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

[katsiki]

This is why you should use an EIN and a separate checking account. Not that I am worried about this company, but why send your SSN and primary banking info to anyone when there are less sensitive alternatives available?

Thanks for the reminder, TJ!  I already had a dedicated bank account from old TL co.  I just established an EIN.  For anyone wondering, it took less than 5 minutes.

[sol]

Er...the information and risks were clearly stated, you had a chance to ask any questions or raise any concerns, and you freely made a choice as an adult.  I don't understand how you justify your complaining.

Not complaining.  Just commenting that it looks a little scammy from the perspective of someone who hasn't heard a peep out of this company for two months, after handing over all of their personal info.

I can "freely make a choice as an adult" to send money to a Nigerian prince on the internet, too.  Whether or not that prince is offering a legitimate business endeavor makes no difference.  Generally speaking, I'm wary of people who ask for my financial information on the internet, and promise me vast personal riches as a result.  This time, I decided to be less wary.  So far, that hasn't paid off for me.

[secondcor521]

Er...the information and risks were clearly stated, you had a chance to ask any questions or raise any concerns, and you freely made a choice as an adult.  I don't understand how you justify your complaining.

Not complaining.  Just commenting that it looks a little scammy from the perspective of someone who hasn't heard a peep out of this company for two months, after handing over all of their personal info.

I can "freely make a choice as an adult" to send money to a Nigerian prince on the internet, too.  Whether or not that prince is offering a legitimate business endeavor makes no difference.  Generally speaking, I'm wary of people who ask for my financial information on the internet, and promise me vast personal riches as a result.  This time, I decided to be less wary.  So far, that hasn't paid off for me.

Yeah, I can understand that.  I'm sort of curious why some people have sales and get responses and others don't.  Maybe ARS' offer to be a clearinghouse will help with the responses at least, and maybe somewhere in there we can discern a pattern.

[monarda]

I agree, sol, it does sound fishy. That's why I waited a really long time to sign up, and finally did sign up with the new company around New Year's, with a single $15K card (opened 2002), after emailing ars and the people at both companies with all sorts of questions beyond what was posted here at the time. 

Got 2 sales in mid Jan @ 15K.
At the end of January, I upped the credit line of this card to $20K, and then got one sale in Feb @ 20K.
Awaiting my first payment for the January sales, to complete the first cycle. Got an email saying it's on the way, less than 4 weeks from the Feb closing date.

I don't care how many sales we get. If it all is as smooth as ars has indicated, I intend to enroll another card this summer when it turns 2 years old.

[powskier]

Signed up Jan 1st with 10 + year old cards, high ( 15k to 25k) limits, resigned up early bird with new portal. No sales.
My wife signed up same time and has 1 add 3 weeks ago.

Sigh.

[sw1tch]

I finally got enrolled in the portal and am now getting the Card Add Error.  I'll have to try Internet Explorer when I get home.

Just a quick update/question: I am still unable to add any cards to my account.  I get the infamous "**Card Add Failed!!" error message when I try to do so.  I also get the failure message when trying to add a ticket for the help desk.

I ended up sending an e-mail to the support e-mail address under contacts - still waiting for a reply which is fine since I didn't send it until late Friday.

Did anyone else run into these issues; if so, how did you get it to work?  I've tried multiple browsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox) to no avail.

Same exact issue here. I told the guy about it last week and he said he would check with the developer and get back to me, but I haven't heard anything since then.

They think this is fixed (said it was related to having a username/email of more than 25 characters not being recognized by the card holder table, which is no longer an issue)--can anyone who experienced this try again and let us know?

Yup, I got it to work last night.  Coincidentally, I also offered the suggestion that the e-mail/username length might have been an issue since mine seemed really long.

[aetherie]

They think this is fixed (said it was related to having a username/email of more than 25 characters not being recognized by the card holder table, which is no longer an issue)--can anyone who experienced this try again and let us know?

Yep, the owner emailed me back and said it was fixed, and he went ahead and added my card in for me.

He entered the closing date as one day before it actually is, though - is that worth changing? Or will having the system think it closes one day early just give me a safety buffer for last-minute adds?

