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

[Car Jack]

I'm sure lots of you maximize cards that are either aging for tradelines or aren't accepted by doing the low balance forgiveness thing, adding either 99 cents or $1.99 to your amazon gift card.  Well, I did this with my Citizen's Bank Visa with 99 cents and got unexpected results.  The 99 cents was not forgiven, but my automatic payment didn't pay.  I found this out when going in a couple months later, having bought a $500 Visa gift card at Stop & Shop for 3X gas points (yet 2 more "scams" I work).  I go to redeem my $25 accumulated bonus at Citizens and it won't let me, saying the account is ineligible for rewards.  I call and ask why.  They say that because my account is past due, I can't get rewards.  I'm like "what?  I'm on auto pay.  How can I be past due?".  They upgrade to a supervisor and figure out that since their MINIMUM payment for auto pay is $1, it didn't accept the 99 cent payment.  They did correct the whole thing and there's no charges or fees or credit reporting or anything, but what a freaking clown show.  I was able to redeem this morning.

Just something to keep your eye on if you're always looking for more freebies out there.

[Joel]

I'm sure lots of you maximize cards that are either aging for tradelines or aren't accepted by doing the low balance forgiveness thing, adding either 99 cents or $1.99 to your amazon gift card.  Well, I did this with my Citizen's Bank Visa with 99 cents and got unexpected results.  The 99 cents was not forgiven, but my automatic payment didn't pay.  I found this out when going in a couple months later, having bought a $500 Visa gift card at Stop & Shop for 3X gas points (yet 2 more "scams" I work).  I go to redeem my $25 accumulated bonus at Citizens and it won't let me, saying the account is ineligible for rewards.  I call and ask why.  They say that because my account is past due, I can't get rewards.  I'm like "what?  I'm on auto pay.  How can I be past due?".  They upgrade to a supervisor and figure out that since their MINIMUM payment for auto pay is $1, it didn't accept the 99 cent payment.  They did correct the whole thing and there's no charges or fees or credit reporting or anything, but what a freaking clown show.  I was able to redeem this morning.

Just something to keep your eye on if you're always looking for more freebies out there.

We use Citizens Bank for our treasury needs at the company I work for. They are absolutely terrible in every which way possible. Your experience is typical with every thing about them.

[PVkcin]

Just to clarify - I don't need to actually activate the authorize's users card for the tradeline to post, do I? (I just added my first ever AU about two weeks ago. I got an email from Discover to remind me to activate my authorize user's card - I actually already destroyed the card).

[arebelspy]

Correct, you do not.

But do put a small charge on your card for that account. That will help it post.

[MasterStache]

Well damn I got a the dreaded fraud department call from USAA today. No more AUs on that card. They at least didn't shut down my account and were nice about it. It was my highest paying card by far but also the biggest PITA to add and remove AUs. To be honest I am surprised the card lasted over 3 years. You win some you lose some.

[Car Jack]

A tip and a story.

When you receive an AU's card, put it somewhere and keep it until it is removed.  Why?  If the TL doesn't post in the AU's report for some reason, snapping a picture of it proves you added the card and saves you the payment.  Happened to me and I was happy I kept the card.  Some card websites have only an "add authorized user" capability but no ability to see AUs.

Sort of funny and filed under my "what are they thinking?" part of my brain:  A somewhat long ago AU's collection letters are starting to be a regular thing.  Last week, on one day, one letter offering to settle an $82k debt to $49k.  Another from a different collector simply telling them that they owe $18k.  What the hell are these people doing?  Paying to become an AU to buy a car or something, then letting their unpaid debts tank their score?

[arebelspy]

I think it more likely it's an old debt, and one of the reasons they were trying to raise their score.

Typically by the time a debt gets to a debt collector, it has aged a bit. Often it bounces between collectors if they are unable to successfully collect.

So you may be getting a letter from an unpaid debt that was years before.

Also, why are you opening mail addressed to a (former) AU? Just mark as unknown recipient, return to sender and stick it back in the outgoing mail. :)

[Padonak]

A tip and a story.

