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

[Michael in ABQ]

At the end of the year when you all get your tax form 1099 MISC - Are you filing/classifying this as misc. income or self employment income and filing under Schedule C?

Schedule C. I report any annual fees for the cards as a commission and fees expense (Line 10). NAICS code is 999000 (Credit Repair Services).

[Padonak]

At the end of the year when you all get your tax form 1099 MISC - Are you filing/classifying this as misc. income or self employment income and filing under Schedule C?

Personally I file a Schedule C.

Depending on the circumstances, some may elect to report it as hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z.

I recommend reviewing https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-hobby-and-a-business-for-tax-purposes in light of your facts and circumstances.

Hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z does not have SE taxes.  Usually you can't deduct hobby expenses against hobby income (AFAIK anyway).  Hobby income is probably not earned income eligible for IRA contributions.

Schedule C income allows business expense deductions, has SE taxes, and counts as compensation for IRA contributions.

I've been filing it as a Schedule C income for several years and paying SE taxes. I deduct some expenses each year but not a lot, definitely not enough to offset the SE taxes I have to pay. Are there any risks associated with filing it as a hobby income, like a higher risk of getting audited especially after doing it for several years?

I can't think of any reason i would call this a hobby (at least in my case). I mean I like the extra money but if i stopped getting paid for it, i would stop doing it immediately and never miss anything about it.

[Padonak]

At the end of the year when you all get your tax form 1099 MISC - Are you filing/classifying this as misc. income or self employment income and filing under Schedule C?

Schedule C. I report any annual fees for the cards as a commission and fees expense (Line 10). NAICS code is 999000 (Credit Repair Services).

I personally don't want to be associated with credit repair services and I don't think that's what I do by selling TLs... but to each their own.

This is the code I use:
541990 All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services.

[secondcor521]

I've been filing it as a Schedule C income for several years and paying SE taxes. I deduct some expenses each year but not a lot, definitely not enough to offset the SE taxes I have to pay. Are there any risks associated with filing it as a hobby income, like a higher risk of getting audited especially after doing it for several years?

I can't think of any reason i would call this a hobby (at least in my case). I mean I like the extra money but if i stopped getting paid for it, i would stop doing it immediately and never miss anything about it.

Yeah, I don't have a lot of expenses either.  I do any CC annual fees on cards which I've sold slots that year - I don't think there are many of those.  I do my Quicken subscription fee, because I need Quicken to keep track of my many credit cards - closing dates, limits, balances, charges, payments - in order to maintain the quality of my cards to be able to sell slots.  I do a small percentage of my cell phone and Internet bill, since I use those in the course of selling TLs.

Audit risk is hard to quantify.  First, not that many returns get audited - less than 1% I think.  Second, most returns that get audited are high income, high charitable deductions, or areas that are rife with fraud such as EITC or CTC.  So if you got audited, it would probably be a very low probability sort of thing where you got chosen to be audited just at random and not because you chose to report a 1099 as hobby income over several years.

If they did a full audit (which is even more rare I think), then they'd probably ask you to explain why you chose to report it as a hobby rather than a business.  At which point a well-prepared taxpayer would have a rationale based on the IRS' hobby-or-business link I posted earlier.

The IRS could then say, no, it's really a business and we're redoing it as a Schedule C and billing you accordingly.  At that point, you'd be within your rights to include any business expenses as deductions to help offset a bit.  You'd owe the additional SE taxes, with interest, but almost certainly no penalty.  I think it's unlikely the IRS would then choose to go to your other years' returns to catch the same issue.  They could but I think it wouldn't be worth their time even if they had you right in front of them.

All that being said, everyone should prepare their taxes accurately and honestly and pay what they owe.

As to your last paragraph, yeah, I'm pretty sure "profit motive" is one of the listed characteristics that tends to point to it being a business.  And to me, it's one of the more important characteristics in terms of defining the tax treatment of the income.

[tj]

I do a small percentage of my cell phone and Internet bill, since I use those in the course of selling TLs

You won't get caught, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be more than 50% used for business for it to compliant with the law, anything less than that shouldn't be taken.

[secondcor521]

I do a small percentage of my cell phone and Internet bill, since I use those in the course of selling TLs

You won't get caught, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be more than 50% used for business for it to compliant with the law, anything less than that shouldn't be taken.

