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

[BikeFanatic]

Yes you are right about Amex resetting, But getting another card is required for the reset I believe. I do that with barclays and Amex sent me another card this time blue cash every day and I added 2 users so the saga continues.

[Reddart67]

Besides Barclays max (~35) and Amex max (99), does anyone know about other cards that have limited AUs and what the approximate numbers are?

[harrydogyo]

Some cards like Discover you can only add 5 max at a time, same for Elan and TD  I think.  Most cards you don’t want to go over that to cause red flags.  And most while there’s no lifetime cap the shutdown risk means you’re unlikely to add as many as you could get on Barclays or Amex over the life of a card. YMMV 

[MasterStache]

Just started adding AU’s to citi. Any tips to the easiest way to remove them? Someone committed earlier that removing them is easier than adding them.

Typically you get passed off to fraud department when adding an AU so the call tends to take a bit longer. Removing still takes a phone call but the reps do it pretty pretty easily and quickly.

[MasterStache]

What are people's experience with TD Bank and/or NFCU for selling tradelines? Want to expand out a bit to some different cards to season. Just got a new Barclaycard. Still under 5/24 as I've mostly been opening biz cards the last couple years. Looking for a card that's as easy as Barclays and Cap One for adding/removing tradelines.

[harrydogyo]

TD has been pretty hassle free but I have to call in to add. And they gave me a small CL.  Discovers a pretty easy card to get and the it miles matches cash back at the end of year one.  And Elan is a good option as well.  And PNC.

[BikeFanatic]

I have had great luck with TD bank, had to call I think to add the social with my tradeline company. They were quick and reps where pleasant/effective and nice. Also they took alot of users. I remember I was adding 2-3 at a time and like 6 for that month and they remembered me from my previous call! oh oh .
Anyway there was a lifetime user add limit I hit it , it was around 35 and they told me that I had hit it.

[MasterStache]

I may take the plunge with TD Bank. I already have a Discover card. They have annual limits on AUs now though. I don't mind calling if the call is relatively quick and painless and I'm not passed around to fraud departments etc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: NM, I'm not within their footprint ) :

[harrydogyo]

As a reminder even when Discover says you’re maxed as long as you have less than five on the account you can call them in.  And the US based customer makes it super easy.

[katsiki]

I may take the plunge with TD Bank. I already have a Discover card. They have annual limits on AUs now though. I don't mind calling if the call is relatively quick and painless and I'm not passed around to fraud departments etc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: NM, I'm not within their footprint ) :

I might be mistaken but I think the target credit card is available nationwide, is TD and works for TLs.

[secondcor521]

I may take the plunge with TD Bank. I already have a Discover card. They have annual limits on AUs now though. I don't mind calling if the call is relatively quick and painless and I'm not passed around to fraud departments etc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: NM, I'm not within their footprint ) :

I might be mistaken but I think the target credit card is available nationwide, is TD and works for TLs.

@katsiki is correct on all points.  Although when I got mine last year, they gave me a CL that was too low to work for piggybacking purposes (and I have excellent credit! ;-) ).  I may try to do a CLI some time.

[MasterStache]

I may take the plunge with TD Bank. I already have a Discover card. They have annual limits on AUs now though. I don't mind calling if the call is relatively quick and painless and I'm not passed around to fraud departments etc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: NM, I'm not within their footprint ) :

I might be mistaken but I think the target credit card is available nationwide, is TD and works for TLs.

Doh! Thanks for the heads up. I think my spouse has had a Target CC for quite a few years.

[Padonak]

For those who have Care Credit: how do you make occasional purchases to keep the card open? I tried using it at a doctor's office and they didn't accept it. Is there a way to use it online, maybe make a small purchase like vitamins, etc? I need to make a purchase within the next couple of months to keep it open.

[secondcor521]

For those who have Care Credit: how do you make occasional purchases to keep the card open? I tried using it at a doctor's office and they didn't accept it. Is there a way to use it online, maybe make a small purchase like vitamins, etc? I need to make a purchase within the next couple of months to keep it open.

My card's promotional information says:  "To find a provider or retail location in the CareCredit network, visit carecredit.com/useyourcard" which then lets me look up stuff by zip code and type of business.  There were at least 60 locations within 5 miles of my zip code, and included some Walgreens locations, which is probably the easiest option I saw.

[frugalnacho]

For those who have Care Credit: how do you make occasional purchases to keep the card open? I tried using it at a doctor's office and they didn't accept it. Is there a way to use it online, maybe make a small purchase like vitamins, etc? I need to make a purchase within the next couple of months to keep it open.

