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

[Zamboni]

@harrydogyo :  I have some very high limit Amex cards . . . do you mind PM'ing me the name of the Tradeline company that accepts those?

Folks with Barclay Cards: when you request a credit line increase, how much do you ask for at a time? They recently denied one of my requests (they called me on the phone and did that), but I think I might have asked for too much at once, lol. I understand some of you make credit line requests every few months. What is the sweet spot you have had success with for Barclays in terms of times/amounts?

[Nutty]

What is the increase in credit limit you ask for?

I've been asking for an increase to $40,000 and get denied.  The ones that do get approved are for $1,000 increase.

Barclays issued cards at $5k and when asked for an increase, received another $4k for a total of $9k.
Cap1 denied a card application and then sent guaranteed approval email which resulted in a $1k Savor card. 
I may have too many inquiries on my report this year for good increases.  Most denials say lack of usage.

Discover says a request can be made every 30 days and is a soft pull for $1k increase.  I talked with a rep and got another $1.5K increase and a hard pull.  The rep also said every 30 days for an increase.  Not sure that was worth it for a hard pull.

Doctor of Credit lists the times that an increase request can be made.  Good reference site.  Others data points come up with a google search.  Surprising the amount of information online now that I'm looking for it.

[Zamboni]

^Ah, thank you, this is good to know!

[Michael in ABQ]

My Barclaycard started at $15k limit I believe. I asked for an increase to $22k and stated I had some upcoming large purchases but I still wanted to keep my utilization low. It was approved. Prior to that my balance had never been more than $3k or so.

[Zamboni]

^Thanks for this tip. I did request a small credit increase from Barclay's since my last posting, and they called me to approve it. I think them calling me is weird, but they do that I guess. I'll keep the "large purchase but low utilization" excuse in mind for my next requested increase. Can do this quarterly?

[Pizzabrewer]

^Thanks for this tip. I did request a small credit increase from Barclay's since my last posting, and they called me to approve it. I think them calling me is weird, but they do that I guess. I'll keep the "large purchase but low utilization" excuse in mind for my next requested increase. Can do this quarterly?

Just be aware that Barclays is always a hard pull.

[Padonak]

Question about Citibank. I used to sell tradelines on one of their cards and had to spell out all the AU details over the phone every time. Then sometimes i was transfered to another department to check my identity etc. Also there was no option to opt out of receiving a physical card for the AU. That was a couple of years ago. Is it still the same or got better or worse? Is it even worth using Citibank cards for tradelines?

[MoneyTree]

Question about Citibank. I used to sell tradelines on one of their cards and had to spell out all the AU details over the phone every time. Then sometimes i was transfered to another department to check my identity etc. Also there was no option to opt out of receiving a physical card for the AU. That was a couple of years ago. Is it still the same or got better or worse? Is it even worth using Citibank cards for tradelines?

YMMV, but I have always had issues with Citi, still have to spell out all the AU detail every time over the phone, with reps who may or may not get it right. Sometimes they will still not post, and frequently I will be transferred around a bit.

Is it worth it? For me, it is absolutely worth it. In the grand scheme of things I am making one 20 minute phone call and earning $300. I'll take it every time.

Whether it is worth it or not to you is your call.

[secondcor521]

Question about Citibank. I used to sell tradelines on one of their cards and had to spell out all the AU details over the phone every time. Then sometimes i was transfered to another department to check my identity etc. Also there was no option to opt out of receiving a physical card for the AU. That was a couple of years ago. Is it still the same or got better or worse? Is it even worth using Citibank cards for tradelines?

YMMV, but I have always had issues with Citi, still have to spell out all the AU detail every time over the phone, with reps who may or may not get it right. Sometimes they will still not post, and frequently I will be transferred around a bit.

Is it worth it? For me, it is absolutely worth it. In the grand scheme of things I am making one 20 minute phone call and earning $300. I'll take it every time.

Whether it is worth it or not to you is your call.

Strange.  I just started selling AU slots on my one Citi personal card with Old Company.  There's a place for me in the Citi online portal to add AUs, and I'm pretty sure I used that and didn't call it in.

If an AU doesn't post with Old Company, then I don't get paid.  So if Citi is problematic in terms of posting even when I do my part right, then I would include that in my assessment.  Maybe it's a 20 minute phone call, but if it's $300 only half the time then that looks to me like an average of $150.

Which still may be worth it, but I'd certainly take it into account.

