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

[MoseyingAlong]

A couple of questions to those who had their Chase accounts shut down for AU activity. I know that Chase closes all the accounts and potentially bans you for life.
-Were you able to redeem UR points after they notified you of account closure? If so, were you able to transfer them to partner airlines or hotels or only redeem for cash?
-If you had checking or savings accounts with some funds deposited, what happened? Did Chase close the accounts too? How did you get the money from those accounts?

I have not had any Chase accounts shut down.  However, my understanding of your two questions based on a lot of reading is:

1.  You would lose all URs and neither be able to redeem them for cash nor transfer them to any travel partners.
2.  They don't close checking/savings accounts for AU activity.  What they reportedly do is close all Chase CCs regardless of whether or not you were using all Chase cards for AUs or just a subset.

My experience does not agree with point #1.
Chase shut me down a year ago and I was able to redeem all my UR points for cash after being notified of the closure.

[secondcor521]

A couple of questions to those who had their Chase accounts shut down for AU activity. I know that Chase closes all the accounts and potentially bans you for life.
-Were you able to redeem UR points after they notified you of account closure? If so, were you able to transfer them to partner airlines or hotels or only redeem for cash?
-If you had checking or savings accounts with some funds deposited, what happened? Did Chase close the accounts too? How did you get the money from those accounts?

I have not had any Chase accounts shut down.  However, my understanding of your two questions based on a lot of reading is:

1.  You would lose all URs and neither be able to redeem them for cash nor transfer them to any travel partners.
2.  They don't close checking/savings accounts for AU activity.  What they reportedly do is close all Chase CCs regardless of whether or not you were using all Chase cards for AUs or just a subset.

My experience does not agree with point #1.
Chase shut me down a year ago and I was able to redeem all my UR points for cash after being notified of the closure.

I would always say that direct experience trumps reading stuff on the internet, so your experience is probably more relevant to the question.  Thanks for the comment/correction!

[secondcor521]

Anyone hear if Capital One cards are off the pause/hold at Good Company?

[MoMoney88]

"Chase shut me down a year ago and I was able to redeem all my UR points for cash after being notified of the closure."

This right here falls into the "reading stuff on the internet from an anonymous poster" category!    Just sayin'!   :-)

[Spitfire]

Anyone hear if Capital One cards are off the pause/hold at Good Company?

I was told they were on pause but a week later (last week) they asked if I wanted to proceed on a four month cycle, knowing that some cards have been shut down. I haven't personally had a problem and don't care much about that card so I agreed. My cycle just ended so I won't attempt to add anyone for a few weeks.

[jeromedawg]

Has anyone had any trouble today or recently adding Barclays AUs?

I'm getting this on the website:
Your request cannot be completed online at this time.We apologize for any inconvenience.

To process your request, please contact Customer Service at 1-866-383-8192.


I'm on the phone now and the first rep I spoke with was unable to process the request to add an AU and I've been transferred twice now...

As others have said, sounds like you hit the lifetime limit, which is between 35 and 40.

They won't be able to add any more AUs to that card.

Best thing to do IMHO is to apply for a new Barclays card, shift all the CL from the old Barclays to the new Barclays, then wait 2 years for it to season.

It turned out to be a system-wide issue at the time I posted. I called in and they couldn't even process it manually because something was going on with their system. I waited until after the weekend and tried again and was able to add the AU.

I didn't realize there is a lifetime limit of 35-40 AUs per card. Sounds like I should maybe apply for another one soon. I'm at no more than a dozen on my card  (and also the same for my wife's Barclay) for the time being I'm pretty sure, so we have some time to go. When you hit the lifetime limit, I'm assuming the card stays open but you just can't add any more AUs right?

[secondcor521]

When you hit the lifetime limit, I'm assuming the card stays open but you just can't add any more AUs right?

Right.

[Padonak]

I have a theoretical/general question. Generally, the people in this TL thread, including me, don't want to deal with less reputable TL companies or sell TLs directly because we want to avoid fraudulent AUs or any other risks. AFAIK, the most common example of AU fraud is using a CPN (basically an illegitimate SSN) and then using TLs to create a credit history for it and make it look legitimate.

What happens when you add AUs to cards where they don't require SSN for it to post (e.g. Barclays)? If you don't enter SSN, does it mean that this card can't be used by shady companies or individuals to make CPNs look legit? Does that protect the card holder from this kind of risk? Does it mean that it's ok to add AUs w/o SSN even with less reputable companies or sell them directly?

