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

[WayDownSouth]

I wouldn't assume you'd need to be worried about ending up in federal prison, for example, but I'm talking about the increased potential for the tradeline not posting or your card being closed.

[Padonak]

I wouldn't assume you'd need to be worried about ending up in federal prison, for example, but I'm talking about the increased potential for the tradeline not posting or your card being closed.

Both of those risks you mentioned are insignificant compared to unknowingly getting involved in some kind of fraudulent scheme.

In my experience, the risk of non-posting with cards that don't require SSN to add AUs is about the same, if not less, than with those that do. This is based on selling TLs with TL companies. I don't see why it would be any different with direct sales. I mean relatively speaking. The absolute risk may be somewhat higher regardless of which cards you use.

About account closure, I think it's common knowledge that if you sell TLs, you should be prepared for the accounts you use to be closed at some point, in some cases even for all accounts to be closed with the same bank. Good Company mentions that in their documents as well.

You wrote that you can think of "another 5 or 10 risks" related to selling TLs directly but never mentioned any of those risks. You also mentioned that using cards that don't require SSN for direct sales would "really open up that door". Can you provide more details and your reasoning to support these statements?

[WayDownSouth]

I wouldn't assume you'd need to be worried about ending up in federal prison, for example, but I'm talking about the increased potential for the tradeline not posting or your card being closed.

Both of those risks you mentioned are insignificant compared to unknowingly getting involved in some kind of fraudulent scheme.

In my experience, the risk of non-posting with cards that don't require SSN to add AUs is about the same, if not less, than with those that do. This is based on selling TLs with TL companies. I don't see why it would be any different with direct sales. I mean relatively speaking. The absolute risk may be somewhat higher regardless of which cards you use.

About account closure, I think it's common knowledge that if you sell TLs, you should be prepared for the accounts you use to be closed at some point, in some cases even for all accounts to be closed with the same bank. Good Company mentions that in their documents as well.

You wrote that you can think of "another 5 or 10 risks" related to selling TLs directly but never mentioned any of those risks. You also mentioned that using cards that don't require SSN for direct sales would "really open up that door". Can you provide more details and your reasoning to support these statements?

I don't know what type of game you're trying to play here, but I'm not interested.

You specifically 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."

Why would you be getting involved in some type of fraudulent scheme if you're not adding their social security number as you previously suggested? Well, because YOU DON"T KNOW that you're getting involved in a fraudulent scheme, possibly due to failing to discover it, or, as you mentioned, simply not worrying about it - because you wrote generally exactly that when you said:

"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."

And now at this point in time I don't really know what you're doing apart from trying to grill me with questions. You literally just went full circle and contradicted all your previous statements by saying:

"Both of those risks you mentioned are insignificant compared to unknowingly getting involved in some kind of fraudulent scheme."

Wait...... I thought you said you wouldn't be responsible??????

Dude, I am not an attorney, a financial advisor, or a tradeline company. I don't have the advice you require and I'm not confident that you even require any advice. It genuinely feels like you're trying to play dumb and then come out ahead by claiming I owe you answers.

Sounds like you're trying to pick a fight. I'm not interested in that and I don't owe you any response. I was trying to help and you're wasting my time. Maybe unintentionally. If so, no big deal.

Hopefully someone else will chime in who can provide you with the answers you seek. @secondcor521 seems very knowledgeable and this thread was made by @arebelspy who deals directly with the companies recommended here. If they are unable, I'm sure someone else will help you.

[Padonak]

@WayDownSouth I just thought that when someone writes with a condescending tone and mentions that they know much more than I do (e.g. 5-10 risks I can't think of), they know their stuff. That's why I gave you the benefit of the doubt and asked you to elaborate. I'm willing to swallow my pride and listen when someone can teach me something useful. Clearly, you can't, and all that condescension, big claims and strawman arguments are just smoke and mirrors

Anyway, I'm still not sure I should start selling TLs directly. For now, I'll just keep working with TL companies. Everyone else, sorry for derailing this thread.