[MoneyTree]

Strange.  I just started selling AU slots on my one Citi personal card with Old Company.  There's a place for me in the Citi online portal to add AUs, and I'm pretty sure I used that and didn't call it in.

Let us know if these have been posting for you. I would love to skip the phone call, but when I started selling Citi 2 years ago, I would use the online portal to add, but there is no place for the SSN. None of the AUs I added via the Citi online portal ever posted. 0% success rate. Other banks don't ask for the SSN but still post. This has not worked for me with Citi.

If an AU doesn't post with Old Company, then I don't get paid.  So if Citi is problematic in terms of posting even when I do my part right, then I would include that in my assessment.  Maybe it's a 20 minute phone call, but if it's $300 only half the time then that looks to me like an average of $150.

Yeah you are right, this should be included in the assessment. But ever since I've been calling in the AUs, my posting rate is about 80%. So let's call it an average of $240, then.

[secondcor521]

Strange.  I just started selling AU slots on my one Citi personal card with Old Company.  There's a place for me in the Citi online portal to add AUs, and I'm pretty sure I used that and didn't call it in.

Let us know if these have been posting for you. I would love to skip the phone call, but when I started selling Citi 2 years ago, I would use the online portal to add, but there is no place for the SSN. None of the AUs I added via the Citi online portal ever posted. 0% success rate. Other banks don't ask for the SSN but still post. This has not worked for me with Citi.

Interesting.  I had not been paying close attention other than to note that Citi was a pain.  I didn't connect that I had added a Citi card to my AU roster recently.  I also didn't pay attention to the TL company documentation that says that Citi is phone only for adds; I assumed (yeah, I know) that if there was a portal for adding that it would work.

At this point I've only added one AU so far, and I've been paid but it hasn't marked as posted yet; since I added the AU on 3/9/21 and you've pointed it out, that seems problematic.  I guess I'll wait and see what happens.  If I remember to I'll post back here on the results.  Since it has been that long I would think if it didn't work then the AU would have already complained and the TL company would have investigated, but that hasn't happened yet either.  :Shrug:

[Padonak]

For Chase cards, is there an option to add an AU and not receive a new card for them (like there is for Barclays)? 

[frugalnacho]

Does anyone use amazon gift card reload to ensure balance on rarely used cards?  I'd like to set up an automatic reload purchase monthly for 2 separate cards, but amazon is only giving me the option to use one.  Adding a second card just changes the monthly reload to the new card.

[secondcor521]

Does anyone use amazon gift card reload to ensure balance on rarely used cards?  I'd like to set up an automatic reload purchase monthly for 2 separate cards, but amazon is only giving me the option to use one.  Adding a second card just changes the monthly reload to the new card.

Yes, but I just do it manually once a month, and only on cards with existing AUs.  Since that's only a few I don't mind doing it manually.

[Nate79]

For Chase cards, is there an option to add an AU and not receive a new card for them (like there is for Barclays)?

I didn't think anyone was foolish enough to use Chase cards for this game?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[secondcor521]

For Chase cards, is there an option to add an AU and not receive a new card for them (like there is for Barclays)?

I didn't think anyone was foolish enough to use Chase cards for this game?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I do.  I don't think it's foolish.  I do understand that I'm risking my entire Chase relationship, which I am OK with.

(And I always let them send cards, FWIW.)

[Archipelago]

Quick question. I've got a CC issued by Elan Financial, but there's an AMEX sticker in the bottom right corner. Assuming 2+ years of history and $10k+ credit limit, does anyone know whether this card would be eligible for tradelines?

I wonder if you can product change to one of their visa or mc products and keep the age of the card? Might be worth a call… I has a citi Amex that  recently switched to a MasterCard and kept the age when it reports.

One of my Amex cards is my biggest sellers but it’s the high limit since no age of account  reports.

Great idea. I'll call and ask.

Following up on this. I called Elan Financial and told them I wanted to switch to another product to use the card more (which is actually true). They gave me a list of available options and said the only difference will be the card issuer will be MasterCard instead of AMEX. All account history and credit limit retained. New card will arrive in 7-10 days.

:)

[solon]

Chase kicked me to the doghouse 3 years ago for selling AU slots. I lost both of my accounts, even the one I wasn't using for AUs. They were pretty clear about the reason for the closures, and that the decision was final, and indefinite.

I tried applying a couple times since then, but both times I got turned down for previous negative experience.

