybacking, so some of it may just be luck of the draw.  Personally I don't begrudge the CC companies taking adverse action against piggybackers, but I certainly appreciate it when they don't.

[DeniseNJ]

Is there a reason that we don't or can't name companies here?  Can we hear from ppl who have used other companies and their experiences?  I've found two other companies online called Tradeline Supply Company and Boost My Score (not OLD or NEW that are referenced on this thread) and was wondering if anyone had any dealings with them. 

[arebelspy]

Is there a reason that we don't or can't name companies here?  Can we hear from ppl who have used other companies and their experiences?  I've found two other companies online called Tradeline Supply Company and Boost My Score (not OLD or NEW that are referenced on this thread) and was wondering if anyone had any dealings with them.

Google. Unless we make this thread private, adding in tradeline company names raises the search engine profile. For awhile it was private, but people wanted the discussion public so more people could chime in, so we decided not to use company names.

I'm happy to share information about those companies, but there's a reason why I can only recommend two in the many I've researched: how they verify AUs. It's just not worth it to me to use a company that doesn't verify AUs in a way that I think protects the cardholder.

Feel free to discuss other companies, but maybe use an acronym if possible? (Easy enough to Google tradeline companies)

TLS in particular has a lot of bad business practices. Try signing up with them and you'll immediately see them ask for your Credit Karma password. If that's not a terrible security practice, I don't know what is. Heard from someone recently about a bad experience with their owner after having cards shut down with them.

As always, feel free to PM me, happy to discuss why I recommend what I do. And plenty of people do use other TL companies as well, with varying results (sometimes good, sometimes not so much).

[FrugalZony]

I got an add today without a SSN
mail says no SSN or BD needed
this is a first

I asked rep E. of new company about it and she said that's fine and they have a way to "force" the line posting

Anyone have any insight on this.
I am curious what additional measures they take to make the line post
didn't want to ask company though

[arebelspy]

I got an add today without a SSN
mail says no SSN or BD needed
this is a first

I asked rep E. of new company about it and she said that's fine and they have a way to "force" the line posting

Anyone have any insight on this.
I am curious what additional measures they take to make the line post
didn't want to ask company though

That's a weird one. I haven't had that.

Personally I would:
- Confirm with them that they verified the identity and that they are an American citizen (usually asked by the CC issuer)
- I'd request that you get paid regardless of if the AU post or not, if they're going to use a way that doesn't include SSN, and thus might have a higher chance of not posting.

[BikeFanatic]

Denise NJ -- I had good experience with TLS they  did ask for my Credit Karma password though and I gave it, and changed my password afterwards.  they also sent 1099. I did get shut down on BOA but I added like 4 users. I dont use them anymore, they did give me alot of business though.

Another  good card is TD bank, They tolerate a lot of users without any trouble. i have 7-9 on mine.

[robartsd]

Denise NJ -- I had good experience with TLS they  did ask for my Credit Karma password though and I gave it, and changed my password afterwards.

That's true. If you're not uncomfortable sharing all of the CK information with a company, there's not much risk in sharing a password and changing it once they gather the information they need. Even if you use the same password on other sites (definitely not recommended), you could change it to something unique temporarily to share with the company then change it back immediately after they've verified the information they wanted from CK.

[DavidAnnArbor]

Denise NJ -- I had good experience with TLS they  did ask for my Credit Karma password though and I gave it, and changed my password afterwards.  they also sent 1099. I did get shut down on BOA but I added like 4 users. I dont use them anymore, they did give me alot of business though.

Another  good card is TD bank, They tolerate a lot of users without any trouble. i have 7-9 on mine.

For which company do you use your TD Bank credit card?  I don't think the old company uses that one. So is it with TLS?

[dragoncar]

Denise NJ -- I had good experience with TLS they  did ask for my Credit Karma password though and I gave it, and changed my password afterwards.

That's true. If you're not uncomfortable sharing all of the CK information with a company, there's not much risk in sharing a password and changing it once they gather the information they need. Even if you use the same password on other sites (definitely not recommended), you could change it to something unique temporarily to share with the company then change it back immediately after they've verified the information they wanted from CK.

CK doesn't really have any info that's not in your normal credit report right?  Seems like they just don't want to pay to run your credit report.