[tj]

I have a theoretical/general question. Generally, the people in this TL thread, including me, don't want to deal with less reputable TL companies or sell TLs directly because we want to avoid fraudulent AUs or any other risks. AFAIK, the most common example of AU fraud is using a CPN (basically an illegitimate SSN) and then using TLs to create a credit history for it and make it look legitimate.

What happens when you add AUs to cards where they don't require SSN for it to post (e.g. Barclays)? If you don't enter SSN, does it mean that this card can't be used by shady companies or individuals to make CPNs look legit? Does that protect the card holder from this kind of risk? Does it mean that it's ok to add AUs w/o SSN even with less reputable companies or sell them directly?

I thought people called in thier Barclays AUs because they didn't post without the SSN?

[Reddart67]

I’ve never called in a Barclays ssn. Never had a non posting that I’m aware of.

But it’s been a year since my old card reached the max, so I don’t know if something has changed since then. 

[tj]

I’ve never called in a Barclays ssn. Never had a non posting that I’m aware of.

But it’s been a year since my old card reached the max, so I don’t know if something has changed since then.

Maybe it was Citi? Hmm. IDK! It was like 7 years ago.

[Reddart67]

Barclays is very clean….online add, online removal. No human interaction needed.

I have had problems with Citi not always posting, and calling in a ssn when the TL company requested me to.

[arebelspy]

I have a theoretical/general question. Generally, the people in this TL thread, including me, don't want to deal with less reputable TL companies or sell TLs directly because we want to avoid fraudulent AUs or any other risks. AFAIK, the most common example of AU fraud is using a CPN (basically an illegitimate SSN) and then using TLs to create a credit history for it and make it look legitimate.

What happens when you add AUs to cards where they don't require SSN for it to post (e.g. Barclays)? If you don't enter SSN, does it mean that this card can't be used by shady companies or individuals to make CPNs look legit? Does that protect the card holder from this kind of risk? Does it mean that it's ok to add AUs w/o SSN even with less reputable companies or sell them directly?

That makes a certain kind of sense. I think there are other types of fraud, but for that specific one, sure.

With Barclays historically not caring about AUs at all, really, and not shutting anyone down, it does seem like you could ramp up the risk on the company side and be okay, if you were getting paid more. (Though if you add too many at once, Barclays sometimes doesn't post them, so that's a risk to navigate.)

[catccc]

This is a really long thread, so hopefully someone can chime in and help out.  I considered selling tradelines several years ago but never did. 

I'm now thinking about doing it again, but at an extremely slow clip, one that will not concern the banks.  I don't know what this velocity is, and it probably varies by bank.  I'm looking at Discover (29 yrs, 15K).  I also have a fair number of chase cards, but I'm a points and miles hobbyist and really value my relationship with chase. My oldest chase card is 16 yrs w/ 10K CL, but I can make that higher easily.  I'm trying to go for quality over quantity here, and may just stick with these two cards. 

Here are my questions:
How slow do I need to go to ensure safety from bank anger?  How would 2 AUs per card per year look?
How long do you leave the AU on?  Would longer command a higher price? 
Does card utilization % factor in here at all?
I'd like to sell on ebay, anything I need to know before I do that?

[tj]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

[catccc]

I've seen them sold there.  I figured at my scale (or lack of) it would be a simpler solution.

[tj]

I've seen them sold there.  I figured at my scale (or lack of) it would be a simpler solution.

I think the (mostly) consensus here for the last several years is to use the two vetted companies.

[WayDownSouth]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I've seen it. I think most people here who have researched are aware that people sell everywhere - craigslist, eBay, etc..

I'm also extremely interested in hearing about the length of time - SPECIFICALLY about add/removal dates. I would like to hear various replies from experienced users with many cards about how many tradelines you think/know you can sell each year, per slot (not per card).

I don't see it mathematically possible, for example, to have 6 sales per slot, per year. Especially when each purchaser requires 2 months of time actually ON the card as an AU - not just 2 sequential credit reports saying that the tradeline appears. In reality, if the prior sentence were the case, they could be removed directly after the second posting appeared on the report. This means they're not LIVE on the card as an AU for a full 2 months as they're led to believe. It also means potential for failure, non-payment, and wasted time, etc..

Thoughts?

[secondcor521]

Here are my questions:
[1] How slow do I need to go to ensure safety from bank anger?  How would 2 AUs per card per year look?
[2] How long do you leave the AU on?  Would longer command a higher price? 
[3] Does card utilization % factor in here at all?
[4] I'd like to sell on ebay, anything I need to know before I do that?

[Numbers added for reference.]