Today I got a flyer in the mail (postal, paper mail) advertising their new Chase Marriott Bold card, with a bonus 50k points. The flyer was addressed specifically to me, not to "resident". So I gave it a try.

I am the proud owner of a new Chase card with a $21k credit limit. It appears 3 years is how long you must wait in purgatory if Chase kicks you out.

[Zamboni]

^lol, good to know. I'm not going to risk my Chase relationship, but I'm glad that worked out for you finally.

[arebelspy]

Following up on this. I called Elan Financial and told them I wanted to switch to another product to use the card more (which is actually true). They gave me a list of available options and said the only difference will be the card issuer will be MasterCard instead of AMEX. All account history and credit limit retained.

It appears 3 years is how long you must wait in purgatory if Chase kicks you out.

Both of these things are really good to know. Thanks to both of you for sharing that info! :)

[MasterStache]

I prefer to not ruin my relationship with Chase. We've racked up over a million UR points in the last 2-3 years. I understand though it's entirely different for everyone. 

[MoMoney88]

I've been selling AUs on both of my Chase cards for 38 months now.
I've had 54 sales (combined) at $275 a pop... just about to hit $15,000 in commissions for those two cards.  Not too shabby.
If I lose 'em, I lose 'em.

[solon]

I prefer to not ruin my relationship with Chase. We've racked up over a million UR points in the last 2-3 years. I understand though it's entirely different for everyone.

I've been selling AUs on both of my Chase cards for 38 months now.
I've had 54 sales (combined) at $275 a pop... just about to hit $15,000 in commissions for those two cards.  Not too shabby.
If I lose 'em, I lose 'em.

It's OK to sell slots on Chase, as long as you're OK with the possibility of being booted out of Chase's entire ecosystem. I think both of you have the right attitude here.

[PVkcin]

Today my wife told me a tow truck showed up to our driveway, and the driver was asking for somebody who doesn't live at our house (she had no clue who the person was, but when she told me the story later I recognized the name as somebody I added as an AU). They said the bank sent them to repo the guy's BMW.

(I just started selling tradelines about 8 months ago, cautiously only adding 1 AU to 2 different cards. Maybe I'm being too cautious and could have been adding more than 1 slot to the cards but I was/am just "getting my feet wet" to see how this works.)

Ironically, the repo man was looking for one of my newest AU's that I just added 29 days ago, so he's still an active AU.

Question for those of you that have been selling tradelines for some time:

Is it fairly common/normal to have creditors show up to your door, asking for the name of ______ (insert AU/tradeliine sale)? I was fully aware this could happen, as I read stories on this thread previously that you can expect a call from a creditor asking for the name of an AU or potentially the repo man coming. I guess I just figured it wouldn't have happened so "early" on for me, when I've only added about 8 AU's total since starting tradelines.

Have some of you been doing this for a long time and despite adding lots of AU's (50-75+ etc) never had this experience I had?
I honestly don't mind the repo man so much but my wife did. She isn't too thrilled about this happening in the future over and over.

I'm just trying to gauge other's experiences if this is a fairly common thing or if our repo man experience is the exception and not the rule.

[frozen]

Today my wife told me a tow truck showed up to our driveway, and the driver was asking for somebody who doesn't live at our house (she had no clue who the person was, but when she told me the story later I recognized the name as somebody I added as an AU). They said the bank sent them to repo the guy's BMW.

(I just started selling tradelines about 8 months ago, cautiously only adding 1 AU to 2 different cards. Maybe I'm being too cautious and could have been adding more than 1 slot to the cards but I was/am just "getting my feet wet" to see how this works.)

Ironically, the repo man was looking for one of my newest AU's that I just added 29 days ago, so he's still an active AU.

Question for those of you that have been selling tradelines for some time:

Is it fairly common/normal to have creditors show up to your door, asking for the name of ______ (insert AU/tradeliine sale)? I was fully aware this could happen, as I read stories on this thread previously that you can expect a call from a creditor asking for the name of an AU or potentially the repo man coming. I guess I just figured it wouldn't have happened so "early" on for me, when I've only added about 8 AU's total since starting tradelines.

Have some of you been doing this for a long time and despite adding lots of AU's (50-75+ etc) never had this experience I had?
I honestly don't mind the repo man so much but my wife did. She isn't too thrilled about this happening in the future over and over.

I'm just trying to gauge other's experiences if this is a fairly common thing or if our repo man experience is the exception and not the rule.