When you receive an AU's card, put it somewhere and keep it until it is removed.  Why?  If the TL doesn't post in the AU's report for some reason, snapping a picture of it proves you added the card and saves you the payment.  Happened to me and I was happy I kept the card.  Some card websites have only an "add authorized user" capability but no ability to see AUs.

 

AFAIK if a tradeline doesnt post for whatever reason, the seller doesn't get paid. I had two or three instances and never even tried to argue with the tradeline company. Sometimes tradelines don't post even if you enter everything correctly and check many times. Also, some banks like Barclays have an option to add an AU and not send you an actual card. I try to minimize the number of cards sent to me. It just looks shady to the mailman if you receive dozens of credit cards all sent to different persons at your address.

[stopper24]

Hi, I am new to this and have a few questions.

What companies are relatively easy to get high card limits (high initial limit, allow reallocating of credit between cards, generous in granted limit increases)? I feel Chase if fairly easy to get a high limit but what about others?

What are people's experience with some of the less popular companies (ie BBVA, Elan, NFCU, PNC, Synch Bank, USAA, Fidelity etc.)? Which ones are easier/harder to add/remove with more/less risk of shutdown? Any hidden gems?

Which companies do you feel safe listing multiple cards at a time (ie 2 Barclays cards) vs maximum of one card at a time?

Thank you!

[Car Jack]

Also, why are you opening mail addressed to a (former) AU? Just mark as unknown recipient, return to sender and stick it back in the outgoing mail. :)

Entertainment partly and don't want the mail carrier to start returning stuff that's not in our names.  I've read others here who have mail carriers who won't deliver something with another addressee's name.  Don't need to tempt fate there.

[frugalnacho]

Also, why are you opening mail addressed to a (former) AU? Just mark as unknown recipient, return to sender and stick it back in the outgoing mail. :)

Entertainment partly and don't want the mail carrier to start returning stuff that's not in our names.  I've read others here who have mail carriers who won't deliver something with another addressee's name.  Don't need to tempt fate there.

It also doesn't work.  It will get rid of that particular piece of mail, but all future mail to that name end up in my mailbox.  We've owned our house for 10 year now, and it was vacant and in foreclosure for years before that, and we still get mail for the former residents.  We must have returned-to-sender dozens of pieces of mail for the former residents, but no matter how many we send back they keep coming regularly.   It's not quite as bad with the AU I add, but I still get lots of mail for them, and it's the same story - return to sender is useless.

Our policy now is that anything addressed to our address, but not us, gets tossed in the garbage.

[arebelspy]

Also, why are you opening mail addressed to a (former) AU? Just mark as unknown recipient, return to sender and stick it back in the outgoing mail. :)

Entertainment partly and don't want the mail carrier to start returning stuff that's not in our names.  I've read others here who have mail carriers who won't deliver something with another addressee's name.  Don't need to tempt fate there.

It also doesn't work.  It will get rid of that particular piece of mail, but all future mail to that name end up in my mailbox.  We've owned our house for 10 year now, and it was vacant and in foreclosure for years before that, and we still get mail for the former residents.  We must have returned-to-sender dozens of pieces of mail for the former residents, but no matter how many we send back they keep coming regularly.   It's not quite as bad with the AU I add, but I still get lots of mail for them, and it's the same story - return to sender is useless.

Our policy now is that anything addressed to our address, but not us, gets tossed in the garbage.

Talk to the local post office.

I had done the return to sender thing with no effect when we moved in here like 4 times in the first 2 months, clearly not getting the hint, then I had a stack of former owner mail I needed to return to sender, and I was going to the P/O anyways, so I brought it and gave it to them and mentioned it was former owner and they were like "did you put in change of address?" and thought it was weird and was like "I'll talk to your mail carrier" (and I'm not like in a small town or something, county population 800k+, 20m north of seattle). Stopped getting mail for them.

Still get mail addressed to other people (which is good, I wouldn't want them rejecting anything but our names), but when I return to sender a specific one it stops. May not work for you, but it might.