1.  Nobody knows for sure, there are no guarantees.  Less activity is probably safer.  Using recommended companies is probably safer.  Following their recommendations is probably safer.  The general rule of thumb is to not add AUs to any tradeline that you're not willing to have the bank close on you.  I use a recommended company and follow their guidelines on everything.  I've had probably 150 AUs and have had two cards closed, one card with a weird issue, and one issuer call and ask me nicely to stop.  But I don't mind breakage.

2.  I follow the recommendations of Good Company.  It varies from 2 months to 4 months, depending on issuer.  Pay rate is mostly based on CL and age.  If you're selling directly, you can negotiate whatever you want.  More money for longer makes sense.  I occasionally will have a "renewal order" where an AU apparently didn't get their stuff done in the first slot, so they pay again for a second consecutive slot.

3.  You're expected to have at least some utilization so the card posts to the AU's credit report.  You're expected to keep utilization under 10% so it doesn't adversely affect the AU's credit.  Anywhere in between is fine.

4.  No idea.  I wouldn't do it personally, but I can understand the appeal.

I'm also extremely interested in hearing about the length of time - SPECIFICALLY about add/removal dates. I would like to hear various replies from experienced users with many cards about how many tradelines you think/know you can sell each year, per slot (not per card).

I don't see it mathematically possible, for example, to have 6 sales per slot, per year. Especially when each purchaser requires 2 months of time actually ON the card as an AU - not just 2 sequential credit reports saying that the tradeline appears. In reality, if the prior sentence were the case, they could be removed directly after the second posting appeared on the report. This means they're not LIVE on the card as an AU for a full 2 months as they're led to believe. It also means potential for failure, non-payment, and wasted time, etc..

Thoughts?

As noted above, I follow Good Company recommendations on length of time to leave them on the card.  Usually the order gets released to me and added to the card just before statement close - usually a few days.

I leave the AU on until the recommended remove date.  I generally remove them on that date or a day or two later.  I keep track of the number of days each AU is on (because it's easy to track in my spreadsheet).  Usually "two cycles" equates to 55 to 63 days.  Similar numbers for "three cycles" and "four cycles".

With Good Company, since I have X slots per card, they will sometimes sell a slot that is in the process of being vacated.  So if I have two slots on a card and they are both filled by AUs, and the cycle date is coming up, they'll have me remove one of the existing AUs, say, 3 days before cycle date, then add a new AU 2 days before cycle date.  Very rarely the dates will overlap by a day or two, or I choose to wait because they release the new AU order to me a day or two before the old AU is due to come off.

So the TLDR is that Good Company seems to want you to have them on for "number of cycles" minus a few days.

Good Company generally guarantees to pay if it posts and you leave them on until the "remove date" listed on their portal.  I just keep a tickler in my to do file for the date on which my next AU is to be removed, so it's pretty easy.

[catccc]

2.  I follow the recommendations of Good Company.  It varies from 2 months to 4 months, depending on issuer.  Pay rate is mostly based on CL and age.  If you're selling directly, you can negotiate whatever you want.  More money for longer makes sense.  I occasionally will have a "renewal order" where an AU apparently didn't get their stuff done in the first slot, so they pay again for a second consecutive slot.

Is there any value to the AU to be on for 6 months v 3 months?  Or does it not matter, once it is reported once or twice, they've gotten their value?

[secondcor521]

2.  I follow the recommendations of Good Company.  It varies from 2 months to 4 months, depending on issuer.  Pay rate is mostly based on CL and age.  If you're selling directly, you can negotiate whatever you want.  More money for longer makes sense.  I occasionally will have a "renewal order" where an AU apparently didn't get their stuff done in the first slot, so they pay again for a second consecutive slot.

Is there any value to the AU to be on for 6 months v 3 months?  Or does it not matter, once it is reported once or twice, they've gotten their value?

That's for the AU to decide, not me.  Presumably most AUs get most of their value the first month or two, but as noted before, AUs can extend orders if they want more time.

There is a modest benefit to us to have the AU on longer, though.  Good Company seems to think that having them on longer reduces the risk of shut down.  So they set the number of cycles on a per issuer basis; more cycles for historically higher shutdown risks.

[kindoflost]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

[solon]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

That's pretty interesting. How did you avoid fraudulent AUs?

[WayDownSouth]

Here are my questions:
[1] How slow do I need to go to ensure safety from bank anger?  How would 2 AUs per card per year look?
[2] How long do you leave the AU on?  Would longer command a higher price? 
[3] Does card utilization % factor in here at all?
[4] I'd like to sell on ebay, anything I need to know before I do that?

[Numbers added for reference.]