[WayDownSouth]

@WayDownSouth I just thought that when someone writes with a condescending tone and mentions that they know much more than I do (e.g. 5-10 risks I can't think of), they know their stuff. That's why I gave you the benefit of the doubt and asked you to elaborate. I'm willing to swallow my pride and listen when someone can teach me something useful. Clearly, you can't, and all that condescension, big claims and strawman arguments are just smoke and mirrors

Anyway, I'm still not sure I should start selling TLs directly. For now, I'll just keep working with TL companies. Everyone else, sorry for derailing this thread.

I didn't say anything condescending. You're trying to put me on the spot simply because I said I could probably think of another 5 to 10 reasons (which are not relevant at this point), and you ran full circle in complete contradiction to yourself. Please read what I wrote to you again.

I was trying to help you out because I thought you had genuine questions. Then you put yourself into a hole. Now you are apologizing while trying to dump blame on me? Give me a break, man.. With all due respect I don't see a reason for anyone to have sympathy for that crap.

BTW feel free to highlight "all that condescension, big claims and strawman arguments" that you claim I posted in response to you.

It never happened. I'll take the blame here and apologize for derailing the thread since I should have not even replied.

[jeromedawg]

Anyone have much luck selling tradelines on their Capital One or TD/Target credit cards? I have had a Cap One listed for a while I think but no touches on it. The RedCard I'm just curious about because we have a couple but I never considered selling on it.
I also have a Venmo credit card that I recently got in the past year or so... haven't really seen or heard anything about Venmo but has anyone asked their supplier(s)?

[Padonak]

Anyone have much luck selling tradelines on their Capital One or TD/Target credit cards? I have had a Cap One listed for a while I think but no touches on it. The RedCard I'm just curious about because we have a couple but I never considered selling on it.
I also have a Venmo credit card that I recently got in the past year or so... haven't really seen or heard anything about Venmo but has anyone asked their supplier(s)?

I have one cap one card that I use for TLs. I'm considering unenrolling it because:
-They shut down many accounts for TLs recently. I wasn't affected but Good Company stopped accepting cap one due to high risk of closure (which means it's probably a bad idea to use these cards for TLs even if other companies accept it).
-To add SSN, you need to agree to give the AU online access. Like I mentioned before, you can enter your email and phone number as AU's details, but what if the AU calls cap one and tries to change them?
-They send AU cards with AU's name on the envelope, so it's much more likely to be returned to sender and could result in an audit and account closure.

[tj]

Anyone have much luck selling tradelines on their Capital One or TD/Target credit cards? I have had a Cap One listed for a while I think but no touches on it. The RedCard I'm just curious about because we have a couple but I never considered selling on it.
I also have a Venmo credit card that I recently got in the past year or so... haven't really seen or heard anything about Venmo but has anyone asked their supplier(s)?

I have one cap one card that I use for TLs. I'm considering unenrolling it because:
-They shut down many accounts for TLs recently. I wasn't affected but Good Company stopped accepting cap one due to high risk of closure (which means it's probably a bad idea to use these cards for TLs even if other companies accept it).
-To add SSN, you need to agree to give the AU online access. Like I mentioned before, you can enter your email and phone number as AU's details, but what if the AU calls cap one and tries to change them?
-They send AU cards with AU's name on the envelope, so it's much more likely to be returned to sender and could result in an audit and account closure.

Are their banks that *DON'T* do this?

[salt cured]

Anyone have much luck selling tradelines on their Capital One or TD/Target credit cards? I have had a Cap One listed for a while I think but no touches on it. The RedCard I'm just curious about because we have a couple but I never considered selling on it.
I also have a Venmo credit card that I recently got in the past year or so... haven't really seen or heard anything about Venmo but has anyone asked their supplier(s)?