I go to walgreens.  They accept it like any other credit card.  Their medicines are usually way over priced so we don't usually buy there, but occasionally will if we happen to need something and also need to make a purchase on the care credit.  If we don't any vitamins or medicine I will usually just buy myself some candy.  The candy is over priced too, but we are regularly maxing out our 2 slots at $125 each so I just consider my monthly bag of m&ms a perk.

I have a reminder set up for a few days after the end of the billing cycle, and I try to go put a purchase on it immediately so I won't end up forgetting.  I won't clear the reminder until I make a purchase.  You just have to be careful because my cycle date seems to bounce around, so I always log in and check to ensure the billing cycle has actually changed over. 

[katsiki]

Interesting @frugalnacho

So anything at Walgreens works in your experience?

If so, it might be an easy trick to print a photo for pickup.  Quick and easy.

[BikeFanatic]

I have a 40 k limit on my American Express card, can anyone tell me how much you are getting per user on amex? I only get ten dollars for the 12k amex.

[katsiki]

I have a 40 k limit on my American Express card, can anyone tell me how much you are getting per user on amex? I only get ten dollars for the 12k amex.

Old co is $175 for that limit.  (They are not taking new AMEXs though)

[beekayworld]

For those who have Care Credit: how do you make occasional purchases to keep the card open? I tried using it at a doctor's office and they didn't accept it. Is there a way to use it online, maybe make a small purchase like vitamins, etc? I need to make a purchase within the next couple of months to keep it open.

When you say "occasional" do you mean once per month? It's not a matter of keeping it open; it's a matter of having it post to the AU's credit reports.

The TL companies advise making a small charge every month. The credit card companies don't report to the reporting bureaus if there is no balance, so it won't help the AU's score.

[beekayworld]

Interesting @frugalnacho

So anything at Walgreens works in your experience?

If so, it might be an easy trick to print a photo for pickup.  Quick and easy.

Just make sure it's at least $5 to be on the safe side. Some credit card companies forgive small balances. (I've heard $1 and $1.99, but always charge at least $5 on each card each month.)

[Reddart67]

I got an “Authorized user not added, the information you entered is not correct, contact our customer service dept asap…” when I tried to add my most recent AU for my Barclays card.

Is this the kind of message you get when you reach your max AU limit, or just a glitch for whatever reason when I tried to add them? I tried an hour later and got the same message (and I am sure I answered the challenge questions correctly).

Well, I was able to add 2 more AUs since this rejection, but just got another fail, so I could be at the limit? We’ll see if it’s just a glitch again or permanent this time. I have had 37 AUs total added to this card so far.

[frugalnacho]

Interesting @frugalnacho

So anything at Walgreens works in your experience?

If so, it might be an easy trick to print a photo for pickup.  Quick and easy.

So far.  I've used it at the pharmacy.  I also used it at the regular front register, and yeah it just seems to work like a credit card.  I don't know how they would be able to differentiate between different types of items anyway.  I was originally worried about that since it's supposed to be for doctors or health stuff, but I think they just have a merchant agreement with walgreens similar to how visa or MC would and you could just charge anything from the store. I've bought stamps, candy, OTC medication, and photos so far, and just used it as a credit card with no problems.

[frugalnacho]

For those who have Care Credit: how do you make occasional purchases to keep the card open? I tried using it at a doctor's office and they didn't accept it. Is there a way to use it online, maybe make a small purchase like vitamins, etc? I need to make a purchase within the next couple of months to keep it open.

When you say "occasional" do you mean once per month? It's not a matter of keeping it open; it's a matter of having it post to the AU's credit reports.

The TL companies advise making a small charge every month. The credit card companies don't report to the reporting bureaus if there is no balance, so it won't help the AU's score.

My care credit card was for my wife's Lasik surgery.  They offered her 0% financing for two years, which turned out to just be a care credit card. $3,750 total charge, and a $6,000 limit. We scheduled our monthly payment and tossed it in the junk drawer with no intention of ever using it again.  It then sat idle with no balance for 11 months.  When the old company announced they were going to accept care credit I contacted care credit and requested a limit increase which was immediately granted for $16,000, and I started putting a single charge on it per month at walgreens.  It's been in constant use with 2 AU on it at all times for the last 8 months.

I also never call in to add or remove AU, I just use the online chat.  They occasionally have a ridiculous verification process where they have to send my wife an email, and she has to open a third party website from the secure link they sent and she has to take a 10 second video of her face, and after she submits it she gets a verification code which I then relay to the online chat person.  A bit of a pain in the ass when they do that, but otherwise super easy.