I've been volunteering as a tax preparer for the past five years with AARP Tax Aide and I've read the rules myself.  I think you're mistaken; any business percentage is acceptable as long as it fairly represents the portion of business use compared to personal use.

I went to look for a cite to back myself up; the closest I could find was this from IRS Pub 535 which is about business expenses:

"Utilities. Business expenses for heat, lights, power, telephone service, and water and sewerage are deductible. However, any part due to personal use isn’t deductible.

Telephone. You can’t deduct the cost of basic local telephone service (including any taxes) for the first telephone line you have in your home, even if you have an office in your home. However, charges for business long-distance phone calls on that line, as well as the cost of a second line into your home used exclusively for business, are deductible business
expenses."

-- page 50 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p535--2022.pdf

(It's the 2022 version because the IRS stopped publishing it that year.)

[tj]

I do a small percentage of my cell phone and Internet bill, since I use those in the course of selling TLs

You won't get caught, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be more than 50% used for business for it to compliant with the law, anything less than that shouldn't be taken.

I've been volunteering as a tax preparer for the past five years with AARP Tax Aide and I've read the rules myself.  I think you're mistaken; any business percentage is acceptable as long as it fairly represents the portion of business use compared to personal use.

I went to look for a cite to back myself up; the closest I could find was this from IRS Pub 535 which is about business expenses:

"Utilities. Business expenses for heat, lights, power, telephone service, and water and sewerage are deductible. However, any part due to personal use isn’t deductible.

Telephone. You can’t deduct the cost of basic local telephone service (including any taxes) for the first telephone line you have in your home, even if you have an office in your home. However, charges for business long-distance phone calls on that line, as well as the cost of a second line into your home used exclusively for business, are deductible business
expenses."

-- page 50 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p535--2022.pdf

(It's the 2022 version because the IRS stopped publishing it that year.)

It's been a few years since I've audited tax returns, and they have weird rules that apply to some types of expenses and not others. Perhaps it doesn't apply to those.

[chuckster]

At the end of the year when you all get your tax form 1099 MISC - Are you filing/classifying this as misc. income or self employment income and filing under Schedule C?

Personally I file a Schedule C.

Depending on the circumstances, some may elect to report it as hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z.

I recommend reviewing https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-hobby-and-a-business-for-tax-purposes in light of your facts and circumstances.

Hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z does not have SE taxes.  Usually you can't deduct hobby expenses against hobby income (AFAIK anyway).  Hobby income is probably not earned income eligible for IRA contributions.

Schedule C income allows business expense deductions, has SE taxes, and counts as compensation for IRA contributions.

I've been filing it as a Schedule C income for several years and paying SE taxes. I deduct some expenses each year but not a lot, definitely not enough to offset the SE taxes I have to pay. Are there any risks associated with filing it as a hobby income, like a higher risk of getting audited especially after doing it for several years?

I can't think of any reason i would call this a hobby (at least in my case). I mean I like the extra money but if i stopped getting paid for it, i would stop doing it immediately and never miss anything about it.

I'm also in the "definitely Schedule C" camp. I do put the max allowable portion of my tradeline income into a SEP IRA to at least shelter some of it from the tax man.

[katsiki]

At the end of the year when you all get your tax form 1099 MISC - Are you filing/classifying this as misc. income or self employment income and filing under Schedule C?

Personally I file a Schedule C.

Depending on the circumstances, some may elect to report it as hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z.

I recommend reviewing https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-hobby-and-a-business-for-tax-purposes in light of your facts and circumstances.

Hobby income on Schedule 1 Line 8z does not have SE taxes.  Usually you can't deduct hobby expenses against hobby income (AFAIK anyway).  Hobby income is probably not earned income eligible for IRA contributions.

Schedule C income allows business expense deductions, has SE taxes, and counts as compensation for IRA contributions.

I've been filing it as a Schedule C income for several years and paying SE taxes. I deduct some expenses each year but not a lot, definitely not enough to offset the SE taxes I have to pay. Are there any risks associated with filing it as a hobby income, like a higher risk of getting audited especially after doing it for several years?