I have one cap one card that I use for TLs. I'm considering unenrolling it because:
-They shut down many accounts for TLs recently. I wasn't affected but Good Company stopped accepting cap one due to high risk of closure (which means it's probably a bad idea to use these cards for TLs even if other companies accept it).
-To add SSN, you need to agree to give the AU online access. Like I mentioned before, you can enter your email and phone number as AU's details, but what if the AU calls cap one and tries to change them?
-They send AU cards with AU's name on the envelope, so it's much more likely to be returned to sender and could result in an audit and account closure.

Are their banks that *DON'T* do this?

BoA and Fidelity/Elan.

[secondcor521]

I've been having a lot more sales this year.  Granted, I've enrolled some additional cards.

But today I received an order that puts my YTD order number total greater than all of 2023.  Dollar-wise, I'm currently ahead of where I was at the end of August 2023.

Anyone else seeing similarly?

[beekayworld]

Yes, the same. 

In 2022 I had 23 sales.
In 2023 I had 27 sales.
So was averaging 2 per month. (50/24=2.08)

In 2024 so far I have 16 sales, average is more than 5 per month. (16/3=5.33)

[Padonak]

I've been having a lot more sales this year.  Granted, I've enrolled some additional cards.

But today I received an order that puts my YTD order number total greater than all of 2023.  Dollar-wise, I'm currently ahead of where I was at the end of August 2023.

Anyone else seeing similarly?

I'm getting a decent number of orders but last year's YTD revenue for the same period was higher compared to this year's.

[Reddart67]

Q1/24 +35%over Q1/23.

[WayDownSouth]

Yes, the same. 

In 2022 I had 23 sales.
In 2023 I had 27 sales.
So was averaging 2 per month. (50/24=2.08)

In 2024 so far I have 16 sales, average is more than 5 per month. (16/3=5.33)

Assuming you are selling 2 slots per card and always keeping your cards available (for sale), how many actual active cards are you using?

[Michael in ABQ]

All my sales have been on my Barclays card with the Good company. I used to get a lot on a Capital One card but not they've stopped accepting that. Two other newer cards have basically had zero sales. I've got a second Barclays card that is almost at the two year mark because my first is probably getting close to the limit. So overall, fewer sales than previous year - though I lost my tracking spreadsheet with all my historical data when my hard drive crashed last summer so all I have is old 1099s to go off of.

[wantstoinvest]

Are Capital One cards good for tradelines? Anyone have experience they would like to share with using a CapOne? Seems like you can add and remove users on their portal, which is nice.

[MoMoney88]

CapOne was one of my best cards between 2018 - 2021, I sold 31 spots at $350 per AU.  However at the end of 2021 Cap One suddenly without warning lowered by CL from $30,000 to $10,000!!!   2 months later I logged into my CapOne app and BAMMM!  The card was closed!
So I immediately signed up for a new Cap One card (with a $30k CL) and have been aging it.  I was just about to sign it up to sell AUs, and then word got around that CapOne was closing quite a few cards, possibly going through an audit.  I think that was at the end of 2023.

I am about to sign it up and give it a go.  Good luck!

[MasterStache]

CapOne was one of my best cards between 2018 - 2021, I sold 31 spots at $350 per AU.  However at the end of 2021 Cap One suddenly without warning lowered by CL from $30,000 to $10,000!!!   2 months later I logged into my CapOne app and BAMMM!  The card was closed!
So I immediately signed up for a new Cap One card (with a $30k CL) and have been aging it.  I was just about to sign it up to sell AUs, and then word got around that CapOne was closing quite a few cards, possibly going through an audit. I think that was at the end of 2024.

I am about to sign it up and give it a go.  Good luck!

I assume you probably meant "2023?"

Cap One was a good card for me as well up until 2023. Sold spots every month reliably for over 6 years until the card got shut down. I don't think the "old company" is even taking Cap One Cards anymore due to shutdown risk. 

[MoMoney88]

Whoops, corrected (2023)

On another topic:  Bank of America!!!  Has anyone seen BOA remove the AU after you successfully added it... without any warning or communication?