[waltworks]

Just PM'd you, @arebelspy

I'm stuck at home with a 1 year old while my wife emergency substitute teaches for covid quarantiners. Cutting up and welding metal isn't really an option as usual... but I can mess around on a computer, and I have a bunch of old high limit credit cards... so why not?

-W

[Catica]

I need an advice.  I made a mistake and added AU to a wrong card. What do I do now?  Do I do nothing and let it just not post or do I email the company and let them know? Either way I know I'm not getting $, but wondering if I need to tell the company.

[MoseyingAlong]

I need an advice.  I made a mistake and added AU to a wrong card. What do I do now?  Do I do nothing and let it just not post or do I email the company and let them know? Either way I know I'm not getting $, but wondering if I need to tell the company.

Yes, tell the company.
Maybe they can shift the order to another card that meets the client's criteria.

[Catica]

I need an advice.  I made a mistake and added AU to a wrong card. What do I do now?  Do I do nothing and let it just not post or do I email the company and let them know? Either way I know I'm not getting $, but wondering if I need to tell the company.

Yes, tell the company.
Maybe they can shift the order to another card that meets the client's criteria.

But that card is not even enrolled :(

[arebelspy]

I need an advice.  I made a mistake and added AU to a wrong card. What do I do now?  Do I do nothing and let it just not post or do I email the company and let them know? Either way I know I'm not getting $, but wondering if I need to tell the company.

Yes, tell the company.
Maybe they can shift the order to another card that meets the client's criteria.

But that card is not even enrolled :(

They can shift it to a different person's card.

You need to tell them simply because the client will be affected. They have someone who paid to get added to a specific card (age/limit) as an AU. It didn't happen. They need to be made aware so they can reach out to the person, fix it, etc. If that person is expecting the bump for a particular purpose, this could affect them quite a bit.

You can always offer to add them to the correct card as well. But yes, contact them ASAP.

[katsiki]

Agree with everyone else.  I actually did this last month.  I had 2 cards from the same issuer and with the same CL.  Both were enrolled and had due dates relatively close together,  so that helped of course.

[Catica]

I need an advice.  I made a mistake and added AU to a wrong card. What do I do now?  Do I do nothing and let it just not post or do I email the company and let them know? Either way I know I'm not getting $, but wondering if I need to tell the company.

Yes, tell the company.
Maybe they can shift the order to another card that meets the client's criteria.

But that card is not even enrolled :(

They can shift it to a different person's card.

You need to tell them simply because the client will be affected. They have someone who paid to get added to a specific card (age/limit) as an AU. It didn't happen. They need to be made aware so they can reach out to the person, fix it, etc. If that person is expecting the bump for a particular purpose, this could affect them quite a bit.

You can always offer to add them to the correct card as well. But yes, contact them ASAP.

Thanks.  I notified them. They can't do anything about it but appreciated being told.

[Riker626]

I have a 20k Discover & Capital One card listed with the old company that I have been trying to get over that magic 20k level.  On both cards I have a attempted a CLI a few times but keep getting turned down for "low usage of existing line of credit in previous month(s)".

Most of my spending goes on my Discover.  In the last 6 months I charged 3k, the prior 6 months to that I charged 9.4k (12.4k total).  Paying the balance in full every month.  I called for reconsideration on Discover but failed, I attempted to get the rep to tell me how much spending I needed, but all he would tell me is "more".

Does anyone know how much spending and over what time period is needed to get a CLI above 20k (for both Discover and Capital One)?

FYI, at the moment I am focusing my spending on Discover.  Once I get a successful CLI I will switch spending to the Capital One card.  I am also starting to look for more creative ways to spend, like paying utilities with the cards.

[MasterStache]

I have a 20k Discover & Capital One card listed with the old company that I have been trying to get over that magic 20k level.  On both cards I have a attempted a CLI a few times but keep getting turned down for "low usage of existing line of credit in previous month(s)".

Most of my spending goes on my Discover.  In the last 6 months I charged 3k, the prior 6 months to that I charged 9.4k (12.4k total).  Paying the balance in full every month.  I called for reconsideration on Discover but failed, I attempted to get the rep to tell me how much spending I needed, but all he would tell me is "more".