A few years ago, someone showed up at my door, flashed a badge, and told me he was from the States Attorney’s office. He had some paperwork and was looking for someone. He asked me if I knew this person and showed me a photo. I said I didn’t know him and that it was not the previous owner, but possibly an old tenant. After he left I went straight to my AU list and found this person was a previous AU on one of my cards.

A way to prevent this might be to use a different address on your cards, like a UPS mailbox address.

I think these are just the risks and inconveniences that go along with this business. Sorry to hear about the repo man - that could be embarrassing!

[secondcor521]

I've been selling TL's for nearly five years and during most of that time have had 5 to 10 slots available.

I've had a repo man show up once.  I told him X didn't live here and never has.  Repo man shrugged and left.  I got the impression that repo men are used to this kind of thing happening.

What is far more common is to receive mail for AUs.  I think the best thing to do with AU mail is to write "Not at this address / return to sender", which in theory will remove the AU / address linkage in the sender's system.

But if it unnerves your spouse, then I think that's definitely something to consider when deciding how much and/or whether or not to continue doing this.  It's not worth it for everyone.

[Nutty]

Today my wife told me a tow truck showed up to our driveway, and the driver was asking for somebody who doesn't live at our house (she had no clue who the person was, but when she told me the story later I recognized the name as somebody I added as an AU). They said the bank sent them to repo the guy's BMW.

(I just started selling tradelines about 8 months ago, cautiously only adding 1 AU to 2 different cards. Maybe I'm being too cautious and could have been adding more than 1 slot to the cards but I was/am just "getting my feet wet" to see how this works.)

Ironically, the repo man was looking for one of my newest AU's that I just added 29 days ago, so he's still an active AU.

Question for those of you that have been selling tradelines for some time:

Is it fairly common/normal to have creditors show up to your door, asking for the name of ______ (insert AU/tradeliine sale)? I was fully aware this could happen, as I read stories on this thread previously that you can expect a call from a creditor asking for the name of an AU or potentially the repo man coming. I guess I just figured it wouldn't have happened so "early" on for me, when I've only added about 8 AU's total since starting tradelines.

Have some of you been doing this for a long time and despite adding lots of AU's (50-75+ etc) never had this experience I had?
I honestly don't mind the repo man so much but my wife did. She isn't too thrilled about this happening in the future over and over.

I'm just trying to gauge other's experiences if this is a fairly common thing or if our repo man experience is the exception and not the rule.

A few years ago, someone showed up at my door, flashed a badge, and told me he was from the States Attorney’s office. He had some paperwork and was looking for someone. He asked me if I knew this person and showed me a photo. I said I didn’t know him and that it was not the previous owner, but possibly an old tenant. After he left I went straight to my AU list and found this person was a previous AU on one of my cards.

A way to prevent this might be to use a different address on your cards, like a UPS mailbox address.

I think these are just the risks and inconveniences that go along with this business. Sorry to hear about the repo man - that could be embarrassing!

But it gives the neighbors something to talk about especially when they leave empty handed.  LOL

After reading this thread and asking questions, we now have a PO Box for CC.  Seems like a good thing to do if you are concerned.  I just got the first message from a CC saying the AU's card was returned after being sent to the PO Box.  Well after fielding a lot of mail for the previous tenants of the PO Box, this was a surprise.  C'est la vie.

[PVkcin]

Today my wife told me a tow truck showed up to our driveway, and the driver was asking for somebody who doesn't live at our house (she had no clue who the person was, but when she told me the story later I recognized the name as somebody I added as an AU). They said the bank sent them to repo the guy's BMW.

(I just started selling tradelines about 8 months ago, cautiously only adding 1 AU to 2 different cards. Maybe I'm being too cautious and could have been adding more than 1 slot to the cards but I was/am just "getting my feet wet" to see how this works.)

Ironically, the repo man was looking for one of my newest AU's that I just added 29 days ago, so he's still an active AU.

Question for those of you that have been selling tradelines for some time:

Is it fairly common/normal to have creditors show up to your door, asking for the name of ______ (insert AU/tradeliine sale)? I was fully aware this could happen, as I read stories on this thread previously that you can expect a call from a creditor asking for the name of an AU or potentially the repo man coming. I guess I just figured it wouldn't have happened so "early" on for me, when I've only added about 8 AU's total since starting tradelines.

Have some of you been doing this for a long time and despite adding lots of AU's (50-75+ etc) never had this experience I had?
I honestly don't mind the repo man so much but my wife did. She isn't too thrilled about this happening in the future over and over.