I can't think of any reason i would call this a hobby (at least in my case). I mean I like the extra money but if i stopped getting paid for it, i would stop doing it immediately and never miss anything about it.

I'm also in the "definitely Schedule C" camp. I do put the max allowable portion of my tradeline income into a SEP IRA to at least shelter some of it from the tax man.

Same here.  I believe it was in this thread where I read about doing a SEP IRA for this "job". 

[jeromedawg]

I put a freeze on my Transunion credit report in October 2023 after a credit card company notified me that they had rejected a fraudulent credit card application in my name.  (It was for a credit card I already had)  Since adding the freeze, I've added 3 Discover AU's, all online.  Today when I went to the AU page, it tells me that I need call in because of a freeze on my credit.  Will this go away if I remove the freeze and if so, does anyone know how long it will take?  I'd rather be adding and removing AU's online whenever I can help it.

I have the same general question pertaining to freezes. My wife and I each placed freezes across all three bureaus due to the recent data breach that exposed billions of social security numbers. I'm sure ours are out in the wild at this point. And I'm wondeirng if we should actually freeze our minor kids' too (if that's even possible and advised). I have a number of tradelines currently active but wondering if that'll screw things up and also if this will cause issues with potential future sales.

[Michael in ABQ]

I put a freeze on my Transunion credit report in October 2023 after a credit card company notified me that they had rejected a fraudulent credit card application in my name.  (It was for a credit card I already had)  Since adding the freeze, I've added 3 Discover AU's, all online.  Today when I went to the AU page, it tells me that I need call in because of a freeze on my credit.  Will this go away if I remove the freeze and if so, does anyone know how long it will take?  I'd rather be adding and removing AU's online whenever I can help it.

I have the same general question pertaining to freezes. My wife and I each placed freezes across all three bureaus due to the recent data breach that exposed billions of social security numbers. I'm sure ours are out in the wild at this point. And I'm wondeirng if we should actually freeze our minor kids' too (if that's even possible and advised). I have a number of tradelines currently active but wondering if that'll screw things up and also if this will cause issues with potential future sales.

All my credit reports have been frozen for years - no issue with TL sales. The only issue is if you want to get a new card or request a credit limit increase you need to unfreeze your reports for a few days.

[jeromedawg]

I put a freeze on my Transunion credit report in October 2023 after a credit card company notified me that they had rejected a fraudulent credit card application in my name.  (It was for a credit card I already had)  Since adding the freeze, I've added 3 Discover AU's, all online.  Today when I went to the AU page, it tells me that I need call in because of a freeze on my credit.  Will this go away if I remove the freeze and if so, does anyone know how long it will take?  I'd rather be adding and removing AU's online whenever I can help it.

I have the same general question pertaining to freezes. My wife and I each placed freezes across all three bureaus due to the recent data breach that exposed billions of social security numbers. I'm sure ours are out in the wild at this point. And I'm wondeirng if we should actually freeze our minor kids' too (if that's even possible and advised). I have a number of tradelines currently active but wondering if that'll screw things up and also if this will cause issues with potential future sales.

Weird… one of my TL companies reached out asking if I closed an account. Only other thing I can think of is that I have a credit on that balance due to a recent return.
All my credit reports have been frozen for years - no issue with TL sales. The only issue is if you want to get a new card or request a credit limit increase you need to unfreeze your reports for a few days.

[shingy]

I put a freeze on my Transunion credit report in October 2023 after a credit card company notified me that they had rejected a fraudulent credit card application in my name.  (It was for a credit card I already had)  Since adding the freeze, I've added 3 Discover AU's, all online.  Today when I went to the AU page, it tells me that I need call in because of a freeze on my credit.  Will this go away if I remove the freeze and if so, does anyone know how long it will take?  I'd rather be adding and removing AU's online whenever I can help it.

I have the same general question pertaining to freezes. My wife and I each placed freezes across all three bureaus due to the recent data breach that exposed billions of social security numbers. I'm sure ours are out in the wild at this point. And I'm wondeirng if we should actually freeze our minor kids' too (if that's even possible and advised). I have a number of tradelines currently active but wondering if that'll screw things up and also if this will cause issues with potential future sales.