[BikeFanatic]

Yes TLS has to verify your cards and age limit that was mabe 2 years ago, They may have changed their policy.
TD bank card I use with another TLC not the old or the new, and not TLS.

[Padonak]

A question about Barclaycard.

I have reached the tradeline limit on one of my cards and want to try changing the product and see if it resets the limit. To test it, i'll have to try to add a new AU, maybe a relative or friend, but I don't want their name to be reported to any bureaus as my AU. If I add an AU well before the statement date and then remove it immediately, how likely is it that Barclays will post the AU to any bureaus?

[FrugalZony]

That's a weird one. I haven't had that.

Personally I would:
- Confirm with them that they verified the identity and that they are an American citizen (usually asked by the CC issuer)
- I'd request that you get paid regardless of if the AU post or not, if they're going to use a way that doesn't include SSN, and thus might have a higher chance of not posting.

Hmmm, thanks for the insight. At that time I had already added them, so I know I don't have a ton of leverage anymore.
But I still asked as you suggested.
She said, it's not guaranteed that it posts. Regarding the citizenship issue she said, that "yes" is the default and that the cc companies don't care.

I dunno, I'll see how this one goes, but I don't get warm fuzzy feelings about this whole reporting things that are not true.

Recent immigrants are good candidates for au spots, because they need to build their credit.
As an immigrant myself I understand that very well.
So I was always surprised that we were told to respond yes to citizenship.
But I never questioned that, because ARS said new company has good processes in place.

I'll see how this one pans out, but as you have a lot more insight into these things ARS, maybe it's something you could look into from your side?
Maybe new company has changed how they follow certain procedures from when you looked into this first..

[arebelspy]

My understanding is you always say yes because they're always a citizen--they only take US citizens. New immigrants are prime candidates to be helped by this, but it would be new citizens who have no credit.

If she said something that seems to counteract this, please PM me details.

[katsiki]

FYI: I had a non-US citizen AU with old co a while back.  They did not instruct me to say yes on citizenship question, by the way.

[FrugalZony]

My understanding is you always say yes because they're always a citizen--they only take US citizens. New immigrants are prime candidates to be helped by this, but it would be new citizens who have no credit.

If she said something that seems to counteract this, please PM me details.

pming you

[FireAnt]

Applying for the "new" company and this was replied (along with other information) "PLEASE NOTE:  Due to the overwhelming response from MMM members our supply is incredibly high and we cannot guarantee when you will get adds to your cards.  You could get adds in the next week or it could be in approximately 10-12 weeks.  Getting adds to your cards is dependent on what cards) our clients choose based on their needs and what credit goals they are trying to accomplish with the addition of the tradelines."

I'm wondering if I should go to the old company? Would that make a difference? I have a Cap1 card with $13k limit, 12 years old.

[secondcor521]

I'm wondering if I should go to the old company? Would that make a difference? I have a Cap1 card with $13k limit, 12 years old.

It's hard to tell.  I'm sure everyone wants sales, and those who aren't getting sales may decide to switch from old to new or vice versa.  Switching might help or hurt, and I don't know of any way to figure out which company has more of an excess supply.  I suspect, but don't know, that they both have quite a supply right now due to this thread.

It does seem that they just present the cards to customers and the customers pick based on their own preferences.  I suspect, but don't know, that the companies might only (or might preferentially) present cards that have upcoming closing dates in order to maximize throughput and sales.  That's what I'd try, anyways.  All the customer probably knows is the issuer, credit line, and price to buy a slot, plus maybe how many cycles they'll get as an AU.  I have no idea how they sort them to the customer - maybe the customer can sort by age, credit limit, or price.  I don't believe that they guide customers to any particular person's card.

So if you enroll with either company, you're hoping that your card stands out in the crowd.  12 years is an old card, but $13K is a relatively low limit in terms of piggybacking.  It's hard to predict how it would sell given that those two factors might cancel each other out a bit.

And the companies aren't going to go through anything special to market your cards versus mine or anyone else's.  One of the companies did do a thing once where they would let you decide to lower your commission (which they probably then discounted to the end AU) so you might get more sales at a lower rate.  I never did that and don't know if that's currently a thing, but you could inquire if that interested you.