1.  Nobody knows for sure, there are no guarantees.  Less activity is probably safer.  Using recommended companies is probably safer.  Following their recommendations is probably safer.  The general rule of thumb is to not add AUs to any tradeline that you're not willing to have the bank close on you.  I use a recommended company and follow their guidelines on everything.  I've had probably 150 AUs and have had two cards closed, one card with a weird issue, and one issuer call and ask me nicely to stop.  But I don't mind breakage.

2.  I follow the recommendations of Good Company.  It varies from 2 months to 4 months, depending on issuer.  Pay rate is mostly based on CL and age.  If you're selling directly, you can negotiate whatever you want.  More money for longer makes sense.  I occasionally will have a "renewal order" where an AU apparently didn't get their stuff done in the first slot, so they pay again for a second consecutive slot.

3.  You're expected to have at least some utilization so the card posts to the AU's credit report.  You're expected to keep utilization under 10% so it doesn't adversely affect the AU's credit.  Anywhere in between is fine.

4.  No idea.  I wouldn't do it personally, but I can understand the appeal.

I'm also extremely interested in hearing about the length of time - SPECIFICALLY about add/removal dates. I would like to hear various replies from experienced users with many cards about how many tradelines you think/know you can sell each year, per slot (not per card).

I don't see it mathematically possible, for example, to have 6 sales per slot, per year. Especially when each purchaser requires 2 months of time actually ON the card as an AU - not just 2 sequential credit reports saying that the tradeline appears. In reality, if the prior sentence were the case, they could be removed directly after the second posting appeared on the report. This means they're not LIVE on the card as an AU for a full 2 months as they're led to believe. It also means potential for failure, non-payment, and wasted time, etc..

Thoughts?

As noted above, I follow Good Company recommendations on length of time to leave them on the card.  Usually the order gets released to me and added to the card just before statement close - usually a few days.

I leave the AU on until the recommended remove date.  I generally remove them on that date or a day or two later.  I keep track of the number of days each AU is on (because it's easy to track in my spreadsheet).  Usually "two cycles" equates to 55 to 63 days.  Similar numbers for "three cycles" and "four cycles".

With Good Company, since I have X slots per card, they will sometimes sell a slot that is in the process of being vacated.  So if I have two slots on a card and they are both filled by AUs, and the cycle date is coming up, they'll have me remove one of the existing AUs, say, 3 days before cycle date, then add a new AU 2 days before cycle date.  Very rarely the dates will overlap by a day or two, or I choose to wait because they release the new AU order to me a day or two before the old AU is due to come off.

So the TLDR is that Good Company seems to want you to have them on for "number of cycles" minus a few days.

Good Company generally guarantees to pay if it posts and you leave them on until the "remove date" listed on their portal.  I just keep a tickler in my to do file for the date on which my next AU is to be removed, so it's pretty easy.

Gotcha, thanks for your input. I have a hard time squeezing in 5 if the timing is right but I find it literally impossible to get 6 sales completed on a slot per 12 months.

[Padonak]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

Which cards did you use for Ebay sales? Did you use any cards that require you to provide AU's SSN? How did you screen your customers, for example to make sure their SSN really belongs to them?

[kindoflost]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

That's pretty interesting. How did you avoid fraudulent AUs?

I asked the buyer for their credit karma credentials (like the brokers do) and pics of driving license and SS card (what other eBay sellers were doing)

[kindoflost]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

Which cards did you use for Ebay sales? Did you use any cards that require you to provide AU's SSN? How did you screen your customers, for example to make sure their SSN really belongs to them?

Citi, BoA, Chase, AmEx, Cap One

[Padonak]

That makes a certain kind of sense. I think there are other types of fraud, but for that specific one, sure.

With Barclays historically not caring about AUs at all, really, and not shutting anyone down, it does seem like you could ramp up the risk on the company side and be okay, if you were getting paid more. (Though if you add too many at once, Barclays sometimes doesn't post them, so that's a risk to navigate.)

What are other types of fraud or risk to account holders, particularly those that we are still exposed to even if we use cards that don't require adding SSN? One risk I can think of is AUs being able to get cards and/or online access and spend money. Never happened to me but I heard of a few cases where AUs somehow managed to get around bank security rules and get account access. I think it's extremely rare and not worth worrying about.

[catccc]

Sell tradelines on Ebay? I've never heard of that.

I sold tradelines on eBay for a few months when I started this activity two years ago. I think I got banned by eBay because I did too well. If you decide to give it a try take it easy and try to stay under the radar. I think my mistake was that I made too much too quickly and either eBay itself banned me because I went above some sell amount or some competitor also selling tradelines flagged me. One of my buyers came back for a second tradeline and when I told them I could not sell told me that eBay "cleans up" every so often...
I had two reasons to try eBay: I don't like that the brokers get 70/75% of the selling price and also back then I had cards that I opened to get seasoned and were below the 2 years minimum asked by most brokers but buyers on eBay didn't mind.
HTH

That's pretty interesting. How did you avoid fraudulent AUs?