Does anyone know how much spending and over what time period is needed to get a CLI above 20k (for both Discover and Capital One)?

FYI, at the moment I am focusing my spending on Discover.  Once I get a successful CLI I will switch spending to the Capital One card.  I am also starting to look for more creative ways to spend, like paying utilities with the cards.

I'm not really sure anyone can answer that. But I will tell you my lower CL Barclaycard routinely sells more slots than my higher CL Barclaycard. So much so that I've actually considered dropping the CL on the higher limit card. 

[Catica]

I have a 20k Discover & Capital One card listed with the old company that I have been trying to get over that magic 20k level.  On both cards I have a attempted a CLI a few times but keep getting turned down for "low usage of existing line of credit in previous month(s)".

Most of my spending goes on my Discover.  In the last 6 months I charged 3k, the prior 6 months to that I charged 9.4k (12.4k total).  Paying the balance in full every month.  I called for reconsideration on Discover but failed, I attempted to get the rep to tell me how much spending I needed, but all he would tell me is "more".

Does anyone know how much spending and over what time period is needed to get a CLI above 20k (for both Discover and Capital One)?

FYI, at the moment I am focusing my spending on Discover.  Once I get a successful CLI I will switch spending to the Capital One card.  I am also starting to look for more creative ways to spend, like paying utilities with the cards.

I'm not really sure anyone can answer that. But I will tell you my lower CL Barclaycard routinely sells more slots than my higher CL Barclaycard. So much so that I've actually considered dropping the CL on the higher limit card.

but you will eventually run out of slots, and over time the higher CL card earn more than the lower CL one.

[MasterStache]

I have a 20k Discover & Capital One card listed with the old company that I have been trying to get over that magic 20k level.  On both cards I have a attempted a CLI a few times but keep getting turned down for "low usage of existing line of credit in previous month(s)".

Most of my spending goes on my Discover.  In the last 6 months I charged 3k, the prior 6 months to that I charged 9.4k (12.4k total).  Paying the balance in full every month.  I called for reconsideration on Discover but failed, I attempted to get the rep to tell me how much spending I needed, but all he would tell me is "more".

Does anyone know how much spending and over what time period is needed to get a CLI above 20k (for both Discover and Capital One)?

FYI, at the moment I am focusing my spending on Discover.  Once I get a successful CLI I will switch spending to the Capital One card.  I am also starting to look for more creative ways to spend, like paying utilities with the cards.

I'm not really sure anyone can answer that. But I will tell you my lower CL Barclaycard routinely sells more slots than my higher CL Barclaycard. So much so that I've actually considered dropping the CL on the higher limit card.

but you will eventually run out of slots, and over time the higher CL card earn more than the lower CL one.

Yep! That's precisely why I haven't dropped the limit. Logic prevails ( :

[chicagomeg]

Can you guys clarify for me how the slots work with old company? I currently have 2 AU’s on my PNC card, both set to be removed in December. For a while my dashboard showed 0 of 2 spots available, which corresponds with the FAQ that says 2 AU’s max for PNC. A few weeks ago, it switched to 1 of 2 spots available which I thought was odd. Today I got another order. I thought they were going to only have a limited number of people on each card at a time so now I’m a bit confused. Should I add the order or is this an error?

I did message them but since it’s the weekend not sure if I will hear back before the deadline to add the order.

[secondcor521]

Can you guys clarify for me how the slots work with old company? I currently have 2 AU’s on my PNC card, both set to be removed in December. For a while my dashboard showed 0 of 2 spots available, which corresponds with the FAQ that says 2 AU’s max for PNC. A few weeks ago, it switched to 1 of 2 spots available which I thought was odd. Today I got another order. I thought they were going to only have a limited number of people on each card at a time so now I’m a bit confused. Should I add the order or is this an error?

I did message them but since it’s the weekend not sure if I will hear back before the deadline to add the order.

The Old Company has a recommended number of slots by issuer.  You can go above or below their recommended number if you choose.  Personally I follow their recommendations.