I have one card that seems to be quite popular relative to the others, and I really don't know why.  I have another card which I thought would be more popular but it rarely gets sales.  I don't get it.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I'd love to know, for anyone willing to share, an approximate figure of what your 2019 income was.  It doesn't have to be detailed, like how many cards and or how many sales, but in general, I'd like to know if this is a 20-40k/yr side gig or a 2-4k/yr side gig.  I have some valuable cards and could start applying for new cards to season them, but I'm only really interested if this really is a 20k-ish side gig.

[arebelspy]

I'd love to know, for anyone willing to share, an approximate figure of what your 2019 income was.  It doesn't have to be detailed, like how many cards and or how many sales, but in general, I'd like to know if this is a 20-40k/yr side gig or a 2-4k/yr side gig.  I have some valuable cards and could start applying for new cards to season them, but I'm only really interested if this really is a 20k-ish side gig.

It likely isn't a 20k+ gig anymore, but solid low five-figures if you have the cards. If you're seasoning new ones, it won't be. Then likely low four-figures. If you just have a single card or two that's eligible, low three figures.

First, it depends on the details of the cards (their limits and ages and especially how many you have enrolled) for how many sales you get.

I know a few people making low five figures (10-15k range) per year. Based on information I have of MMM members, I'd say the average person has 1-2 cards enrolled, sees a sale or two every few months and makes $600-$1500 per year.

Regardless of what you make, the main benefit is the lack of time/effort required. It pays about $1000/hour because it takes about 5 minutes to add someone, 5 minutes to remove them two months later, and you get paid $150-200 for that effort. So whether you're doing it 60+ times a year and making 10k+ (and spending 10 hours a year doing it) or doing it 6 times a year (and spending 1 hour a year doing it, making about $1000 doing it), the effort to amount ratio is well worth it, for me personally.

If it's only worth it to you if you make 20k doing it for 20 hours (~2 hours/mo, say 10 AUs/mo), it likely won't be that. You'd want a dozen+ cards, old/high limits. More doable if you have a spouse with lots of cards.

I think it's most valuable for those new to MMM--still getting their financial stuff together, perhaps in debt, wanting a side-gig to accelerate things, but don't know where to start or don't have a lot of time. Even a few hundred or few thousand bucks can make a big difference to them, and the amount of effort or energy required is so low that it's huge to them.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Not discounting 2k/yr, that is 50k stache you don't have to save and seems pretty easy.  Anyone consistently making over 10k/yr?  Or maybe any strategies to get to a consistent 10k or more per year?  Thanks for being upfront everyone, I'd really hate to lose access to credit over something over-hyped.  Not that I need revolving credit for funding, but it does make life easier.

[FireAnt]

I'm wondering if I should go to the old company? Would that make a difference? I have a Cap1 card with $13k limit, 12 years old.

It's hard to tell.  I'm sure everyone wants sales, and those who aren't getting sales may decide to switch from old to new or vice versa.  Switching might help or hurt, and I don't know of any way to figure out which company has more of an excess supply.  I suspect, but don't know, that they both have quite a supply right now due to this thread.

It does seem that they just present the cards to customers and the customers pick based on their own preferences.  I suspect, but don't know, that the companies might only (or might preferentially) present cards that have upcoming closing dates in order to maximize throughput and sales.  That's what I'd try, anyways.  All the customer probably knows is the issuer, credit line, and price to buy a slot, plus maybe how many cycles they'll get as an AU.  I have no idea how they sort them to the customer - maybe the customer can sort by age, credit limit, or price.  I don't believe that they guide customers to any particular person's card.

So if you enroll with either company, you're hoping that your card stands out in the crowd.  12 years is an old card, but $13K is a relatively low limit in terms of piggybacking.  It's hard to predict how it would sell given that those two factors might cancel each other out a bit.

And the companies aren't going to go through anything special to market your cards versus mine or anyone else's.  One of the companies did do a thing once where they would let you decide to lower your commission (which they probably then discounted to the end AU) so you might get more sales at a lower rate.  I never did that and don't know if that's currently a thing, but you could inquire if that interested you.

I have one card that seems to be quite popular relative to the others, and I really don't know why.  I have another card which I thought would be more popular but it rarely gets sales.  I don't get it.

Okay, well - I'll try and see what happens. I'm a little bummed to be so late to the game.