[SusieStache]

What are people's experience with TD Bank and/or NFCU for selling tradelines? Want to expand out a bit to some different cards to season. Just got a new Barclaycard. Still under 5/24 as I've mostly been opening biz cards the last couple years. Looking for a card that's as easy as Barclays and Cap One for adding/removing tradelines.

I've been selling tradelines on my NFCU card since September 2019, with the old tradeline company. 

I opened the NFCU account several years ago to take advantage of a 0% offer.  At the time, dh and I had a mortgage with them.  They gave me a sweet credit line of $30k. 

My tradeline sales with NFCU have been fairly steady, not quite a good as CapOne, but close.  I add AU's online and send a secure message to remove.  The only issue I've had was trying to add an AU who is already an NFCU member - NFCU asked for the member number and I contacted tradeline support, who canceled the order.  This has happened twice.  The second time, I just let the tradeline company know that I was unable to add the AU.

[katsiki]

Interesting @frugalnacho

So anything at Walgreens works in your experience?

If so, it might be an easy trick to print a photo for pickup.  Quick and easy.

So far.  I've used it at the pharmacy.  I also used it at the regular front register, and yeah it just seems to work like a credit card.  I don't know how they would be able to differentiate between different types of items anyway.  I was originally worried about that since it's supposed to be for doctors or health stuff, but I think they just have a merchant agreement with walgreens similar to how visa or MC would and you could just charge anything from the store. I've bought stamps, candy, OTC medication, and photos so far, and just used it as a credit card with no problems.

Thanks for the great details!

[PJC74]

I have a Chase enrolled to old company. I get two adds like clock work every 4 months, add them online and haven’t had an issue.
I had two adds this past month and added them as usual. I received an email from old company asking if I added them. I received their cards, I carried a balance larger than $10.
Chase account in good standing, didn’t get shut down.
Not sure what happened with these last two adds.
Anyone else have a similar issue?

[frugalnacho]

I don't sell TL on my chase cards but I've had similar issues with citi, discover, and amex.  Everything done correctly, but mysteriously an occasional AU won't post properly. My cases were just flukes though as future AU post fine.

[secondcor521]

I have a Chase enrolled to old company. I get two adds like clock work every 4 months, add them online and haven’t had an issue.
I had two adds this past month and added them as usual. I received an email from old company asking if I added them. I received their cards, I carried a balance larger than $10.
Chase account in good standing, didn’t get shut down.
Not sure what happened with these last two adds.
Anyone else have a similar issue?

Some possible ideas:

1.  Did you add them before the statement closing date?  (I'd say by 6pm the night before at the latest.  Adding on the statement closing date is too late.)
2.  Did you have a balance as of the statement closing date?  (Check your statement to be sure.)
3.  Did you 100% get the AU details right - including name, DOB, SSN, address?  (I always copy/paste when I can, and double check every entry.)

IIRC I've only had 1 AU not post when I did everything correctly.

[Michael in ABQ]

After a long dry spell, I just sold all three slots on my Barclays Card - $175 each with the old company. I was starting to look at another tradeline company since prior to this I'd only had one sale in about 7 months.

[Bawlin92]

Long dry spell with the old company. No new adds in 6 months. I imagine this is partly due to the state/direction of the economy, mortgage apps way down etc. But also wondering if I reduced the CLs on my tradeline cards if that would get more spots to sell. I intentionally tried to max CLs for higher commissions, but if they don't sell what's the point?

[mattpew]

Wow, very long thread with lots of info :) Had a few questions on the current state of this hustle:

1) I see old company opened enrollment for cards in the second half of last year, received an overwhelming amount of responses, and hasn't sent out anything else since.  Has the supply-side become saturated?  Is it still possible to net 20-40k year as the OP mentioned was the case back in 2016?

2) The commission schedule outlined in the last announcement was peanuts for cards <2 years old (~25-$50 per) to the point where it doesn't even seem worth it to risk a lifetime shutdown.  Is there anyway to make solid money on these as someone who's only been churning for a few years, or is it mostly a hustle for the seasoned vets here with many accounts open >10 years?

[secondcor521]

Wow, very long thread with lots of info :) Had a few questions on the current state of this hustle:

1) I see old company opened enrollment for cards in the second half of last year, received an overwhelming amount of responses, and hasn't sent out anything else since.  Has the supply-side become saturated?  Is it still possible to net 20-40k year as the OP mentioned was the case back in 2016?