They will send you new orders a few to several days before your CC's closing date.  I've been given new orders up to five days before the closing date.

Often what has happened in the situation you describe is that one of your existing AUs on that card can be removed now.  Often you can look in TradelineMaster and figure out which AU can be removed.  In this case, I remove the existing AU, confirm removal of that AU, and then add the new AU.

In rare cases, the removal date in TradelineMaster is one month later than the actual "OK to remove by" date as calculated by Old Company.  There is apparently some bug in the "OK to remove by" date logic that they are aware of but haven't fixed.  In this case you'll have to email Old Company, they'll explain this to you, and tell you to remove one of the AUs even though the date in TradelineMaster is still approximately one month in the future.  In this case, I remove the AU they tell me to, confirm removal of that AU, and then add the new AU.

In other rare cases, the Old Company makes a mistake and puts an AU sale on your card which does, in fact, exceed your chosen AU limit.  In these cases, it's often because of some sort of weirdness related to previous AU orders on that card which have resulted in them getting their AU count on your card wrong.  In this scenario, it's up to you whether to accept the order or not.  In most cases, I decline the order and they move it to someone else's card.  In rare cases, I've accepted the order and temporarily exceeded my AU limit.

[hgjjgkj]

Does the new company even pay anymore? I have had 8 or so adds in 2020, have not been paid since 2019. You email Cliff and he says he "has been out of the office." These guys are a disgrace.

[arebelspy]

Not without hassle. As far as I know, everyone has gotten paid, but many upon asking; I'd bet there are orders people overlooked and didn't get paid for.  Awful.

PM me with your name/email you signed up under and I can reach out for you. I haven't seen anyone not get paid when they should be once they reach out, but, of course, that shouldn't have to happen.

I do absolutely recommend old company first, and new company just for cards they won't take (or when old company isn't enrolling cards). It's worth it to me to have cards enrolled rather than not, even with the hassle, but I can definitely see where it might not be for some.

[katsiki]

Hello gang!  I ran into something with barclays today and am wondering if anyone else has seen it.  I received a new TL to add.  When I went into the authorized users screen, I noticed a message saying I needed to verify AU's.  When I clicked on the screen, it said I needed to verify two AU's (the 2 current ones) or the card might be restricted.  At first, I was alarmed...  I went into the screen for each AU and it wanted me to verify DOB, Citizenship and Address.  It had DOB and Address populated but neither yes nor no on citizenship.  I rarely get non US citizens for TL sales so I knew both of these should be yes.  I set them to yes and proceeded.  All seems fine.

Has anyone else seen this? 

I am hoping it is not a sign that BC is going to tighten up in this area..!

Lastly, the fact that I know I set citizenship when adding these AU's makes me wonder if this was just some glitch in their system.

thanks for any thoughts here!

[arebelspy]

I haven't seen that before with Barclays, and I've done a lot of adds with them. But it isn't uncommon with card issuers to have a security "verify AUs" every once in awhile, and it's totally normal and not indicative of a problem or pending shutdown or something, so for now I wouldn't worry about it personally.

[katsiki]

Thanks ARS!

I was able to add the new AU without issue, so I am taking that as a good sign.  I will post again if anything funky happens.

[therethere]

Hello gang!  I ran into something with barclays today and am wondering if anyone else has seen it.  I received a new TL to add.  When I went into the authorized users screen, I noticed a message saying I needed to verify AU's.  When I clicked on the screen, it said I needed to verify two AU's (the 2 current ones) or the card might be restricted.  At first, I was alarmed...  I went into the screen for each AU and it wanted me to verify DOB, Citizenship and Address.  It had DOB and Address populated but neither yes nor no on citizenship.  I rarely get non US citizens for TL sales so I knew both of these should be yes.  I set them to yes and proceeded.  All seems fine.

Has anyone else seen this? 

I am hoping it is not a sign that BC is going to tighten up in this area..!

Lastly, the fact that I know I set citizenship when adding these AU's makes me wonder if this was just some glitch in their system.

thanks for any thoughts here!