[Car Jack]

Last year, I pulled in about $1500.  I added cards during the year.  3 with new company, 7 with old company.  5 of the old company ones are low credit, newer ones, bringing $25 for 2 months.  They're by far the most consistent with 2 adds each every period.

[Padonak]

If you use a card for selling tradelines (Barclaycard in my case), when is it safe to lower its credit limit so that existing AUs are not affected?

For example. Let's say my statement date is Jan 1. I added an AU on Dec 30 and it has already posted. The tradeline company requires that I keep the AU for about two months, so until end of February. Can I lower my credit limit on this card after January 1? February 1? March 1?

[arebelspy]

They are paying to have that line (age/credit) through the time you have them as an AU. So I'd say until you remove them (aka the whole two month period, or 3-month cycle with some cards/companies).

[secondcor521]

If you use a card for selling tradelines (Barclaycard in my case), when is it safe to lower its credit limit so that existing AUs are not affected?

For example. Let's say my statement date is Jan 1. I added an AU on Dec 30 and it has already posted. The tradeline company requires that I keep the AU for about two months, so until end of February. Can I lower my credit limit on this card after January 1? February 1? March 1?

It's totally safe the day after they tell you to remove the AU.  Any sooner risks losing your commission.

[chuckster]

Has the pay table changed with the new company recently? Seems like in the portal some of the fees are different, and I don't think they've sent me an email with new rates. For example I'm still carrying an AU from a few months ago and the fee is 100, but for a more recent AU the fee is 50.

[BikeFanatic]

I made 5K in 2019, If I billed for December would have been close to 6K, I have my own buyer not the recommended companies. 20 K is a lot to ask from this job. I find myself scrambling with 6cards. If I up it to 8 then it seems every weekend I have to call in a few users. To make 20 k would be about 15 Au per month, so you need minimum 8 cards to support that.

[MasterStache]

I made around 5K as well this year with between 5-7 cards as I added a couple more later in the year. Making 10K seems like a huge stretch and would require a lot more cards. It also relies in consistent sales, not getting your cards shut down, running out of AU spots, etc.

[jdnews0614]

I'd love to know, for anyone willing to share, an approximate figure of what your 2019 income was.  It doesn't have to be detailed, like how many cards and or how many sales, but in general, I'd like to know if this is a 20-40k/yr side gig or a 2-4k/yr side gig.  I have some valuable cards and could start applying for new cards to season them, but I'm only really interested if this really is a 20k-ish side gig.

I started selling a $31k Citi 15 year and $30k Discover 2 year in February 2019, and a $12k Cap One 15 year in July. Had consistent sales (1-2 every month or 2 depending on the card) on all 3 cards and made a little over $6k. Cap One got restricted in December so I'm probably out for a while. Part of the game I suppose.

[Truthseeker]

Curious to get the experiences of others who have had their cards shut down. Between my wife and I we had about 10 cards (Barclays, Chase, Discover, and Capital One) and made $12,350 last year. Unfortunately, in September Chase shut down all of my Chase cards and my wife's. We tried again and again to get someone to tell us what, if anything, we could do to get the cards activated again, but it was like talking to a wall. Now on New Years day we had all our Capital One cards shut down. They wanted a copy of the front and back of each AUs driver's license and SS card. Obviously we don't have that. I just issue this as a warning for others that just see the easy money. It was literally a $1,000/hr side hustle while it worked. However, we didn't just lose the credit cards we had with the tradeline company, all our cards with a particular vendor (Capital One and Chase) in this case were shut down whether we used them for tradelines or not. Give this some serious thought before you add cards or have other cards with a vendor that you can't afford to lose because of their age or credit limit. Our credit score took a huge hit. To be clear, we didn't get greedy and only added 2 AUs to a card at a time and followed all other guidelines from the tradeline company.

All this to say, I have two questions for those who have experienced something similar:

1. Has anyone had any luck convincing the credit card companies to re-open accounts they have restricted or shut down for suspected tradeline activity?
2. Has anyone tried applying for cards in the future with the same vendor who shut down their accounts? For example, I obviously want to continue travel hacking and want to apply for Chase cards again in the future. Am I able to do so or am I essentially blacklisted in the future based on my current cards being shut down? Any thoughts?