All my credit reports have been frozen for years - no issue with TL sales. The only issue is if you want to get a new card or request a credit limit increase you need to unfreeze your reports for a few days.

Same here

[Monkey stache]

Barclays just decreased my limit from $30k to $5k. Did anyone else experience this? They claimed they sent a letter but I haven't received it yet and the department that deals with this is only open on weekdays.

I'm guessing it's due to not running up a high balance but then if I did that, I couldn't sell tradelines. Has anyone had success in getting them to reverse it?
 
Also, I'm worried about the existing tradelines on the card since they paid for a card with a certain limit and now it's dropped significantly. I imagine that will have a negative impact on their credit score.

[secondcor521]

^ Not recently, but it can happen if you don't use very much of your limit over time.  More common in economic environments where the CC companies are worried about default risk.

Probably want to proactively reach out to your TL company and let them know.  I'd guess they might have to refund the client(s) and you may not get paid.

I doubt they'll reverse it in the near term.  They'll tell you what you need to do to reverse it in the longer term (use the card more, probably), and they will do hard pulls if you ask for increases even if it's just to recover what they took away.

[Reddart67]

Barclays just decreased my limit from $30k to $5k. Did anyone else experience this? They claimed they sent a letter but I haven't received it yet and the department that deals with this is only open on weekdays.

I'm guessing it's due to not running up a high balance but then if I did that, I couldn't sell tradelines. Has anyone had success in getting them to reverse it?
 
Also, I'm worried about the existing tradelines on the card since they paid for a card with a certain limit and now it's dropped significantly. I imagine that will have a negative impact on their credit score.

I just had one closed myself, though it was an old card I had already maxed out with AUs a while back and had already transferred out most of the crest limit to a newer card that I am now using for Tradeline’s.

I also do not recall them contacting me prior about it closing.

[Padonak]

Barclays just decreased my limit from $30k to $5k. Did anyone else experience this? They claimed they sent a letter but I haven't received it yet and the department that deals with this is only open on weekdays.

I'm guessing it's due to not running up a high balance but then if I did that, I couldn't sell tradelines. Has anyone had success in getting them to reverse it?
 
Also, I'm worried about the existing tradelines on the card since they paid for a card with a certain limit and now it's dropped significantly. I imagine that will have a negative impact on their credit score.

Never happened to me but if this is what they're doing now, it really sucks.

Also never had barclays cards closed but I close my cards myself after i've reached the AU limit.

I'm going to put a couple more recurring bills on my Barclays card which i'm currently using for TLs just in case.

@Monkey stache did you use your card for any monthly bills or other regular payments?

[Monkey stache]

@Monkey stache did you use your card for any monthly bills or other regular payments?

Yes, I have a reoccuring subscription charged to it every month and try to use it for the occasional expense like gas.

It used to be my primary card and I would put about $500/mo worth of expenses on it. That changed about 6 months ago when I started using my new Discover card because I'm trying to increase the limit on it as it ages. That was a mistake and now I don't know which card to focus on.

Customer service said that it was due to inactivity (not true) and then said it's actually due to low utilization. They refused to undo their decision despite my polite begging and said I should try to request a $27k increase (yeah right). We tried that but the rep got an error message.

I spoke with the good company and they said everything is fine since the AU removal date is soon. I've paused my card because the risk isn't worth $25 (previously $200).

[swmi8675309]

This thread is thousands of messages long.

Oh Mighty Mr. Money Mustache Members, can you give me some quick guidance, please on how to get started with this?

I have C1, Discover and PNC tradelines to sell, plus your typical Amex/Chase/Citi cards.

Thanks.

[secondcor521]

This thread is thousands of messages long.

Oh Mighty Mr. Money Mustache Members, can you give me some quick guidance, please on how to get started with this?

I have C1, Discover and PNC tradelines to sell, plus your typical Amex/Chase/Citi cards.

Thanks.

Quick guidance:  Read the first three posts.

Less quick guidance:  Read the whole thread.

[almost]

@Monkey stache did you use your card for any monthly bills or other regular payments?

Yes, I have a reoccuring subscription charged to it every month and try to use it for the occasional expense like gas.