On 3/1 my TL company told me it was time to remove an AU, so I got on Chat with BOA and they rep said I didn't have any AUs!
I didn't think much of it at the time, thinking maybe I was in auto-pilot and removed the AU the day before.
Then in April, the TL company cancelled my two AU's for non-posting.  Both AU's had been removed by BOA without warning/communication.
I've put this BOA on pause for now.

Has anyone seen this before?  Wondering if it's a sign BOA will be closing my CC account.

[secondcor521]

On another topic:  Bank of America!!!  Has anyone seen BOA remove the AU after you successfully added it... without any warning or communication?

On 3/1 my TL company told me it was time to remove an AU, so I got on Chat with BOA and they rep said I didn't have any AUs!
I didn't think much of it at the time, thinking maybe I was in auto-pilot and removed the AU the day before.
Then in April, the TL company cancelled my two AU's for non-posting.  Both AU's had been removed by BOA without warning/communication.
I've put this BOA on pause for now.

Has anyone seen this before?  Wondering if it's a sign BOA will be closing my CC account.

Never seen that particular behavior before.  Most of the time "weirdness" does end up in shutdown, but sometimes not...I'm maybe 4 out of 5 on weirdness->shutdown.

Make very sure you're following the TL company's recommendations on how to add, what information to provide, making sure the account closes with a balance, etc.  I've done probably 100 AUs and have probably only had one or two failed postings.

[wantstoinvest]

Thanks and that is unfortuante. I havent gotten a response yet on joining either company so I'm still waiting. CapOne seems so easy and my limit is 30k too, and the card is pretty old, so I'll still give it a go if I get in to the companies.

Did you guys get a referral from the Topic Creator or apply yourselves?

[secondcor521]

Thanks and that is unfortuante. I havent gotten a response yet on joining either company so I'm still waiting. CapOne seems so easy and my limit is 30k too, and the card is pretty old, so I'll still give it a go if I get in to the companies.

Did you guys get a referral from the Topic Creator or apply yourselves?

I started way back when @arebelspy started the initial thread on this maybe four or five years ago.  Back then it wasn't as popular as it is now, so I didn't need a referral or an application to either company.

At one point a referral from @arebelspy got you a slightly higher commission from one of the companies.  Not sure if that is still the case; I'd guess not but rebs might clarify.

I'd wait to get in to the Better Company personally, but that's really up to you to decide.

[WayDownSouth]

Most of the time "weirdness" does end up in shutdown, but sometimes not...I'm maybe 4 out of 5 on weirdness->shutdown.

I second this sentiment... Also if you've paused your card and aren't selling any slots, now is the time IMHO to make a decent purchase on those cards (like ASAP) to put your balance up into the 40% range. I have a theory that this helps avoid a shutdown when weird stuff begins to happen, but again, it's just a theory.

[Zamboni]

I've also had BoA AU's fail to post in the past few months, and this is after several years of it always working perfectly with BoA. I can see that the AU's were added and I received their cards in the mail, but old company said it never did post. Then one on BoA randomly did post, but then another non-posting. So, old company has paused the card. Not sure what is going on.

[Padonak]

BofA recently closed my two cards for "irregular AU activity". I only sold a few TLs on one of those cards but they closed both.

[mnfats127]

Can anyone PM the actual names of the legit companies?  Bad, Good, Better, Old New Etc.

Thanks!

[secondcor521]

Can anyone PM the actual names of the legit companies?  Bad, Good, Better, Old New Etc.

Thanks!

PM sent.

[FtWorthAtheist]

I have a 26yo Chase card and in the past I couldn't view any AU info on my card online.  However I went in there earlier this week, expecting to find the phone number to call, and it showed a link to add new AUs online which I previously didn't have the option to do.  However, at that time it did not show current AU info.  Then today I went into the same part of the website and it showed 2 current AUs; one I knew was on there and one from a long time ago that (per my records) I had already removed almost 2 years ago.  Just wanted to put this out there for any other Chase cardholders who might find it useful.

[MoMoney88]

Yeah my Chase card started displaying my current AU's online sometime last year.  Seems like that would have been standard practice, not sure why it took them so long to figure out.