[secondcor521]

Curious to get the experiences of others who have had their cards shut down. Between my wife and I we had about 10 cards (Barclays, Chase, Discover, and Capital One) and made $12,350 last year. Unfortunately, in September Chase shut down all of my Chase cards and my wife's. We tried again and again to get someone to tell us what, if anything, we could do to get the cards activated again, but it was like talking to a wall. Now on New Years day we had all our Capital One cards shut down. They wanted a copy of the front and back of each AUs driver's license and SS card. Obviously we don't have that. I just issue this as a warning for others that just see the easy money. It was literally a $1,000/hr side hustle while it worked. However, we didn't just lose the credit cards we had with the tradeline company, all our cards with a particular vendor (Capital One and Chase) in this case were shut down whether we used them for tradelines or not. Give this some serious thought before you add cards or have other cards with a vendor that you can't afford to lose because of their age or credit limit. Our credit score took a huge hit. To be clear, we didn't get greedy and only added 2 AUs to a card at a time and followed all other guidelines from the tradeline company.

All this to say, I have two questions for those who have experienced something similar:

1. Has anyone had any luck convincing the credit card companies to re-open accounts they have restricted or shut down for suspected tradeline activity?
2. Has anyone tried applying for cards in the future with the same vendor who shut down their accounts? For example, I obviously want to continue travel hacking and want to apply for Chase cards again in the future. Am I able to do so or am I essentially blacklisted in the future based on my current cards being shut down? Any thoughts?

From the first post in this thread:

"What if the credit card company finds out? What if my card gets shut down?

That's the big (potential) drawback to this: your credit card company might close the card.  The tradeline companies I use do some things to mitigate this, like I mentioned above: having you leave the AU on for two months instead of one, limiting certain cards to only 2 tradelines (other companies that have been less likely historically to close cards they do up to 5 tradelines).

In a worst-case scenario, the credit card company may shut down other lines and accounts you have with them besides that one card, and/or refuse to issue you new cards.  Chase is the only one I'm aware of that does this, so be careful with them, but the other companies, if they shut your card down (which is rare) will likely only shut down that one single card, not any other accounts with them, nor refuse to issue you any new credit."

Which company did you use?  New or Old or a different one?

1.  I seriously doubt you will get those cards reopened.  You could try and report back and be the datapoint you wish to see in the world.

2.  See the above quote from the first post in this thread.

[arebelspy]

Damn, sucks you got so many shut down at once.

I don't use Chase at all--not worth the risk to me for them to shut down everything. They are the one who will do that, as far as I'm aware. And I have a lot of cards with them, and like 400k UR points.

I've had a B of A shut down (and my wife as well), but we continue to have other cards with them (and sell tradelines on the other cards, even). They don't seem to mind.

I've had a Capital One shut down, but just had the one card with them, so I don't know if they would have shut down other cards. Good to know they shut down multiple on you, though that sucks. I don't think anyone else has reported having multiple shut down from anyone but Chase, that I recall.

Hopefully you can, after awhile, get access to reopening new cards with them, even if they don't reinstate those ones.

[Car Jack]

The big 3 that are well known to scrutinize more than average are Chase, Cap One and Discover.  If you sell tradelines on these, expect to be burning the card.  I sell all 3 and expect to be shut down at some point. 

[BikeFanatic]

Bank of America shut down both my cards for tradeline activity. Dont know if I am blacklisted  I may apply for more in the future.
Cap One did restrict my account, but they only wanted my social security and proof of US residency, so I eventually gave them the documents they re opened my account and i used them right away for tradelines no more than 2-3 users at a time.

I think you did well with 12 K in tradelines! be happy with that. I dont know how anyone can save up all those UR points AREBELSPY you obviously have the touch...Outstanding. I do play with chase but not getting too many adds from those cards lately.

[EliteZags]

for those that have had cards shut down, did you have a chance to use your rewards pts/$ afterwards? or they did burn once the acct card got closed?
Since most with Chase UR pts are saving them up for better exchange rate for travel rather than consistently cashing them out, potential dangerous situation there?

[secondcor521]

for those that have had cards shut down, did you have a chance to use your rewards pts/$ afterwards? or they did burn once the acct card got closed?
Since most with Chase UR pts are saving them up for better exchange rate for travel rather than consistently cashing them out, potential dangerous situation there?