[MasterStache]

It's legit but I am certainly not raking in the dough, nor did I expect too. I have a feeling signing up with the new company as early as I did coupled with a closing date early in the month (right after I signed up), high credit limit, age of card all led to me getting a couple sales right away. A sale here and there is good enough for me. I had/have no expectations of monthly riches.

[ducky19]

I've got five cards signed up, although the Chase and BoA are resting now due to the closures. Had two adds to my Citi the first month, one to CapOne the first month, and a second one to the CapOne this month. I received my first payment a few days after a month out from my card's closing date. $400, direct deposit, no issues. My email communications with the owner have been spotty - sometimes he will get right back to me, other times I have to send him a second note. Usually after sending a second email he gets right back to me. I chalk it up to him being super busy. I can say from my experience it has worked nearly seamlessly for me, but I am but one data point in this grand experiment. Overall have been pleased, so thanks again ARS for giving us the inside track!

[Car Jack]

So another data point.....

I put my info in via paper scanned mid January and heard back that I should have sales in Feb.  Nothing.  Sent Joe a PM and the company sent me an email with portal info.  I registered my account yesterday and inputted one credit card to start.  All appeared fine.  This morning, I logged in and no credit cards are there.  I went through an add card and now the card shows up.  I'll see how that goes.  Another card matures to 2 years next month that I don't care if it gets closed (I'm only registering cards that closing will mean nothing to me).  I'll later have a bunch of BoA cards that I really could care less if they close.  Signed up for the bonus a couple years ago and will add them once I get my first payment.  Will update when more action occurs.

[HAPPYINAZ]

I haven't seen any sales either, which is disappointing, but I hope perhaps this month it will happen.  The owner told me they had not been advertising for the last 6 weeks because they were trying to get their portal online.  He also mentioned they had 700 credit cards signed up fairly recently and so he said it would take awhile to get demand to meet supply.  He didn't give me a time frame for how long that would take. 

[arebelspy]

In order to ramp up their business to support the Mustachian Horde, they HAD to get the portal online first, so they didn't have to do everything manually.

(Even doing it manually, they're the best equipped to handle it--they saw about 3x sales of Old Company last month--but now they'll be able to crank it up and add even more.)

He entered the closing date as one day before it actually is, though - is that worth changing? Or will having the system think it closes one day early just give me a safety buffer for last-minute adds?

One day early is good.

[boarder42]

love free money. 

have to see how well this continues.  if it can go strong for 4 more years with no sign of stopping i will have shaved 3 years off my projected 7 years needed til FIRE.

[FIREandMONEY]

I have not signed up yet, but will do soon.

Should I just go ahead and get an EIN?  Are these easy to get?

[Wandles]

Those of you waiting, I believe they're saying the average time right now from sign up to first tradeline sale will typically be 2-3 weeks (longer if your card is < 20k, 5 yrs+, shorter if it's higher than those), and that's average--so some will be much quicker (as above), some will take longer.

Also closing date plays a factor, as you'll typically see sales right before your closing date, so if your closing date is the 30th, you'll have a few weeks to wait--if it's the 8th, you already missed that window.  Even if your card was enrolled at that time, then hopefully you'll see one next statement.

@Wandles: Can you confirm the above?  What is the age/limit range of your card, if you don't mind sharing? (And I'm assuming the closing date is soon?)

My card closed on the 9th and my sales were on the 8th and 9th so they were last minute sales.  It is an older card (~10 years) and has a $25k limit so I'm not sure if that got me worked through the system faster.  At the same time as the USAA card I signed up a Citi card that is 2 years old, ~$11k limit, same closing date and no word on that one.

Another followup for those curious about what people's experience has been like:

I had 2 adds in Jan, 1 in Feb, and 2 in March.  I just removed and got paid for the Jan AUs.  I personally think an EIN is a little overboard but if it makes you feel safer then go that route.  To me it seems that if you're trusting the company to hire you then you should be able to trust them with that personal information.  I've never been too worried about identity theft though so maybe I'm just not careful enough. Even those who take precautions suffer from it too though: https://youtu.be/WaaANll8h18

[HipGnosis]

I put my info and cards on the portal 2/7.
I got a 'sale' (It's a rental!) 6:15 last night (email)
Logged into portal;  it's on my CITI card  ($150!!)  And this is a card I use regularly - 3% rewards on gas and restaurants. 
The portal not only told me I had to call CITI to do the add, they even gave the phn #! (nice!)  It also said to ask to add the SN for security (had to click on the little info. icon)  There is an icon for an on-line add video (n/a for CITI).
I called and gave the name of the AU - they said "Okay'...  I asked about the address and SN!  He said "Oh, you want a card for them"?"    Oh, yes (hell yes!)
The info. also said to log into my CITI account online later to confirm the add, which I just did.  Took a while to find AUs. It's under Services.