It used to be my primary card and I would put about $500/mo worth of expenses on it. That changed about 6 months ago when I started using my new Discover card because I'm trying to increase the limit on it as it ages. That was a mistake and now I don't know which card to focus on.

Customer service said that it was due to inactivity (not true) and then said it's actually due to low utilization. They refused to undo their decision despite my polite begging and said I should try to request a $27k increase (yeah right). We tried that but the rep got an error message.

I spoke with the good company and they said everything is fine since the AU removal date is soon. I've paused my card because the risk isn't worth $25 (previously $200).

Barclays just decreased my credit limit, in September, from $26K to $5k on a 7 year old card.  The letter said it's because I'm not using most of my credit, which is true.  I usually only put $20-$150 a month on the card. 

I looked at my most recent statement and they had a bunch of other pages in there.  They also increased my APR and justified it with "In light of changing market conditions, we have reviewed information regarding your creditworthiness and determined  that the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) associated with your credit card account does not reflect the cost of providing you with credit, including costs related to your credit risk."

Along with the APR change docs, they included a credit report from June.  I had applied for the Barclays Upromise card in May and had to mail in documents, so maybe they did another credit pull when they got the docs.  That application was denied due to too many recent inquiries, accounts, etc. 

It looks like they did an account review when I applied for the most recent card and used that info to downgrade my credit months later.  I have been applying for Barclays cards annually for the past several years with only one approval.  I will be less aggressive from this point on.  Learn from my experience...

They said I can apply for reinstatement in a few days, but I am not getting my hopes up.

[Padonak]

They said I can apply for reinstatement in a few days, but I am not getting my hopes up.

Sorry to hear... how can you apply for reinstatement and what documents do you need to provide, if any?

[almost]

They said I can apply for reinstatement in a few days, but I am not getting my hopes up.

Sorry to hear... how can you apply for reinstatement and what documents do you need to provide, if any?

.

I believe you just call and tell them about the letter you got and that you'd like to request reinstatement.  I have done it successfully with Citi and unsuccessfully with Capital One in the past. 

[ChipChingChang]

i've been churning credit cards for a long time and i just got wind of the idea to piggyback. messaged the thread OP for info on the company to sign up with but i told him man i'm banging my head against the wall right now because I just cancelled a few cards that were 20 years old for no reason apart than I don't use them.

anyway I'm ben. been here, been there. nice to know you guys. i'm ready to figure this game out and pocket some cash.

[Monkey stache]

Good news! I called back today and the rep manually increased my limit back to the original $32k. I finally got the letter in the mail yesterday and it said I have 60 days to request an increase back to the original amount (no guarantee though).

The direct department that you'll need for Barclays is 1-866-663-6532.

[Padonak]

Good news! I called back today and the rep manually increased my limit back to the original $32k. I finally got the letter in the mail yesterday and it said I have 60 days to request an increase back to the original amount (no guarantee though).

The direct department that you'll need for Barclays is 1-866-663-6532.

Was that reinstatement of your original credit line or a credit line increase? I think these are different procedures.

Did they pull your credit report? Ask you about income etc?

[Monkey stache]

Good news! I called back today and the rep manually increased my limit back to the original $32k. I finally got the letter in the mail yesterday and it said I have 60 days to request an increase back to the original amount (no guarantee though).

The direct department that you'll need for Barclays is 1-866-663-6532.

Was that reinstatement of your original credit line or a credit line increase? I think these are different procedures.

Did they pull your credit report? Ask you about income etc?

The letter says "...you may request reinstatement of your credit line within 60 days of this letter. Log in to your account at barclaysUS.com and go to the 'services' tab, then select 'Request Credit Line Increase' to complete your request."

Both reps called it a credit line increase request and I did have to give my income. But maybe it's a little different since I'm asking for a large increase back to the original amount?? The wording in the letter is a little confusing.

[dantheman46]

Noticed this morning that Barclays decreased my credit line from $7,000 to $3019. Very strange number. I use this card solely for tradeline sales and generally have a $10-$20 monthly balance. Will have to try the reinstatement route once I get the letter assuming it's not a HP.

[Michael in ABQ]

Noticed this morning that Barclays decreased my credit line from $7,000 to $3019. Very strange number. I use this card solely for tradeline sales and generally have a $10-$20 monthly balance. Will have to try the reinstatement route once I get the letter assuming it's not a HP.