I asked the buyer for their credit karma credentials (like the brokers do) and pics of driving license and SS card (what other eBay sellers were doing)

Super helpful, thank you!

[solon]

I wonder why our tradeline companies don't post on ebay?

[secondcor521]

I wonder why our tradeline companies don't post on ebay?

Extra fees.

[WayDownSouth]

I wonder why our tradeline companies don't post on ebay?

I think it's because it's hard to beat the prices of eBay competition, the security isn't there for secure transfer of personal info, most of us don't want our lines sold through eBay, and no informed buyer wants to send their most personal details & docs over that system. I'm not sure if eBay rules prohibit it in one way or another but you can get totally away with it it seems.

Also imagine trying to manage sales/records/listings/payments using eBay as a platform when you already have a dedicated website developed for the same very specific use. It doesn't make sense for an existing & legitimate tradeline business to sell through there. I know for one that I'd be extremely pissed off if I found out my company was doing that with my cards.

[Padonak]

I wonder why our tradeline companies don't post on ebay?

I think it's because it's hard to beat the prices of eBay competition, the security isn't there for secure transfer of personal info, most of us don't want our lines sold through eBay, and no informed buyer wants to send their most personal details & docs over that system. I'm not sure if eBay rules prohibit it in one way or another but you can get totally away with it it seems.

Also imagine trying to manage sales/records/listings/payments using eBay as a platform when you already have a dedicated website developed for the same very specific use. It doesn't make sense for an existing & legitimate tradeline business to sell through there. I know for one that I'd be extremely pissed off if I found out my company was doing that with my cards.

How do those legitimate tradeline businesses advertise and find customers, other than posting available tradelines on their own websites? Do they work with other partners that provide them leads, such as credit repair companies?

[salt cured]

Question about Discover and Capital One: When the AU's card is mailed out, whose name is on the envelop, the account owner or the AU?

I ended up having my Citi card closed because my mail forwarding service was sending back cards because they were addressed to the AU. I was going to put a Discover and a Capital One up for sale but will hold off if they also use the AU's name.

[WayDownSouth]

I wonder why our tradeline companies don't post on ebay?

I think it's because it's hard to beat the prices of eBay competition, the security isn't there for secure transfer of personal info, most of us don't want our lines sold through eBay, and no informed buyer wants to send their most personal details & docs over that system. I'm not sure if eBay rules prohibit it in one way or another but you can get totally away with it it seems.

Also imagine trying to manage sales/records/listings/payments using eBay as a platform when you already have a dedicated website developed for the same very specific use. It doesn't make sense for an existing & legitimate tradeline business to sell through there. I know for one that I'd be extremely pissed off if I found out my company was doing that with my cards.

How do those legitimate tradeline businesses advertise and find customers, other than posting available tradelines on their own websites? Do they work with other partners that provide them leads, such as credit repair companies?

Every successful web-based company in the world requires a method for getting leads, usually from within their industry or a related one. But I mean if you're asking, I don't think any tradeline companies are advertising on eBay.

[Padonak]

Question about Discover and Capital One: When the AU's card is mailed out, whose name is on the envelop, the account owner or the AU?

I ended up having my Citi card closed because my mail forwarding service was sending back cards because they were addressed to the AU. I was going to put a Discover and a Capital One up for sale but will hold off if they also use the AU's name.

The most recent Capital One AU card was mailed to my address but had the AU's name on it. Another problem with Cap One is that to enter AU's SSN, you need to consent to give them online access. You can still enter your email and phone but what if the AU calls Cape one and changes it?

[Padonak]

Every successful web-based company in the world requires a method for getting leads, usually from within their industry or a related one. But I mean if you're asking, I don't think any tradeline companies are advertising on eBay.

Yes, I understand that. I wonder where they get most of their leads though...google search, social media ads, credit repair companies, other partner companies?

[WayDownSouth]

Every successful web-based company in the world requires a method for getting leads, usually from within their industry or a related one. But I mean if you're asking, I don't think any tradeline companies are advertising on eBay.

Yes, I understand that. I wonder where they get most of their leads though...google search, social media ads, credit repair companies, other partner companies?

I'd say all of the above and then some. Several tradeline companies seem to do credit repair services too, which I personally am not fond of.  But as far as where the majority of those leads come from, it would have to depend entirely on the company and their strategy.

[solon]

Every successful web-based company in the world requires a method for getting leads, usually from within their industry or a related one. But I mean if you're asking, I don't think any tradeline companies are advertising on eBay.