I'm just trying to gauge other's experiences if this is a fairly common thing or if our repo man experience is the exception and not the rule.

A few years ago, someone showed up at my door, flashed a badge, and told me he was from the States Attorney’s office. He had some paperwork and was looking for someone. He asked me if I knew this person and showed me a photo. I said I didn’t know him and that it was not the previous owner, but possibly an old tenant. After he left I went straight to my AU list and found this person was a previous AU on one of my cards.

A way to prevent this might be to use a different address on your cards, like a UPS mailbox address.

I think these are just the risks and inconveniences that go along with this business. Sorry to hear about the repo man - that could be embarrassing!

But it gives the neighbors something to talk about especially when they leave empty handed.  LOL

After reading this thread and asking questions, we now have a PO Box for CC.  Seems like a good thing to do if you are concerned.  I just got the first message from a CC saying the AU's card was returned after being sent to the PO Box.  Well after fielding a lot of mail for the previous tenants of the PO Box, this was a surprise.  C'est la vie.

Thanks for your responses. The AU happened to be added to my capital one (quicksilver) card. He's only my 2nd or 3rd add to capital one, but I realize that when I add an AU to my capital one card, it doesn't allow me to put in an address. So even though the trade-line company gives me the AU address, when I add on cap one there's nowhere to change the address. But once I get to the confirmation page (after adding the AU), it lists the AU info but with my address (on file with cap one).

When I add an AU to my discover account, I can put their address.

Regarding the PO Box - so that may not help with my capital one account, unless I change my personal address with capital one to the PO box (?).  Anyone notice this with their capital one accounts - they can't change the address to the AU address or a PO box, etc?

[secondcor521]

Thanks for your responses. The AU happened to be added to my capital one (quicksilver) card. He's only my 2nd or 3rd add to capital one, but I realize that when I add an AU to my capital one card, it doesn't allow me to put in an address. So even though the trade-line company gives me the AU address, when I add on cap one there's nowhere to change the address. But once I get to the confirmation page (after adding the AU), it lists the AU info but with my address (on file with cap one).

When I add an AU to my discover account, I can put their address.

Regarding the PO Box - so that may not help with my capital one account, unless I change my personal address with capital one to the PO box (?).  Anyone notice this with their capital one accounts - they can't change the address to the AU address or a PO box, etc?

Yeah, the idea is you get the PO box, change your address on your TL credit cards to the PO box, and then the repo men are stymied - they probably won't show up to the PO box, and even if they do, they won't be bothering your wife.  It works for some people.

Some CC companies accept an AU address, some don't.  Generally the credit reporting agencies can match a tradeline to a person with three pieces of information out of the following:  name, address, SSN, and DOB.

What you're seeing is totally normal.

[Nutty]

Regarding the PO Box - so that may not help with my capital one account, unless I change my personal address with capital one to the PO box (?).  Anyone notice this with their capital one accounts - they can't change the address to the AU address or a PO box, etc?

True.  I changed my address to the PO Box with the banks.  With a new zip code which still gets me at the cash registers. 

To apply for new cards, they want your physical address.  I then have to add a mailing address to the account for a couple. 

It also pays to shop around (easy with the online portal) for the PO Boxes.  The one that delivers my mail was out of the way and more expensive than the PO by work.  And the one farther away from town (same distance from where I live to the town PO) was half the cost.  I chose convenience and got one close to work.  Easy to check once a week.

This cost can be deducted from income as part of a business expense.  I'll figure this one out next year.

[arebelspy]

Really interesting about the repo guy. I've never had that, though have had mail/phone calls for former AUs (put back in mail as return to sender and tell them wrong number, respectively).

Someone just messaged me this story about selling AUs on their USAA card, and asked me to post anonymously.

A few years ago, I was doing well selling tradelines on cards from a number of issuers, including two on USAA CCs.  One day,  USAA's fraud department calls me and asks me, do I know these two people, why am I giving them USAA memberships?

I replied that I knew these people through a mutual friend.  USAA said, you're lying, we know that you sold tradelines because we called these two AUs and they spilled the beans.  Why are you giving them USAA memberships?

I replied - I don't have anything to do with USAA memberships - that's USAA's job.  I simply added them as AUs on my credit cards.  A long back-and-forth followed, with USAA accusing me of bank fraud.  At the end of our exchange, the rep stated that USAA had decided, under the circumstances, to end their relationship with me.