My older Barclays card just got reduced from $22,000 to $5,019. I just sold a slot on it a week or so ago and it looks like the reduced credit limit was effective as of my last statement on the 8th - so I'm guessing I'm not getting paid on that one (old/good company).

I wonder if the CL ending in 19 is an internal signal for tracking potential TL sales? Barclays has always been the best as they don't seem to care.


My second Barclays card just hit the two-year mark and still has a $21k credit limit. Looks like I might just let this old one go for TL sales if they won't increase it. I'm not totally sure how many slots I've sold on it all time. I know I must be getting close to the lifetime limit. Is it 35?

[Michael in ABQ]

Just received a response from my email to the old/good company about my CL getting reduced.

"Thank you for letting us know. We have a couple cardholders that Barclays did this to yesterday. The good news is that Barclays restored their limit after calling."

I'll give them a call as soon as I unfreeze my credit reports. I assume they'll run them again before (hopefully) restoring it.

[Dicey]

I'm posting this to get your thoughts:

https://abc7news.com/post/strangers-fraudulently-added-bay-area-woman-chase-credit-card/15296450/

[secondcor521]

I'm posting this to get your thoughts:

https://abc7news.com/post/strangers-fraudulently-added-bay-area-woman-chase-credit-card/15296450/

Summary:  Some lady had 35 AUs added to her card without her knowledge or consent.  Ruined her vacation and stressed her out; otherwise no actual damage done.

I think someone got login access to her Chase account and probably her email account as well.  I think she should change her password, and her user name as well if Chase allows it.  I think she should have a strong email password and change her email password as well.  I think it's good that she did enough stuff correctly to not actually get scammed further.  I think there are risks to piggybacking that everyone who piggybacks should be aware of and manage to their own satisfaction.

[tj]

^ I once had a Match.com account hacked. Replaced my photos with old guy photos. That was a bit of an odd experience. :D

[Dicey]

I'm posting this to get your thoughts:

https://abc7news.com/post/strangers-fraudulently-added-bay-area-woman-chase-credit-card/15296450/

Summary:  Some lady had 35 AUs added to her card without her knowledge or consent.  Ruined her vacation and stressed her out; otherwise no actual damage done.

I think someone got login access to her Chase account and probably her email account as well.  I think she should change her password, and her user name as well if Chase allows it.  I think she should have a strong email password and change her email password as well.  I think it's good that she did enough stuff correctly to not actually get scammed further.  I think there are risks to piggybacking that everyone who piggybacks should be aware of and manage to their own satisfaction.

Agreed. It's occasionally good to be reminded of that. God, I loved this show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJDQewSMB-E

Here's the TL;DR version:

https://youtu.be/Jmg86CRBBtw

[Monkey stache]

Noticed this morning that Barclays decreased my credit line from $7,000 to $3019. Very strange number. I use this card solely for tradeline sales and generally have a $10-$20 monthly balance. Will have to try the reinstatement route once I get the letter assuming it's not a HP.

I wonder if the CL ending in 19 is an internal signal for tracking potential TL sales? Barclays has always been the best as they don't seem to care.

They also dropped my limit to $5,019. Someone on r/creditcards had the same experience but didn't mention if they sold TLs (I'm thinking not since their response to the decrease was to immediately cancel their card - something I imagine most of us wouldn't do).

[almost]

I got my Barclays limit restored to $26K.  It took two phone calls/requests. 

The rep on the first request processed it and said to give it 48 hours.  About 48 hours later I received a notice that my credit limit increase request was denied.

I called back a couple days later and told them what happened, and asked if I was requesting the right thing - I only wanted my original limit and not an increase.  I had requested this the first time, but who knows.  The second rep pulled my credit report, asked a few questions, and approved my original limit right over the phone.  It took about 5 minutes and I saw the update in my account a few hours later.  Whew!

[tj]

I got my Barclays limit restored to $26K.  It took two phone calls/requests. 

The rep on the first request processed it and said to give it 48 hours.  About 48 hours later I received a notice that my credit limit increase request was denied.