[arebelspy]

I got a 'sale' (It's a rental!)

Haha.  Good point.

Neat that they're starting to use the portal, thanks for the info! 

All adds that I'm aware of to this point had still been manual, as they start to switch over.

[cheapass]

Is there a way to increase credit limit on a card in the portal?

[Roots&Wings]

I got a 'sale' (It's a rental!)

Haha.  Good point.

Neat that they're starting to use the portal, thanks for the info! 

All adds that I'm aware of to this point had still been manual, as they start to switch over.

Nice you got such a quick sale. I'm in Sol's boat. Have been on there since January, and nothing. Also received no response about the increased credit limit on one of my cards, and no info about the portal either.

[solon]

Is there a way to increase credit limit on a card in the portal?

I created a help ticket on the portal. It took about a week, but they responded.

[katsiki]

Is there a way to increase credit limit on a card in the portal?

I believe you have to email for that.

[arebelspy]

(Reposting this for people who missed it, e.g. step-in-time's latest post... I left the original one for posterity's sake, but I will likely delete this duplicate later, especially if I re-post it.  I know it's easy to miss a post in a large thread like this.  If you have a communication gap, and you would like a response, please PM me.)


Okay, working on the communication issues.

They have been overwhelmed with emails, and getting the portal going, but are trying to get on track to make sure everything outstanding is answered.

If you are waiting on something, PM me (do not click the email button, please, but PM).

LINK TO PM ME HERE: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/pm/?sa=send;u=25

Please specify if you are waiting for:
- Initial contact (documents to fill out)
- Confirmation of your filled out documents received
- Portal Information
- Problem with the portal (and what)
- Other (specify)

Please include your email address you used to communicate with them.  This will let me pass along the issue, and your contact information so they can reach out to you.

I will be helping to make sure you didn't fall through the cracks, and ensure you get a response.

(Please note: You will only have portal information if your filled out paperwork has been received.)

My response time may be a slight bit lagged as well (I'm in a very different time zone than most of you), but it should be less than 24 hours response time from me.

Cheers!

[HipGnosis]

Is there a way to increase credit limit on a card in the portal?

I created a help ticket on the portal. It took about a week, but they responded.

Thanks.

[Optimiser]

Is there a way to increase credit limit on a card in the portal?

I created a help ticket on the portal. It took about a week, but they responded.

I did this today. It took maybe 2 hours.

[charuhans]

Well, the post office returned the cards for the authorized users to the bank which were mailed to my address. Citi just emailed me to check and update my address. Wonder how to get around this without making the bank suspicious. Anybody here had a similar issue?

[arebelspy]

Well, the post office returned the cards for the authorized users to the bank which were mailed to my address. Citi just emailed me to check and update my address. Wonder how to get around this without making the bank suspicious. Anybody here had a similar issue?

Just ignore it. Or "update" it to the same address, if you have to do something.

I've been selling TLs for 9 months now, with cards bouncing back to them (including Citi) and it hasn't been an issue.

[hoping2retire35]

Well, the post office returned the cards for the authorized users to the bank which were mailed to my address. Citi just emailed me to check and update my address. Wonder how to get around this without making the bank suspicious. Anybody here had a similar issue?

This was one of my worries. I live in a small town and trying to explain this to the postal workers while cars are driving by in about 20 seconds would just make it seem like I am running a scam.

[arebelspy]

Well, the post office returned the cards for the authorized users to the bank which were mailed to my address. Citi just emailed me to check and update my address. Wonder how to get around this without making the bank suspicious. Anybody here had a similar issue?

This was one of my worries. I live in a small town and trying to explain this to the postal workers while cars are driving by in about 20 seconds would just make it seem like I am running a scam.

What do you need to explain? It's mail not addressed to you. Return to sender.