2) The commission schedule outlined in the last announcement was peanuts for cards <2 years old (~25-$50 per) to the point where it doesn't even seem worth it to risk a lifetime shutdown.  Is there anyway to make solid money on these as someone who's only been churning for a few years, or is it mostly a hustle for the seasoned vets here with many accounts open >10 years?

1.  Supply is increasing, definitely.  Hard to tell if the demand side is increasing as well.  I doubt very many people net the $20K to $40K - I viewed those numbers as a theoretical SWAG.  Perhaps @ARS earned close to that if you included referral income.  I also doubt the heavy hitters would be likely to lay out their net earnings publicly.  But I think some have mentioned high four figures annually, and the hourly rate once one has a system in place makes it a very nice side gig.

2.  I personally choose to season cards for two years before enrolling them.  If a card has X slots lifetime, I figure I'd rather sell those slots at $150 per slot than $25/$50.  But with old company at least, the price per card is the same for a 2 year old card as it is a 10 year old card.

I think someone with a few cards that are a few years old can do this, it will just take effort seasoning new and larger lines over time to grow their piggybacking income.  Obviously someone with more, larger, and older lines will earn more.

Also, and I think @ARS mentioned this in the original post, I only piggyback on cards and with companies that I'm 100% willing to receive a lifetime ban.  With 21 CCs across 16 issuers and really only needing one or two for personal use, I wouldn't mind the simplification if it weren't for the piggybacking income.

[MasterStache]

Wow, very long thread with lots of info :) Had a few questions on the current state of this hustle:

1) I see old company opened enrollment for cards in the second half of last year, received an overwhelming amount of responses, and hasn't sent out anything else since.  Has the supply-side become saturated?  Is it still possible to net 20-40k year as the OP mentioned was the case back in 2016?

2) The commission schedule outlined in the last announcement was peanuts for cards <2 years old (~25-$50 per) to the point where it doesn't even seem worth it to risk a lifetime shutdown.  Is there anyway to make solid money on these as someone who's only been churning for a few years, or is it mostly a hustle for the seasoned vets here with many accounts open >10 years?

I think @secondcor521 summed it up pretty well. I just wanted to add that I personally don't view this as "solid money." More just a side hustle to earn a little extra where the amount I earn can and does vary widely. Dry spells, cards getting shut down, etc. In other words I don't rely on the money. I treat all my side hustles that way with exception of my actual business.

[salt cured]

How do you all get CL increases on new cards? I have a few with sub-$10k limits (e.g., $6k or $4k) that I've tried to get increased without success. In the past, I've had low utilization on the cards in question (which I think was cited reason for the denials), so I've now run up one card to about 50% and plan to call and ask for an increase. Does threatening to close the card help? I think I'll close it anyway if they refuse...maybe the decrease in total credit will make it easier to get other CL increased?

[Michael in ABQ]

How do you all get CL increases on new cards? I have a few with sub-$10k limits (e.g., $6k or $4k) that I've tried to get increased without success. In the past, I've had low utilization on the cards in question (which I think was cited reason for the denials), so I've now run up one card to about 50% and plan to call and ask for an increase. Does threatening to close the card help? I think I'll close it anyway if they refuse...maybe the decrease in total credit will make it easier to get other CL increased?

Having some utilization on the card and saying I had some big purchases coming up and didn't want my utilization to go too high. Obviously if you're trying to keep it under 10-15% for TL sales the former won't really work. Also, if your household income goes up that can be enough to get a CL increase approved. It depends on if it's an automated process or you talk to a real person.

[MoneyTree]

How do you all get CL increases on new cards? I have a few with sub-$10k limits (e.g., $6k or $4k) that I've tried to get increased without success. In the past, I've had low utilization on the cards in question (which I think was cited reason for the denials), so I've now run up one card to about 50% and plan to call and ask for an increase. Does threatening to close the card help? I think I'll close it anyway if they refuse...maybe the decrease in total credit will make it easier to get other CL increased?

I don't have any way to verify this, but anecdotally i have noticed that I have received higher initial limits when I've opened a bank's "premium" cards. These are the ones that generally will have annual fees. If possible, try to find those that can be downgraded or product changed later on to a card without an annual fee. I've done this and been able to keep the original limit.

Another way to approach this is to work with cards from a bank that is agreeable to reallocating your credit limits. You would then be able to get to higher limits by combining them onto a card that you want a higher limit for. For cards that I regularly use and don't want to sell TLs on, i will request limit increases on them because they have regular activity on them, then I will transfer the excess credit that I don't need onto a card that I am solely selling tradelines on.