This was a frightening prospect, because I've been a customer for 30 years and use many of their other products extensively:  for instance, my checking account with them is my primary account for my paycheck and all my bills, plus I have auto insurance through USAA.  Furthermore, at the time, I was helping my own children build their credit and had added them as AUs on my USAA cards (USAA did not object to me adding my children or other relatives as AUs).

I outlined why the relationship was important to me, and said that I would not have sold the tradelines had I known that doing so would place our entire relationship at risk.  Would USAA reconsider in exchange for my promise not to sell any more AUs on USAA cards?  The rep agreed after giving me a stern warning.

They said it happened a few years ago. Good to know, if you sell USAA lines. I believe @secondcor521 also got a warning call from USAA a few years ago and stopped selling tradelines with them to not jeopardize that relationship. So beware if you sell AU lines on USAA, they do monitor and will shut down.

[secondcor521]

They said it happened a few years ago. Good to know, if you sell USAA lines. I believe @secondcor521 also got a warning call from USAA a few years ago and stopped selling tradelines with them to not jeopardize that relationship. So beware if you sell AU lines on USAA, they do monitor and will shut down.

Your memory is correct.  My USAA fraud guy was nice rather than stern, but the message was the same:  "USAA doesn't like this behavior.  Knock it off or we'll boot you."  I accepted their business stance and stopped selling my USAA card.  Like the other poster, I have significant business with USAA that I don't want to jeopardize.  So I don't.

[Car Jack]

I've always considered any card I put an AU on to be pre-burned.  The closest I come to (I care at all) is one where it's an older credit line.  But I have 2 cards from them getting AUs, so what the heck.

Cards I regularly use are not included in the AU gravy train.  It's bad enough when DW pays for parking and doesn't get the card back, forcing me to get a new card and change all the auto payments.  Not interested in having a card killed, not knowing about it and going 2 weeks before the letter gets to my house, like when BOA cancelled all 3 of my cards at once.

[MasterStache]

Really interesting about the repo guy. I've never had that, though have had mail/phone calls for former AUs (put back in mail as return to sender and tell them wrong number, respectively).

Someone just messaged me this story about selling AUs on their USAA card, and asked me to post anonymously.

A few years ago, I was doing well selling tradelines on cards from a number of issuers, including two on USAA CCs.  One day,  USAA's fraud department calls me and asks me, do I know these two people, why am I giving them USAA memberships?

I replied that I knew these people through a mutual friend.  USAA said, you're lying, we know that you sold tradelines because we called these two AUs and they spilled the beans.  Why are you giving them USAA memberships?

I replied - I don't have anything to do with USAA memberships - that's USAA's job.  I simply added them as AUs on my credit cards.  A long back-and-forth followed, with USAA accusing me of bank fraud.  At the end of our exchange, the rep stated that USAA had decided, under the circumstances, to end their relationship with me.

This was a frightening prospect, because I've been a customer for 30 years and use many of their other products extensively:  for instance, my checking account with them is my primary account for my paycheck and all my bills, plus I have auto insurance through USAA.  Furthermore, at the time, I was helping my own children build their credit and had added them as AUs on my USAA cards (USAA did not object to me adding my children or other relatives as AUs).

I outlined why the relationship was important to me, and said that I would not have sold the tradelines had I known that doing so would place our entire relationship at risk.  Would USAA reconsider in exchange for my promise not to sell any more AUs on USAA cards?  The rep agreed after giving me a stern warning.

They said it happened a few years ago. Good to know, if you sell USAA lines. I believe @secondcor521 also got a warning call from USAA a few years ago and stopped selling tradelines with them to not jeopardize that relationship. So beware if you sell AU lines on USAA, they do monitor and will shut down.

You can add me to this list with USAA as well. Sold tradelines on 1 card for about 3 years before I received a phone call. I merely got a warning and was essentially told to stop doing it.

[anonymouscow]

Question about Citibank. I used to sell tradelines on one of their cards and had to spell out all the AU details over the phone every time. Then sometimes i was transfered to another department to check my identity etc. Also there was no option to opt out of receiving a physical card for the AU. That was a couple of years ago. Is it still the same or got better or worse? Is it even worth using Citibank cards for tradelines?

I do tradelines with a Citi card. You can add them online but you have to call in to add the AU’s SSN.