The general rule is that if the points are associated with the credit card (like Chase UR or Citi TYP or AMEX MR), then they will be lost.  If they're airline miles or hotel points, those are stored at the airline or hotel web sites and those will be kept.

In some cases, if you have multiple cards that keep credit card points alive (like two AMEX MR cards) and they only shut down one, then your other card might be enough to keep the points alive.  However, as noted above, Chase kills all your cards so in that kind of scenario you'd definitely lose the UR points.

I would also not expect advanced notice of a closure, so you probably won't be able to use them before you lose them if a CC company closes your card.

[Truthseeker]

Damn, sucks you got so many shut down at once.

I don't use Chase at all--not worth the risk to me for them to shut down everything. They are the one who will do that, as far as I'm aware. And I have a lot of cards with them, and like 400k UR points.

I've had a B of A shut down (and my wife as well), but we continue to have other cards with them (and sell tradelines on the other cards, even). They don't seem to mind.

I've had a Capital One shut down, but just had the one card with them, so I don't know if they would have shut down other cards. Good to know they shut down multiple on you, though that sucks. I don't think anyone else has reported having multiple shut down from anyone but Chase, that I recall.

Hopefully you can, after awhile, get access to reopening new cards with them, even if they don't reinstate those ones.

Just to follow-up, I was using the tradeline company recommended by the Wealthy Accountant's blog. I started with the old and then new companies recommended here, but at the time the rates across the board were better with the Wealthy Accountant's recommended tradeline company for what it's worth. We followed the usual guidelines of only 2 AUs at a time, keep them on for at least 2 months, etc.

I was told by the tradeline company that Capital One went through a bit of a purge on New Years and about 5% of their clients were impacted. Capital One "froze" my cards I used for tradelines as well as other cards I had with them so just be careful. I had stopped using Capital One cards as tradelines months earlier after Chase shut down my cards, but that didn't seem to matter. For what it's worth, Chase did allow me to redeem my Ultimate Reward points within 30 days of my account being shut down so I didn't lose them. I'm told by the tradeline company that Capital One's game is that they ask you for front and back of driver's license and social security card of any AUs. Then once they have that they ask for further information and keep this up. They have never had any success against Capital One so just a warning that if they freeze your account it's game over for any impacted cards.

I did try to have my Chase cards reinstated by addressing all the reasons Chase gave me for shutting down my cards, but they rejected my appeals three consecutive times. I haven't tried applying yet for new cards with Capital One.

To date Barclaycard has been incredible. This tradeline company makes an exception for Barclaycard and lets you add 6 AUs at once. Apparently Barclaycard's policy is to allow up to 54 AUs before they shut down your card (according to tradeline company representative). However, after shutting down my Chase and Capital One cards I'm gonna take a mini retirement from tradelines before I lose any more cards.

[dragoncar]

for those that have had cards shut down, did you have a chance to use your rewards pts/$ afterwards? or they did burn once the acct card got closed?
Since most with Chase UR pts are saving them up for better exchange rate for travel rather than consistently cashing them out, potential dangerous situation there?

Discover sent me a check at 1 cent per point.  Would have preferred to cash out as gift cards for higher value

[arebelspy]

Just to follow-up, I was using the tradeline company recommended by the Wealthy Accountant's blog. I started with the old and then new companies recommended here, but at the time the rates across the board were better with the Wealthy Accountant's recommended tradeline company for what it's worth. We followed the usual guidelines of only 2 AUs at a time, keep them on for at least 2 months, etc.

Yeah. They tend to see a lot higher rate of shut down due to sketchy AUs. Their AU verification methods are much worse, IMO, so it leads to more shutdowns. Even if you follow the guidelines of limiting the number of AUs, if they are AUs that get red flagged, then you do too.

Not worth seeing a higher volume of sales or slightly higher amount per sale if it leads to a quicker shut down, for me personally. I'd rather keep the cards open for a long time and slowly milk them. For someone wanting to burn through them quicker and maximize profit in the short run, there are plenty of tradeline companies that can do that.

Again, bummer that happened to so many at once.

Totally agree with you that Barclays is super great--online add and remove, almost unheard of shutting down a card, they just have that max lifetime limit. But might as well make 6-10k off the card while you have those AU spots to use.