I got that too today when I tried to add/replace AU's on my BarclayCard. Then after that, it wasn't letting me add more AU's (click on Add User would not go to next page). I'm probably in the 24-30 AU range on that card so I assumed this was the finish line. I went on a different computer and was still able to do the add. I'm guessing its some site glitches.

[chuckster]

Same here. Went to add a new AU and had to re-verify citizenship on some old AUs still being carried.

Must be something Barclay just did.

[MoneyTree]

i got the same message today on 4 AUs that I added last month with Barclays. I sure hope they still posted, since I never got any email or notification that there was an issue until I logged in today.

That would be a big waste of 4 precious Barclays spots!

[RootofGood]

It's my first year going big on tradelines and I had a question on taxes.

 I'm with Old Company for most cards and New Company for 1 card. Old Company sends a 1099 through their payroll company. Looks like 1099 MISC. Does that have to go on Schedule C where I end up paying self employment tax? Or can I report is as "other income" on my 1040 and just pay ordinary income tax rates? In other words, which box on the 1099 MISC is the income reported in?

I don't have to worry about any 1099's from New Company because it seems they'll never pay ;)

[secondcor521]

It's my first year going big on tradelines and I had a question on taxes.

 I'm with Old Company for most cards and New Company for 1 card. Old Company sends a 1099 through their payroll company. Looks like 1099 MISC. Does that have to go on Schedule C where I end up paying self employment tax? Or can I report is as "other income" on my 1040 and just pay ordinary income tax rates? In other words, which box on the 1099 MISC is the income reported in?

I don't have to worry about any 1099's from New Company because it seems they'll never pay ;)

The proper answer is to consult your tax preparer.

If you view it as a business, then it should go on Schedule C.  You'll pay SE taxes, but get an adjustment for 1/2 of those.  Your income will qualify for contributions to an IRA and towards SS and Medicare.  You can deduct business expenses against the income.

If you view it as a hobby that you happen to get income from, then it should go on the Other Income line on Schedule 1.  You won't pay SE taxes, won't get the adjustment, and the income won't count for IRA contributions, SS, or Medicare purposes.

To help you decide which is appropriate for you, you might want to look at:

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/small-business-self-employed-other-business/income-expenses/income-expenses

[MoneyTree]

I don't have to worry about any 1099's from New Company because it seems they'll never pay ;)

Nice, I was about to say this myself. Even for the money I did manage to get from them last year, I did not expect them to have their act together enough to send a 1099. I never got one. I still reported it as other income, though.

[frozen]

Hello gang!  I ran into something with barclays today and am wondering if anyone else has seen it.  I received a new TL to add.  When I went into the authorized users screen, I noticed a message saying I needed to verify AU's.  When I clicked on the screen, it said I needed to verify two AU's (the 2 current ones) or the card might be restricted.  At first, I was alarmed...  I went into the screen for each AU and it wanted me to verify DOB, Citizenship and Address.  It had DOB and Address populated but neither yes nor no on citizenship.  I rarely get non US citizens for TL sales so I knew both of these should be yes.  I set them to yes and proceeded.  All seems fine.

Has anyone else seen this? 

I am hoping it is not a sign that BC is going to tighten up in this area..!

Lastly, the fact that I know I set citizenship when adding these AU's makes me wonder if this was just some glitch in their system.

thanks for any thoughts here!

Thank you for letting the community know about this. I just logged into my account and checked the US citizen bubble for each user.

[frozen]

Question about Fidelity cards. Some people earlier in this thread mentioned that Fidelity closed their cards after they sold a certain number of tradelines (around 10 if i remember). If Fidelity closes your card for selling tradelines and you have more than one Fidelity card, does it close just that card or all your cards with them? If you also have investment accounts with Fidelity, do these get closed too?

My Fidelity card was closed months ago, but I still have my investment accounts with Fidelity.