It is a little bit of a pain because it’s a wait to talk to someone, they have to transfer you, and I am pretty sure the call center is in India or somewhere like that, but it’s nothing too difficult.

[secondcor521]

Strange.  I just started selling AU slots on my one Citi personal card with Old Company.  There's a place for me in the Citi online portal to add AUs, and I'm pretty sure I used that and didn't call it in.

Let us know if these have been posting for you. I would love to skip the phone call, but when I started selling Citi 2 years ago, I would use the online portal to add, but there is no place for the SSN. None of the AUs I added via the Citi online portal ever posted. 0% success rate. Other banks don't ask for the SSN but still post. This has not worked for me with Citi.

Followup:

I added an AU to my Citi card on 3/9 via the online portal.  I did *not* call in to add SSN.  Made purchases 3/9 and 4/6.  Received and activated card 3/15.  Received payment 4/30.  Removed AU and destroyed card 5/5.

In the online portal, it does not show "Posted" in green like the others.  But I got paid as usual and got no feedback or emails from the TL company.

I doubt it matters, but it's a basic Citi Rewards Plus MasterCard a bit over two years old.

So from my point of view, it worked.  Of course, this is a sample size of 1.

[Car Jack]

For me, the old company online portal shows almost random information.  Especially at the top, where it'll say 1/2 spots sold, but looking down at each sold tradeline, I have 4 of them still active.  Meh, the money hits my checking account every month, so I don't really care.  Some of the AUs never show the green "posted" and I get paid and the date comes to remove, I wait at least a day, then remove.

[Mesmoiselle]

I'm new to this although I'm known about it a while. Cap1 sent me an automated emailed confirming the add of an AU, so I forwarded that and done. I just added an AU to my Chase card and nothing. So I call and even confirm the name was added, and they say yes it was. But I can't find a list of my AU on the chase CC website anywhere. I've used the Chase search bar as well as tried asking the question in various confirmations on Google. Anyone selling Chase lines throw me a bone on where to screen shot said list?

[secondcor521]

I'm new to this although I'm known about it a while. Cap1 sent me an automated emailed confirming the add of an AU, so I forwarded that and done. I just added an AU to my Chase card and nothing. So I call and even confirm the name was added, and they say yes it was. But I can't find a list of my AU on the chase CC website anywhere. I've used the Chase search bar as well as tried asking the question in various confirmations on Google. Anyone selling Chase lines throw me a bone on where to screen shot said list?

I'm fairly certain it doesn't exist.

What I do is always request a card, make sure it's going to my address (which it always has), and make sure I receive the card in the AUs name (usually takes about a week, although Chase could maybe expedite it for a fee).  I keep the card until I remove the AU, then I shred it.

And I have columns in my spreadsheet for all the above ("Added AU", "Received card", "Activated card", "Removed AU", "Shredded card" etc), so I can always tell the state of any AU at any given point.

[Mesmoiselle]

And I have columns in my spreadsheet for all the above ("Added AU", "Received card", "Activated card", "Removed AU", "Shredded card" etc), so I can always tell the state of any AU at any given point.

Cool idea, I just made one. I added a column "got paid for it" as well :)

[Car Jack]

Lots of cards have online add sections but no place to see the AUs on your account and no place to remove AUs from online.  I'd say 2/3 of my cards are this way or completely call-in.  If you're doing all Barclays, cap one and Discover, you'll get spoiled, then have to deal with USBank who you need to call to cancel and they randomly tell you that you have to send them the AU's card for them to destroy.  I have found that even if I don't, they don't follow up, so those cards that went into my wood stove aren't keeping me from adding another AU.

[secondcor521]

Lots of cards have online add sections but no place to see the AUs on your account and no place to remove AUs from online.  I'd say 2/3 of my cards are this way or completely call-in.  If you're doing all Barclays, cap one and Discover, you'll get spoiled, then have to deal with USBank who you need to call to cancel and they randomly tell you that you have to send them the AU's card for them to destroy.  I have found that even if I don't, they don't follow up, so those cards that went into my wood stove aren't keeping me from adding another AU.

I send DMs to cancel at USBank, and that worked fine.  Well it did before they canceled all my cards due to piggybacking.

[jeromedawg]

Curious but is it possible to sign up with multiple card companies to 'increase' your odds of getting a sale on an AU? And if you get two or more sales you can just choose whichever you want to go with at the time?

[secondcor521]

Curious but is it possible to sign up with multiple card companies to 'increase' your odds of getting a sale on an AU? And if you get two or more sales you can just choose whichever you want to go with at the time?