Yes, I understand that. I wonder where they get most of their leads though...google search, social media ads, credit repair companies, other partner companies?

I'd say all of the above and then some. Several tradeline companies seem to do credit repair services too, which I personally am not fond of.  But as far as where the majority of those leads come from, it would have to depend entirely on the company and their strategy.

I actually tried to set up a tradeline company once. Abandoned the project because I couldn't figure out where I would get customers.

[Padonak]

I actually tried to set up a tradeline company once. Abandoned the project because I couldn't figure out where I would get customers.

Yeah I was considering doing the same but I hate sales...so I guess we have to keep giving TL companies 70-80% of the revenue and taking 100% of the risk of account closure.

[WayDownSouth]

I actually tried to set up a tradeline company once. Abandoned the project because I couldn't figure out where I would get customers.

Yeah I was considering doing the same but I hate sales...so I guess we have to keep giving TL companies 70-80% of the revenue and taking 100% of the risk of account closure.

In reality most people lessen the risk of closure by using a company. If it's a good company and they use good practices and advice, they'll know more than we know as an average seller. Your chances of closures by selling on eBay are probably much higher unless you're really experienced. IMO it'd be too much to keep up with but it would depend entirely on what tradelines you wanted to sell, for how long, etc... Good tradeline companies should protect the buyer and seller and provide a good service. I think it's about a lot more than just having your own sales platform.

I mean, look at this forum. How many years of combined experience with people using various companies and even the companies don't know everything they wish they knew. We share info here every day and sometimes it's only one or two people who have a good answer. We learn new shit every day so when you've got several cards you're dealing with, it's pretty logical to use a company rather than sell them yourself. In contrast, I'm sure there are some people selling themselves and doing very well but the work might be a lot more intensive and risky.

[Padonak]

In reality most people lessen the risk of closure by using a company. If it's a good company and they use good practices and advice, they'll know more than we know as an average seller. Your chances of closures by selling on eBay are probably much higher unless you're really experienced. IMO it'd be too much to keep up with but it would depend entirely on what tradelines you wanted to sell, for how long, etc... Good tradeline companies should protect the buyer and seller and provide a good service. I think it's about a lot more than just having your own sales platform.

I mean, look at this forum. How many years of combined experience with people using various companies and even the companies don't know everything they wish they knew. We share info here every day and sometimes it's only one or two people who have a good answer. We learn new shit every day so when you've got several cards you're dealing with, it's pretty logical to use a company rather than sell them yourself. In contrast, I'm sure there are some people selling themselves and doing very well but the work might be a lot more intensive and risky.

The Good Company publishes their rules and best practices including which TLs are accepted, how long should you keep them depending on the issuer, even max number of TLs per card for certain issuers. This information is available to every seller. All we need to do to minimize (though not completely eliminate) the risk of closure is follow the best practices no matter where we sell TLs (even if we sell them directly).

The risk of dealing with shady customers w/o real SSN can be mitigated by requiring SSN cards and/or using credit cards that don't require SSNs to add TLs.

The only other risk I can think of is AUs somehow getting account access or physical cards which is extremely rare. It also doesn't disappear if you're working with reputable TL companies.

Any other risks you are aware of that can be mitigated or avoided by going though TL companies vs selling directly?

[secondcor521]

Any other risks you are aware of that can be mitigated or avoided by going though TL companies vs selling directly?

Not who you asked, but one risk mitigation that TL companies provide is early warning of broad account closure activities.  As a recent example, I have a Cap One card listed with Good Company that did not get shut down because Good Company saw Cap One initiate a round of account closures and intervened as it happened to protect the rest of us.  It obviously didn't protect everyone, but it probably protected most.  Selling directly it would be harder to obtain that level of knowledge and protection.

Good Company also has knowledge about how to do identity checks and validation of the AU.  It's probably not impossible to learn the basics, but presumably over thousands of AUs they've gained expertise in this area that I would be hard pressed, as an individual seller, to learn.  Frankly, I also don't want to learn that stuff.

The hassle of maintaining the infrastructure should also not be understated.  I have sold a few slots privately, and keeping track of when to add them, when to remove them, arranging and collecting payment, communicating with the client, getting their info to add, answering their questions, reserving the AU slot to make sure I didn't oversell the card, keeping track of the income for tax purposes, and dealing with customers who ended up not buying a slot were all activities I had to do myself on those sales that normally would be handled by Good Company.  The higher revenue did make it worth it to me in those few cases, but I did also notice the additional work.

[salt cured]

Question about Discover and Capital One: When the AU's card is mailed out, whose name is on the envelop, the account owner or the AU?