I called back a couple days later and told them what happened, and asked if I was requesting the right thing - I only wanted my original limit and not an increase.  I had requested this the first time, but who knows.  The second rep pulled my credit report, asked a few questions, and approved my original limit right over the phone.  It took about 5 minutes and I saw the update in my account a few hours later.  Whew!

Did they hard pull both times?

[Padonak]

I got my Barclays limit restored to $26K.  It took two phone calls/requests. 

The rep on the first request processed it and said to give it 48 hours.  About 48 hours later I received a notice that my credit limit increase request was denied.

I called back a couple days later and told them what happened, and asked if I was requesting the right thing - I only wanted my original limit and not an increase.  I had requested this the first time, but who knows.  The second rep pulled my credit report, asked a few questions, and approved my original limit right over the phone.  It took about 5 minutes and I saw the update in my account a few hours later.  Whew!

That's great!
How did you find out when they decreased your credit limit? Did you get an email or an app alert or anything like that?
What questions did they ask you before they approved your original limit?

[almost]

I got my Barclays limit restored to $26K.  It took two phone calls/requests. 

The rep on the first request processed it and said to give it 48 hours.  About 48 hours later I received a notice that my credit limit increase request was denied.

I called back a couple days later and told them what happened, and asked if I was requesting the right thing - I only wanted my original limit and not an increase.  I had requested this the first time, but who knows.  The second rep pulled my credit report, asked a few questions, and approved my original limit right over the phone.  It took about 5 minutes and I saw the update in my account a few hours later.  Whew!

Did they hard pull both times?

I don't see any recent hard pulls on my credit report, so they must have just used what they already had available or done soft pulls.

[almost]

I got my Barclays limit restored to $26K.  It took two phone calls/requests. 

The rep on the first request processed it and said to give it 48 hours.  About 48 hours later I received a notice that my credit limit increase request was denied.

I called back a couple days later and told them what happened, and asked if I was requesting the right thing - I only wanted my original limit and not an increase.  I had requested this the first time, but who knows.  The second rep pulled my credit report, asked a few questions, and approved my original limit right over the phone.  It took about 5 minutes and I saw the update in my account a few hours later.  Whew!

That's great!
How did you find out when they decreased your credit limit? Did you get an email or an app alert or anything like that?
What questions did they ask you before they approved your original limit?

I got an email notice from one of the credit report monitoring agencies (experian?) that a credit line had been reduced.  Looking back at my last statement I saw it there, with no explanation.  I then got a letter in the mail about 10 days after the statement date.

Barclays asked me to verify my annual income and source of income.  I reported it as self employed so they asked how long I've been self employed and what my average net revenue is.  They also asked why I had a bunch of recent inquiries on my credit report (from cc applications and credit increase requests).  And if I owned or rented.  Pretty easy.

[Car Jack]

This thread is thousands of messages long.

Oh Mighty Mr. Money Mustache Members, can you give me some quick guidance, please on how to get started with this?

I have C1, Discover and PNC tradelines to sell, plus your typical Amex/Chase/Citi cards.

Thanks.

rule #1:  Only use cards that you're ok with them being shut down.

there are no other rules

[Padonak]

rule #1:  Only use cards that you're ok with them being shut down.

there are no other rules

Agreed. Also rule 1.1. Don't be surprised if a credit card company shuts down all of your cards issued by them for using just one or two of them for TLs. Worst case scenario, they may even ban you for life.

[secondcor521]

Don't be surprised if a credit card company shuts down all of your cards issued by them for using just one or two of them for TLs. Worst case scenario, they may even ban you for life.

Possible but unlikely.

Chase is the only issuer I've heard of with datapoints of shutting down all cards for TL usage on some.  And Chase usually lets you back in the door after a year or two from what I've seen and heard.

I've never heard of a lifetime ban for piggybacking.  I was able to restart with US Bank after they closed my cards for piggybacking; yes it takes time but it's doable.  USAA asked me not to piggyback and because of the entire business relationship I agreed to their request.

[tj]

Don't be surprised if a credit card company shuts down all of your cards issued by them for using just one or two of them for TLs. Worst case scenario, they may even ban you for life.

Possible but unlikely.

Chase is the only issuer I've heard of with datapoints of shutting down all cards for TL usage on some.  And Chase usually lets you back in the door after a year or two from what I've seen and heard.