[Padonak]

Hello gang!  I ran into something with barclays today and am wondering if anyone else has seen it.  I received a new TL to add.  When I went into the authorized users screen, I noticed a message saying I needed to verify AU's.  When I clicked on the screen, it said I needed to verify two AU's (the 2 current ones) or the card might be restricted.  At first, I was alarmed...  I went into the screen for each AU and it wanted me to verify DOB, Citizenship and Address.  It had DOB and Address populated but neither yes nor no on citizenship.  I rarely get non US citizens for TL sales so I knew both of these should be yes.  I set them to yes and proceeded.  All seems fine.

Has anyone else seen this? 



I am hoping it is not a sign that BC is going to tighten up in this area..!

Lastly, the fact that I know I set citizenship when adding these AU's makes me wonder if this was just some glitch in their system.

thanks for any thoughts here!

Thank you for letting the community know about this. I just logged into my account and checked the US citizen bubble for each user.

What happens if your auth user is not a US citizen? For example, your friend or family member who moved to the US recently and wants to improve their credit history. Does barclays not allow to add them?

[arebelspy]

Thank you for letting the community know about this. I just logged into my account and checked the US citizen bubble for each user.

What happens if your auth user is not a US citizen? For example, your friend or family member who moved to the US recently and wants to improve their credit history. Does barclays not allow to add them?

Then you check the "no" bubble.

[Riker626]

Hello gang!  I ran into something with barclays today and am wondering if anyone else has seen it.  I received a new TL to add.  When I went into the authorized users screen, I noticed a message saying I needed to verify AU's.  When I clicked on the screen, it said I needed to verify two AU's (the 2 current ones) or the card might be restricted.  At first, I was alarmed...  I went into the screen for each AU and it wanted me to verify DOB, Citizenship and Address.  It had DOB and Address populated but neither yes nor no on citizenship.  I rarely get non US citizens for TL sales so I knew both of these should be yes.  I set them to yes and proceeded.  All seems fine.

Has anyone else seen this? 

I am hoping it is not a sign that BC is going to tighten up in this area..!

Lastly, the fact that I know I set citizenship when adding these AU's makes me wonder if this was just some glitch in their system.

thanks for any thoughts here!

Thanks for the notice, checked mine and had the same problem.  However I have 2 cards, Uber 10k card had the problem but my Barnes & Nobel 6.5k card was ok.

[bangbang]

It's my first year going big on tradelines and I had a question on taxes.

 I'm with Old Company for most cards and New Company for 1 card. Old Company sends a 1099 through their payroll company. Looks like 1099 MISC. Does that have to go on Schedule C where I end up paying self employment tax? Or can I report is as "other income" on my 1040 and just pay ordinary income tax rates? In other words, which box on the 1099 MISC is the income reported in?

I don't have to worry about any 1099's from New Company because it seems they'll never pay ;)

The proper answer is to consult your tax preparer.

If you view it as a business, then it should go on Schedule C.  You'll pay SE taxes, but get an adjustment for 1/2 of those.  Your income will qualify for contributions to an IRA and towards SS and Medicare.  You can deduct business expenses against the income.

If you view it as a hobby that you happen to get income from, then it should go on the Other Income line on Schedule 1.  You won't pay SE taxes, won't get the adjustment, and the income won't count for IRA contributions, SS, or Medicare purposes.

To help you decide which is appropriate for you, you might want to look at:

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/small-business-self-employed-other-business/income-expenses/income-expenses

I know zilch about filing a business return, but was wondering if it would be more profitable to sell tradelines as a business and file as a business rather than under personal income. Would conducting this effort as a business be more profitable due to the ability to conduct business expenses, such as home office deductions? What is the tax rate on the income if you file it as Schedule C income? Does a business pay self employment tax in addition to income tax?

[waltworks]

For those of you who are newer at this - how long did it take you to get an order? I've been all set up in the system for about a week now and... crickets.

-W

[Car Jack]

For those of you who are newer at this - how long did it take you to get an order? I've been all set up in the system for about a week now and... crickets.

-W

For me.....with the new company.....6 months.

[arebelspy]

For those of you who are newer at this - how long did it take you to get an order? I've been all set up in the system for about a week now and... crickets.

-W

Who'd you set up with? Old company, or new company?