I ended up having my Citi card closed because my mail forwarding service was sending back cards because they were addressed to the AU. I was going to put a Discover and a Capital One up for sale but will hold off if they also use the AU's name.

The most recent Capital One AU card was mailed to my address but had the AU's name on it. Another problem with Cap One is that to enter AU's SSN, you need to consent to give them online access. You can still enter your email and phone but what if the AU calls Cape one and changes it?

Thanks that's really good to know.

[WayDownSouth]

In reality most people lessen the risk of closure by using a company. If it's a good company and they use good practices and advice, they'll know more than we know as an average seller. Your chances of closures by selling on eBay are probably much higher unless you're really experienced. IMO it'd be too much to keep up with but it would depend entirely on what tradelines you wanted to sell, for how long, etc... Good tradeline companies should protect the buyer and seller and provide a good service. I think it's about a lot more than just having your own sales platform.

I mean, look at this forum. How many years of combined experience with people using various companies and even the companies don't know everything they wish they knew. We share info here every day and sometimes it's only one or two people who have a good answer. We learn new shit every day so when you've got several cards you're dealing with, it's pretty logical to use a company rather than sell them yourself. In contrast, I'm sure there are some people selling themselves and doing very well but the work might be a lot more intensive and risky.

The Good Company publishes their rules and best practices including which TLs are accepted, how long should you keep them depending on the issuer, even max number of TLs per card for certain issuers. This information is available to every seller. All we need to do to minimize (though not completely eliminate) the risk of closure is follow the best practices no matter where we sell TLs (even if we sell them directly).

The risk of dealing with shady customers w/o real SSN can be mitigated by requiring SSN cards and/or using credit cards that don't require SSNs to add TLs.

The only other risk I can think of is AUs somehow getting account access or physical cards which is extremely rare. It also doesn't disappear if you're working with reputable TL companies.

Any other risks you are aware of that can be mitigated or avoided by going though TL companies vs selling directly?

I could probably think of another 5 or 10 risks that could be mitigated or completely avoided if I took my time but the main one  - that I think you're underestimating - is dealing with shady customers, avoiding fake identities, screening, etc.. Providing a SS card doesn't quite cut it. Adding cards that don't require SSN to avoid that is an even worse idea because now you're REALLY opening up that door. Via a tradeline company you have ZERO direct contact with that buyer and that's ideally what you want. 

Not to mention that things are changing all the time and while there are usually rules to go by from each company, you may not always get the latest info or be updated unless you're holding that specific card live in their inventory. A lot of that info can be found here but people don't necessarily post every time there's a slight change in operation for risk mitigation or safety reasons. New and different things are almost always popping up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you about selling directly if that's what you chose to do. You'll definitely make more money per sale if you do it right. But the risks should not be underestimated.

I would personally do it if it were hassle-free, but I have too many cards AND the point of this is to make money with as little work as humanly possible - not to be trying to run my own background checks and be receiving images of people's social security cards via eBay messages or email. Think about it.

[Padonak]

I could probably think of another 5 or 10 risks that could be mitigated or completely avoided if I took my time but the main one  - that I think you're underestimating - is dealing with shady customers, avoiding fake identities, screening, etc.. Providing a SS card doesn't quite cut it. Adding cards that don't require SSN to avoid that is an even worse idea because now you're REALLY opening up that door. Via a tradeline company you have ZERO direct contact with that buyer and that's ideally what you want. 

Why does using cards that don't require SSN open up that door? The way I see it, if someone wants to create a fake identity with a fake SSN (aka CPN), they will add tradelines WITH that SSN. It is possible that they can use other tradelines, that don't require SSN, to add more credit history to their fake profile but only if the bureau reports for those tradelines are somehow linked to the fake SSN even though it wasn't provided in the first place. Even if it happens and the shady customer gets caught, as long as all the other details are real (name, DOB, address), the account holder who added them won't be responsible because they didn't enter the fake SSN in the first place.

[Padonak]

Not to mention that things are changing all the time and while there are usually rules to go by from each company, you may not always get the latest info or be updated unless you're holding that specific card live in their inventory. A lot of that info can be found here but people don't necessarily post every time there's a slight change in operation for risk mitigation or safety reasons. New and different things are almost always popping up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you about selling directly if that's what you chose to do. You'll definitely make more money per sale if you do it right. But the risks should not be underestimated.

I would personally do it if it were hassle-free, but I have too many cards AND the point of this is to make money with as little work as humanly possible - not to be trying to run my own background checks and be receiving images of people's social security cards via eBay messages or email. Think about it.