Last year when that info started displaying I was kinda shocked to see my ex-wife on  there!!!!  :-)

[jayz911]

Hey guys,
I’ve been reading through this forum for past several months as I’ve been quite interested. Finally figured out how to make an account lol. Anyways, I notice there are no company name sharing so was wondering if someone could kindly PM me who the top companies to use are.  Referrals are great too.  Really appreciate it!

[Reddart67]

Good company, old company is. Bad company, new company is. Of course.

[secondcor521]

Hey guys,
I’ve been reading through this forum for past several months as I’ve been quite interested. Finally figured out how to make an account lol. Anyways, I notice there are no company name sharing so was wondering if someone could kindly PM me who the top companies to use are.  Referrals are great too.  Really appreciate it!

PM sent.

[jayz911]

PM sent.

Thanks much!!

[WayDownSouth]

Update about the invisible brick wall with Barclays. Just verified that AU #38 posted for the second month. This is one of the very few cards that I have a definitive & accurate history of every AU I've ever added.

Note: I had a single non-posting issue back in 2020 and I think it was my fault, and that is counted in the 38 AUs. So to confirm, technically I have had 37 successful AUs and one hiccup.

[Padonak]

After you remove an authorized user from your account, how long does it take for the credit bureaus to remove that tradeline from their account? Is it always the next statement date after removal or does it stay longer than that? 

[Nutty]

Unless they call and dispute the entry, which 2 of mine have done after paying for the tradeline, it should stay on their credit report for 7 years.  After 7 years, like bankruptcy, it rolls off.

[Padonak]

Unless they call and dispute the entry, which 2 of mine have done after paying for the tradeline, it should stay on their credit report for 7 years.  After 7 years, like bankruptcy, it rolls off.

Do you mean tradelines stay for 7 years on AU's report and keep boosting their credit score? If that's true, why do TL companies require that we keep them for two months (or four months for some cards)? Why not remove them right after they post?

[MoMoney88]

I've had an AU extend an additional 2 1/2 months (after the 2 initial months)... so no, I would say it does not continue affecting the AU's credit score.  Maybe it stays on the AU's credit bureau as a "Closed" account or "previous" account as reference for 7 years.

[Nutty]

Unless they call and dispute the entry, which 2 of mine have done after paying for the tradeline, it should stay on their credit report for 7 years.  After 7 years, like bankruptcy, it rolls off.

Do you mean tradelines stay for 7 years on AU's report and keep boosting their credit score? If that's true, why do TL companies require that we keep them for two months (or four months for some cards)? Why not remove them right after they post?

Yes, the tradeline stays on the report for 7 years.  The credit is reported and states the start date (10 year old card) and credit line last reported.  They had access to this card and it is in good standing.
From my understanding, we keep them on as AUs for two months to make sure the credit card company reports it and the reporting agencies pick it up on their reports.  The only way we know they post is if the purchaser shows us their report.  Instead, Good Company know that Credit Card Company will report with high certainty within 2 months and that is all that is needed to complete the deal.

If I am wrong, please correct me. 

Google search says
seven years
A credit reporting company generally can report most negative information for seven years. Information about a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. Bankruptcies can stay on your report for up to ten years.Sep 1, 2020

How long does negative information remain on my credit report?

[MoMoney88]

Nutty, you Google quote has nothing to do with Authorized Users credit scores.  The quote is talking about you (the cardholder) and how long "negative" marks affect your own score... i.e. if you miss a payment, it can stay on your credit report for 7 years.

I'm pretty sure the AU will no longer see your card the month after being removed from your card.  Of course, I could be wrong, but that's how I understand it.

I would be surprised if they stayed on longer... as in my case, why would the AU agree to pay for an additional 2 1/2 months to stay on my card -- and I did receive an additional commission for the extra 2 1/2 months :-)

[salt cured]

If the card stays on the AU's report after being removed from the account, why would some renew for a second cycle? I've had AU's stay on for two cycles even after posting on the first.

[BC_Goldman]

I'm talking theory here since I don't know all the details...