It's against the terms and conditions of the TL companies.  You generally tell them how many slots per card you want to do, and if they think they have an available slot to sell on your card, they'll sell it and expect you to fulfil the order.  If you're not able to because you've already sold those slots via another TL company and decline to fulfil the order, then the AU will be dissatisfied and that TL company will get annoyed at you.  The TL companies reserve the right to terminate their relationship with you if you are unable to fulfil the orders.

So yeah, you can do what you're suggesting and it'll increase your odds of getting sales, but it will also increase the chances that you are oversold, will have to decline an order, and then get unenrolled by the affected TL company.

[MoneyTree]

Curious but is it possible to sign up with multiple card companies to 'increase' your odds of getting a sale on an AU? And if you get two or more sales you can just choose whichever you want to go with at the time?

It's against the terms and conditions of the TL companies.  You generally tell them how many slots per card you want to do, and if they think they have an available slot to sell on your card, they'll sell it and expect you to fulfil the order.  If you're not able to because you've already sold those slots via another TL company and decline to fulfil the order, then the AU will be dissatisfied and that TL company will get annoyed at you.  The TL companies reserve the right to terminate their relationship with you if you are unable to fulfil the orders.

So yeah, you can do what you're suggesting and it'll increase your odds of getting sales, but it will also increase the chances that you are oversold, will have to decline an order, and then get unenrolled by the affected TL company.

+1

read your agreement with your TL companies, and if they say you can't do this, don't do it.

Regardless of whether it violates the terms or not, you shouldn't do it. When you enroll your cards with a company, you are communicating to them and their customers that you have available slots to sell. When you get an order, then someone has already purchased your slot. If you can't fulfill your order, then the tradeline company is put in a tough spot where they need to find another slot ASAP, or refund their customer and leave them with a bad experience.

[chuckster]

Curious but is it possible to sign up with multiple card companies to 'increase' your odds of getting a sale on an AU? And if you get two or more sales you can just choose whichever you want to go with at the time?

In addition to what's been said above, "in theory" the tradeline companies have data on how to avoid triggering the credit card companies from closing your account for misuse. They might know that if you don't change AUs more than, like, 10 times a year with ABC Bank, then your account won't get flagged and they'll only send you 9 sales on the card in the year. By double-dipping you might go from 'just under the radar' to 'double above the limits' and burn a card that could have earned more.

[katsiki]

Looking for some guidance...

I have a few barclay cards that are selling out consistently lately at 2 spots each.  I am wondering if I should increase the # of AU slots from 2 to 3 or possibly even 4.  The only downside I can think of is that I will hit the max AU limit faster on each card.

Any thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

[secondcor521]

Looking for some guidance...

I have a few barclay cards that are selling out consistently lately at 2 spots each.  I am wondering if I should increase the # of AU slots from 2 to 3 or possibly even 4.  The only downside I can think of is that I will hit the max AU limit faster on each card.

Any thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

The other main downside is that you may risk increasing your risk of card closure.  And I can tell you from personal experience that if you have a card closed on you with, say, 3 or 4 AUs on there, then you don't get paid for any of them, and it's a moderately major hassle for you and the TL company to deal with.

I personally just set my AU slots to whatever the company recommends.  Occasionally they have asked me to go one additional slot (they had a bug in their scheduling at one point where they were overbooking cards), and generally I've declined.

There is an old phrase "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered" that people might apply here.

[harrydogyo]

So I totally agree that you always run the risk of a shutdown but I list with two companies and they’re both great about telling me when I should be cautious or not.

For instance I have sold over 10 Amex spots some recent months and my Barclays has 13 spots taken right now BUT the same TL companies have told me not to even sell one BofA slot now because of the risks of shutdowns.  Having some flexibility between the two companies has made me money but of course ymmv. 

[Padonak]

Looking for some guidance...

I have a few barclay cards that are selling out consistently lately at 2 spots each.  I am wondering if I should increase the # of AU slots from 2 to 3 or possibly even 4.  The only downside I can think of is that I will hit the max AU limit faster on each card.

Any thoughts?  Thanks in advance!

How did you get a few barclaycards with high enough credit lines to use them for TL sales? I have three cards but can use only one of them for TLs because the total credit limit is quite low and even if they approve an application for a new card they'll just assign a very small credit line. They probably have a relatively low limit on the total credit line per customer.