Regarding things changing all the time, you can still keep selling some TLs with reputable companies, getting updates from them, following their best practices and also selling other TLs directly. Besides, the most important changes are usually discussed here in this thread as well.

I have never sold TLs directly. Haven't decided yet if I should, either. Just trying to get more information at this point. I agree with you that selling directly can be a lot more hassle. Probably not worth it for those who just try to make a little bit of side hustle money doing as little work as possible.

[WayDownSouth]

I could probably think of another 5 or 10 risks that could be mitigated or completely avoided if I took my time but the main one  - that I think you're underestimating - is dealing with shady customers, avoiding fake identities, screening, etc.. Providing a SS card doesn't quite cut it. Adding cards that don't require SSN to avoid that is an even worse idea because now you're REALLY opening up that door. Via a tradeline company you have ZERO direct contact with that buyer and that's ideally what you want. 

Why does using cards that don't require SSN open up that door? The way I see it, if someone wants to create a fake identity with a fake SSN (aka CPN), they will add tradelines WITH that SSN. It is possible that they can use other tradelines, that don't require SSN, to add more credit history to their fake profile but only if the bureau reports for those tradelines are somehow linked to the fake SSN even though it wasn't provided in the first place. Even if it happens and the shady customer gets caught, as long as all the other details are real (name, DOB, address), the account holder who added them won't be responsible because they didn't enter the fake SSN in the first place.

Well you previously said:

"The risk of dealing with shady customers w/o real SSN can be mitigated by requiring SSN cards and/or using credit cards that don't require SSNs to add TLs. "

I interpreted that as saying "You could just not ask them for SSN and simply sell your tradelines of the card issuers who don't require an SSN."

If that's the case, think about the reason that tradeline companies require a SSN from buyers and do background checks in the first place. In short, you'd be adding more risk if I'm correct.

Like you, I've never sold my own tradelines directly either.

[WayDownSouth]

Not to mention that things are changing all the time and while there are usually rules to go by from each company, you may not always get the latest info or be updated unless you're holding that specific card live in their inventory. A lot of that info can be found here but people don't necessarily post every time there's a slight change in operation for risk mitigation or safety reasons. New and different things are almost always popping up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging you about selling directly if that's what you chose to do. You'll definitely make more money per sale if you do it right. But the risks should not be underestimated.

I would personally do it if it were hassle-free, but I have too many cards AND the point of this is to make money with as little work as humanly possible - not to be trying to run my own background checks and be receiving images of people's social security cards via eBay messages or email. Think about it.

Regarding things changing all the time, you can still keep selling some TLs with reputable companies, getting updates from them, following their best practices and also selling other TLs directly. Besides, the most important changes are usually discussed here in this thread as well.

I have never sold TLs directly. Haven't decided yet if I should, either. Just trying to get more information at this point. I agree with you that selling directly can be a lot more hassle. Probably not worth it for those who just try to make a little bit of side hustle money doing as little work as possible.

I never said you couldn't do that theoretically. You could do a number of things. If you're inclined to do it than do it and report back.

I know at least a handful of companies require/request (although it's not like they can prevent you from doing what you want) that any cards you sell with them be limited to selling with them.

For example, let's say you have 1 card and decide to sell 2 slots with company A and two slots on eBay. If there is a non-posting issue or a closure, they should be able to investigate and find out if you get paid still, or whether or not to refund the client, and at the end of the day I assume they want to have some level of control over what's been going on with that tradeline. And if you only have one capital one card and an announcement goes out to all capital one holders, great. But if you're not splitting that line between the company and selling direct, you may not receive that info in time, or at all.

Again, IMHO it just seems to complicate things. I could care less what other people do but this is easy money and I like the setup I've got and I don't want to dedicate a lot of time to the processes themselves. It's more enjoyable to talk about it and discuss tradelines than it is to deal with the problems that IMO would potentially arise for me by selling them myself, direct to a buyer. Everything that @secondcor521 posted was much more informative and succinct than what I'm telling you now... and he used a lot less words to explain it. 

[Padonak]

I interpreted that as saying "You could just not ask them for SSN and simply sell your tradelines of the card issuers who don't require an SSN."

If that's the case, think about the reason that tradeline companies require a SSN from buyers and do background checks in the first place. In short, you'd be adding more risk if I'm correct.

Like you, I've never sold my own tradelines directly either.

I don't disagree but I also don't have enough information to come to a conclusion. Do you know why exactly adding TLs w/o SSN could be even riskier for the seller than adding them with SSN? Like I mentioned before, if you don't even enter a SSN you're not responsible even if the SSN turns out to be fake and the shady customer gets caught. Or am I missing something?