Part of your score is determined by utilization ratio, so being an AU on a card with a high-CL/Low-balance helps the score. The age of the card can help as well. Once they drop off, the card may still show on the report as closed but still give a smaller bump to the score until it eventually drops off.

I've never been an AU so I can't speak to how AU accounts show after being removed as the AU.

[tj]

Closed AU cards stay on there for 10 years, just like your own closed cards.

[Reddart67]

The card stays on your report, but like a closed card, once it stops reporting, they no longer get the bump of the cards credit limit for utilization calculations. At least that’s how I think it works.

[WayDownSouth]

The card stays on your report, but like a closed card, once it stops reporting, they no longer get the bump of the cards credit limit for utilization calculations. At least that’s how I think it works.

THIS. It's super simple to understand.

Once they're removed and the card stops reporting as Reddart67 said, it only appears on the credit profile as an old AU account that was closed/removed. They don't get the benefit of the credit score.

I added my brother on a tradeline of my highest card a long time ago and he was on for several years. I removed him like a year ago because he doesn't need it anymore. We just checked it and it still shows up as closed on one of the major bureau reports. I'm sure the other 2 show the same/similar.

[AnotherEngineer]

I added my brother on a tradeline of my highest card a long time ago and he was on for several years. I removed him like a year ago because he doesn't need it anymore. We just checked it and it still shows up as closed on one of the major bureau reports. I'm sure the other 2 show the same/similar.

I've been wondering about adding family, children, or friends to boost their credit score. Is this commonly done?

The upside is that it is an easy, zero cost way to save them money and is more defensible to the terms of use. Downsides are that they could actually physically steal your card and you've have no recourse, in addition to the usual issues with gaming the credit system.

[Nutty]

Yes, I add my children to increase their credit scores.  Easy and no cost way to quickly get them credit history.  I started when they were teenagers and about to apply for college loans. 
They also got their first credit cards as teenagers to be used as gas cards. 

I found out later that a lot of their friends were having trouble because they were starting a credit history at college. 

[Padonak]

The upside is that it is an easy, zero cost way to save them money and is more defensible to the terms of use. Downsides are that they could actually physically steal your card and you've have no recourse, in addition to the usual issues with gaming the credit system.

Well, if you destroy the AU card or don't request it in the first place (like you can do with Barclays), they can't steal it can they?

[BC_Goldman]

The card stays on your report, but like a closed card, once it stops reporting, they no longer get the bump of the cards credit limit for utilization calculations. At least that’s how I think it works.

THIS. It's super simple to understand.

Once they're removed and the card stops reporting as Reddart67 said, it only appears on the credit profile as an old AU account that was closed/removed. They don't get the benefit of the credit score.

I added my brother on a tradeline of my highest card a long time ago and he was on for several years. I removed him like a year ago because he doesn't need it anymore. We just checked it and it still shows up as closed on one of the major bureau reports. I'm sure the other 2 show the same/similar.

If the card they were added to as an AU has a longer life than their oldest normal card, that would potentially still give some long-term score benefit, no? Or is that only for longest open card?

Long day, so maybe I'm just not thinking clearly (probably).

[tj]

The card stays on your report, but like a closed card, once it stops reporting, they no longer get the bump of the cards credit limit for utilization calculations. At least that’s how I think it works.

THIS. It's super simple to understand.

Once they're removed and the card stops reporting as Reddart67 said, it only appears on the credit profile as an old AU account that was closed/removed. They don't get the benefit of the credit score.

I added my brother on a tradeline of my highest card a long time ago and he was on for several years. I removed him like a year ago because he doesn't need it anymore. We just checked it and it still shows up as closed on one of the major bureau reports. I'm sure the other 2 show the same/similar.

If the card they were added to as an AU has a longer life than their oldest normal card, that would potentially still give some long-term score benefit, no? Or is that only for longest open card?

Long day, so maybe I'm just not thinking clearly (probably).

It helps their Average Age of Accounts, but not their Average Age of Open Accounts.