Old is definitely seeing more sales; I believe RootofGood, asking about taxes above, started in August and is seeing significant sales. Also one factor is when the closing date of your card is. If it just closed, the earliest you'd see a sale would be nearly a month, and if no one buys it the first month, it could be a few. Or you could see some the first week. Another factor is how in demand the card is (age/limits). So it really depends/hard to say. Wanna give us a data point when you see a sale? :D

[waltworks]

Sure thing, I'll let everyone know. It's the old company. I have 2 cards, one with $35k limit and ~6 years old, the other with $10k limit and similar age.

-W

[secondcor521]

It's my first year going big on tradelines and I had a question on taxes.

 I'm with Old Company for most cards and New Company for 1 card. Old Company sends a 1099 through their payroll company. Looks like 1099 MISC. Does that have to go on Schedule C where I end up paying self employment tax? Or can I report is as "other income" on my 1040 and just pay ordinary income tax rates? In other words, which box on the 1099 MISC is the income reported in?

I don't have to worry about any 1099's from New Company because it seems they'll never pay ;)

The proper answer is to consult your tax preparer.

If you view it as a business, then it should go on Schedule C.  You'll pay SE taxes, but get an adjustment for 1/2 of those.  Your income will qualify for contributions to an IRA and towards SS and Medicare.  You can deduct business expenses against the income.

If you view it as a hobby that you happen to get income from, then it should go on the Other Income line on Schedule 1.  You won't pay SE taxes, won't get the adjustment, and the income won't count for IRA contributions, SS, or Medicare purposes.

To help you decide which is appropriate for you, you might want to look at:

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/small-business-self-employed-other-business/income-expenses/income-expenses

I know zilch about filing a business return, but was wondering if it would be more profitable to sell tradelines as a business and file as a business rather than under personal income. Would conducting this effort as a business be more profitable due to the ability to conduct business expenses, such as home office deductions? What is the tax rate on the income if you file it as Schedule C income? Does a business pay self employment tax in addition to income tax?

For tradelines, a person would probably choose a pretty simple business structure such as a DBA / sole proprietorship.  In this situation, they would not file a separate business income tax return.  The business income and expenses would be reported on their personal return on Schedules C and SE.

In theory, you should file as a business or as a hobby after consideration of the factors in your case compared with the nine factors the IRS lists in the link I provided above.  Whether it is advantageous to file one way or the other should technically not be a consideration, but I know for many people it would be.

While you do get to deduct reasonable and necessary expenses from business income, you also generally have to pay both sides of self employment taxes on net income but you get an adjustment for half of those.  Whether it would be more profitable from a tax point of view would depend on how those two things balance out.  Second order factors would be if there were state income tax implications to the business income, and if having the earned income had other knock-on effects such as qualifying to make an IRA contribution that qualified for the Retirement Savings Tax Credit, or opening a SEP or SIMPLE or solo 401(k).

Schedule C income is taxed as ordinary income, so it would be whatever your marginal tax rate for ordinary income would be.

And yes, you pay self employment taxes on net business income, something I said in what you quoted.

[katsiki]

Somewhere way back in this thread someone posted a link to a thread about taxes.  That thread is a good one.  I will post it if I can find it.

I am deducting PO box rental.  I probably need to deduct the annual fee for 1 CC that has it and is used for TL sales.

[SilverAg47]

I have a "BBVA Amex" card that is not eligible for any tradelines.  With PNC buying up BBVA, do you think this card will become eligible for tradelines in the near future?

[arebelspy]

Somewhere way back in this thread someone posted a link to a thread about taxes.  That thread is a good one.  I will post it if I can find it.

I am deducting PO box rental.  I probably need to deduct the annual fee for 1 CC that has it and is used for TL sales.

I deduct the annual fees on tradeline cards. I'd even do it on cards being seasoned for tradelines, personally. YMMV.

I have a "BBVA Amex" card that is not eligible for any tradelines.  With PNC buying up BBVA, do you think this card will become eligible for tradelines in the near future?

Depends on how integrated their systems become. Ultimately it depends on how the card reports Authorized Users to the credit agencies. Could always test it before and after with a close family member who would share their report.