That's their job. :)

Do you think they're going to get together with the CC company and start asking questions or something?

[hoping2retire35]

Well, the post office returned the cards for the authorized users to the bank which were mailed to my address. Citi just emailed me to check and update my address. Wonder how to get around this without making the bank suspicious. Anybody here had a similar issue?

This was one of my worries. I live in a small town and trying to explain this to the postal workers while cars are driving by in about 20 seconds would just make it seem like I am running a scam.

What do you need to explain? It's mail not addressed to you. Return to sender.

That's their job. :)

Do you think they're going to get together with the CC company and start asking questions or something?

Well, the PO always returns them then the CC company's could become suspicious.

[Mod Edit: Quote tags.]

[arebelspy]

Well, the PO always returns them then the CC company's could become suspicious.

Again, not in my experience.

They may try to update your address when they get returned mail (though usually not). I highly doubt they're tracking returned mail, cross-referencing it with AUs added, and becoming suspicious. I've seen no evidence of this ever.

It's just not something to worry about.

And usually the post office will deliver it just fine (mine will not, because I use a mail forwarder, being out of the country, but most people should have no problem).

If some.nosy post office employee wanted to know who someone was getting mail at my address, I'd say "a business associate" and leave it at that.  Totally true, and more explanation needed.

Summary: Post office should deliver. If they don't, CC company won't care anyways.

[Fireball]

Well, the PO always returns them then the CC company's could become suspicious.

Summary: Post office should deliver. If they don't, CC company won't care anyways.

Agree. These are massive companies and they have no desire to pay a team member to sift through returned mail.

[charuhans]

Thanks arebelspy. I don't think my PO/employees are concerned or care. It's straight forward for them, name on mail doesn't match the resident, return to sender. Also, the Citi email is only a advisory to ensure that my address is current. My only concern was will the bank try to resend the cards and then get them returned again and that cycle might raise some questions. Also, another three cards are on the way from Citi and most likely will get returned, too. But if the bank doesn't so anything further, then I guess all is well.

[arebelspy]

Nah, I think they'll only retry if you purposefully contact them to say "hey, I never got this, resend it!"  Should be all good.  :)

[N]

I wonder if a factor that plays a part in sales is the due date (or close date). If there were a more preferable date, Id certainly change mine. I had one sale for the last company last year (5 mos after joining) and none so far and I signed up in January. I have one card thats over 20k and 14 years old, so I would think its a good card.

[DavidAnnArbor]

I wonder if a factor that plays a part in sales is the due date (or close date). If there were a more preferable date, Id certainly change mine. I had one sale for the last company last year (5 mos after joining) and none so far and I signed up in January. I have one card thats over 20k and 14 years old, so I would think its a good card.

Wow that's a great card!

[MsFrugalista]

Got my first add with new company since joining on Jan 3rd - yay! (coincidentally got one with old company on the same day as well, on a different card that I have with them). Overall it's been a productive day :). Thank you ARS, we have been enjoying the extra cash in our early FIRE days.

New company wants me to call Citi to make sure the SSN is added. I suppose this is to ensure the tradeline posts correctly, but what a pain. I'll make the 2-5 mins call, but it was nice to just be able to add online and not have to deal with anyone over the phone.

[arebelspy]

I wonder if a factor that plays a part in sales is the due date (or close date). If there were a more preferable date, Id certainly change mine. I had one sale for the last company last year (5 mos after joining) and none so far and I signed up in January. I have one card thats over 20k and 14 years old, so I would think its a good card.

I don't think there's more preferable dates, other than spread out from other cards (but no way to know that)--people buy whenever they need a tradeline.

Your card is quite good, it should max out every month.

To that point, I have some new information pending about upcoming sales.  Give me til the beginning of next week, due to the weekend, but update coming.

[arebelspy]

Got my first add with new company since joining on Jan 3rd - yay! (coincidentally got one with old company on the same day as well, on a different card that I have with them). Overall it's been a productive day :). Thank you ARS, we have been enjoying the extra cash in our early FIRE days.

Awesome!  :)

New company wants me to call Citi to make sure the SSN is added. I suppose this is to ensure the tradeline posts correctly, but what a pain. I'll make the 2-5 mins call, but it was nice to just be able to add online and not have to deal with anyone over the phone.