[katsiki]

MoneyTree is correct.  Look for "visa signature".  Many come without an annual fee too.

It also helps if you get one of those to boost CL's on new cards opened AFTER that one.

[MasterStache]

Welp, just ran up against the AU limit on my Barclaycard. I knew it was approaching. Time to transfer the CL to my other card and close it out.

[dizzy]

Hey all,

Looking to get my next card for tradeline sales.  Maybe bizarre for a churner but one card I'm looking at is the FNBO Best Western.
My current company doesn't accept FNBO tho.  Do any of the other companies let you sell FNBO tradelines?

[secondcor521]

Hey all,

Looking to get my next card for tradeline sales.  Maybe bizarre for a churner but one card I'm looking at is the FNBO Best Western.
My current company doesn't accept FNBO tho.  Do any of the other companies let you sell FNBO tradelines?

According to my notes, neither of the companies recommended on this thread (Old Company and New Company) accept FNBO.  For others TL companies, I suppose you would have to call and ask specifically.

As a side comment, what I personally have chosen to do is pick a TL company and then choose to apply for CCs that they work with, not the other way around.  In my experience, the piggybacking income beats any actual CC bonuses and also usually beats SUBs in the long run.  Although if you can get a SUB on a card then piggyback on it later, that's the sweet spot IMHO.

[MoneyTree]

Hey all,

Looking to get my next card for tradeline sales.  Maybe bizarre for a churner but one card I'm looking at is the FNBO Best Western.
My current company doesn't accept FNBO tho.  Do any of the other companies let you sell FNBO tradelines?

According to my notes, neither of the companies recommended on this thread (Old Company and New Company) accept FNBO.  For others TL companies, I suppose you would have to call and ask specifically.

As a side comment, what I personally have chosen to do is pick a TL company and then choose to apply for CCs that they work with, not the other way around.  In my experience, the piggybacking income beats any actual CC bonuses and also usually beats SUBs in the long run.  Although if you can get a SUB on a card then piggyback on it later, that's the sweet spot IMHO.

Agreed. I'd pick a card based on my ability to sell tradelines first, and then only consider sign up bonuses and other card perks after. That said, most of the banks that these TL companies sell have a lot of card options with at least some signup bonus, so there's no lack of cards that will get you both.

[Car Jack]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

[secondcor521]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

Not in my experience with them, which included 42 AUs over a 2.5 year time period.

[solon]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

Not in my experience with them, which included 42 AUs over a 2.5 year time period.

I pulled my cards from new company over two years ago. I don't know why anyone wouldn't.

[secondcor521]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

Not in my experience with them, which included 42 AUs over a 2.5 year time period.

I pulled my cards from new company over two years ago. I don't know why anyone wouldn't.

Likewise, which is why I wrote in the past tense.

[MoneyTree]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

Never once got paid without sending multiple emails. I'm convinced they do this intentionally and hope some people forget or give up chasing down their payments.

[MoseyingAlong]

It seems I've been getting some pretty regular adds from the "new" company.  Sigh.  Do they ever actually pay without sending Cliff 10 emails, then copying Joe?

Not in my experience with them, which included 42 AUs over a 2.5 year time period.

I pulled my cards from new company over two years ago. I don't know why anyone wouldn't.

I stay with them because they sell spots on my cards. The other company doesn't max out my cards.

Twice a year, I email Clif with a list of AU's initials that I'm expecting payments on. The first email usually doesn't get a response. So a week or two later, I resend it and that usually prompts a payment. Yeah, it's not as smooth as the other company but it's income that the other company isn't generating for me. 2 extra emails to earn $1,000+...yeah, I'll do that.

Now if the other company were selling all (or most) of the available spots, it'd be a different decision.

[arebelspy]

Agree with all of the above. It's beyond frustrating, and seems much more likely intentional than incompetence, which is awful.

That being said, the rest of the business runs smoothly and I still use them for cards Old Company won't take.

But vastly prefer the other option.

[MasterStache]

I pulled all my cards from the new company. Stayed with them for a few years hoping they would fix the payment issue but obviously that didn't happen. I only sold a few slots a year so it really isn't a big loss.

Anyone who is still with them should also be aware that they under paid me twice. I keep diligent records so I know what I am supposed to receive. 

[SilverAg47]

I have also mainly switched everything over from the New Company over to the Old Company due to the hassle of actually getting paid, but I do have a few left there.  Does anyone know if the New Company has the same strict policy of 10% or less utilization at statement cut date?