I've never heard of a lifetime ban for piggybacking.  I was able to restart with US Bank after they closed my cards for piggybacking; yes it takes time but it's doable.  USAA asked me not to piggyback and because of the entire business relationship I agreed to their request.

How many did you sell on USAA before they asked?

[secondcor521]

Don't be surprised if a credit card company shuts down all of your cards issued by them for using just one or two of them for TLs. Worst case scenario, they may even ban you for life.

Possible but unlikely.

Chase is the only issuer I've heard of with datapoints of shutting down all cards for TL usage on some.  And Chase usually lets you back in the door after a year or two from what I've seen and heard.

I've never heard of a lifetime ban for piggybacking.  I was able to restart with US Bank after they closed my cards for piggybacking; yes it takes time but it's doable.  USAA asked me not to piggyback and because of the entire business relationship I agreed to their request.

How many did you sell on USAA before they asked?

Thirteen, all in 2016 to 2018.

[MoseyingAlong]

Don't be surprised if a credit card company shuts down all of your cards issued by them for using just one or two of them for TLs. Worst case scenario, they may even ban you for life.

Possible but unlikely.

Chase is the only issuer I've heard of with datapoints of shutting down all cards for TL usage on some.  And Chase usually lets you back in the door after a year or two from what I've seen and heard.

I've never heard of a lifetime ban for piggybacking.  I was able to restart with US Bank after they closed my cards for piggybacking; yes it takes time but it's doable.  USAA asked me not to piggyback and because of the entire business relationship I agreed to their request.

How many did you sell on USAA before they asked?

Thirteen, all in 2016 to 2018.

I'm at 23 at USAA, much more spread out, 2017 to now. 
Been waiting for that call since @secondcor521 mentioned it.

[Michael in ABQ]

Just received a response from my email to the old/good company about my CL getting reduced.

"Thank you for letting us know. We have a couple cardholders that Barclays did this to yesterday. The good news is that Barclays restored their limit after calling."

I'll give them a call as soon as I unfreeze my credit reports. I assume they'll run them again before (hopefully) restoring it.

Quick phone call to Barclays and got my $22k CL fully restored. I got the email confirming it while I was still on the phone. They just asked to verify my household income, source of income (self-employed), industry, rent/own, and monthly rent/mortgage.

[ChipChingChang]

quick question for the elders here. has anyone ever heard of a "blanket blacklist" or anything like that happening as the result of selling a crazy amount of piggybacks? if i follow company rules and practices am i theoretically safe selling 50+ cards as i am selling 5 cards? apart from the math making me more likely to have an occasional account closure?

has anybody ever heard of a legit seller (not a scammer with fake cards or any of that crap) getting everything frozen or having all credit bureaus block/drop you from doing large scale piggybacking? i'm trying to get into this i'm 100% comfortable but that idea just popped up in my head. i don't wanna wake up one day with no credit available to me because i got a lot and it helps me make cash

thank you if anyone has a answer

[katsiki]

Just received a response from my email to the old/good company about my CL getting reduced.

"Thank you for letting us know. We have a couple cardholders that Barclays did this to yesterday. The good news is that Barclays restored their limit after calling."

I'll give them a call as soon as I unfreeze my credit reports. I assume they'll run them again before (hopefully) restoring it.

Quick phone call to Barclays and got my $22k CL fully restored. I got the email confirming it while I was still on the phone. They just asked to verify my household income, source of income (self-employed), industry, rent/own, and monthly rent/mortgage.

Reporting in on my experience...  2 CC's were dropped to $5,019.  The letter I received did not mention a phone call - although good company said to call them.  I followed the instructions in the letter and requested a credit limit increase to the original limit on both cards.  To my surprise, both were instantly and easily approved!

Hope this helps some others in the same boat.  In my case, calling was preferable since one of the cards affected is spouse's.  She would call but she hates that sort of thing :)

Good luck, gang!

[almost]

I'm at 23 at USAA, much more spread out, 2017 to now. 
Been waiting for that call since @secondcor521 mentioned it.

I sold a couple USAA spots a few years ago.  I remember I had to add them over the phone and it took a long time and was pretty grueling.  Is it still the same process?