Yeah, the phone calls are a pain in the rear. I love the all online ones.  But I can confirm that one Mustachian's Citi add from January didn't post because he didn't call to add the SSN, only did it online. It'd be a bummer to lose out on $200 (or whatever) just because of the annoyance of a 5 minute call.

[N]

I don't think there's more preferable dates, other than spread out from other cards (but no way to know that)--people buy whenever they need a tradeline.

Your card is quite good, it should max out every month.

To that point, I have some new information pending about upcoming sales.  Give me til the beginning of next week, due to the weekend, but update coming.

Ill be interested to hear. I checked and the card is actually from '99, and the close date is the 10th so I wont get any this month either. Thanks for sharing all your info!

[frogstomp81]

Pardon my ignorance, but does using an EIN complicate the filing of your taxes at all?

ust send us all your bank account info, SSN, and a copy of your signature, and wait for the money to start rolling in!

This is why you should use an EIN and a separate checking account. Not that I am worried about this company, but why send your SSN and primary banking info to anyone when there are less sensitive alternatives available?

[frogstomp81]

...Never-mind just did some more research and it does not.

[RedwoodDreams]

Has anyone else noticed that sales of Barclaycard spots often don't post correctly? I've sold 7 spots on my card over the past 8 months, and of those, 4 posted correctly and 3 didn't. I've followed the same exact online add procedure each time.

Barclays doesn't ask for SSN in the online add form, so I'm thinking maybe I need to call and give them SSN just to add all info that can help with a correct posting.

But wondering if others have noticed this? The other card I sell regularly on (Discover) asks for SSN online and I've never had a Discover sale fall through.

[tj]

Has anyone else noticed that sales of Barclaycard spots often don't post correctly?

How does one learn this? Do they tell you when it doesn't post correctly?

[secondcor521]

Has anyone else noticed that sales of Barclaycard spots often don't post correctly? I've sold 7 spots on my card over the past 8 months, and of those, 4 posted correctly and 3 didn't. I've followed the same exact online add procedure each time.

Barclays doesn't ask for SSN in the online add form, so I'm thinking maybe I need to call and give them SSN just to add all info that can help with a correct posting.

But wondering if others have noticed this? The other card I sell regularly on (Discover) asks for SSN online and I've never had a Discover sale fall through.

All of mine have posted correctly so far.  What I do is add the AU via the online form, then call in and ask them to add the SSN.

[kpd905]

New company wants me to call Citi to make sure the SSN is added. I suppose this is to ensure the tradeline posts correctly, but what a pain. I'll make the 2-5 mins call, but it was nice to just be able to add online and not have to deal with anyone over the phone.

Do you add online and then call just to give them the SSN?  Or have you been doing everything over the phone?

[charuhans]

I wonder if a factor that plays a part in sales is the due date (or close date). If there were a more preferable date, Id certainly change mine. I had one sale for the last company last year (5 mos after joining) and none so far and I signed up in January. I have one card thats over 20k and 14 years old, so I would think its a good card.

I think the sales are dependent on what gets the buyers of the tradelines the maximum bang for their buck. For example, a card with limit of $14,xxx will get almost the same bang as buying a tradeline which has $15,xxx or $16,xxx limit. But the buyer would have to pay more for the card with limits of $15,xxx and over since the bracket changes from the $14K (assuming the pay structure changes as with us sellers cards limits). So I think it's beneficial for us sellers to have cards with limits like $14,xxx or $19,xxx.

[tj]

I wonder if a factor that plays a part in sales is the due date (or close date). If there were a more preferable date, Id certainly change mine. I had one sale for the last company last year (5 mos after joining) and none so far and I signed up in January. I have one card thats over 20k and 14 years old, so I would think its a good card.

I think the sales are dependent on what gets the buyers of the tradelines the maximum bang for their buck. For example, a card with limit of $14,xxx will get almost the same bang as buying a tradeline which has $15,xxx or $16,xxx limit. But the buyer would have to pay more for the card with limits of $15,xxx and over since the bracket changes from the $14K (assuming the pay structure changes as with us sellers cards limits). So I think it's beneficial for us sellers to have cards with limits like $14,xxx or $19,xxx.

Most of my sales have been on a card with $20,xxx.

[d4future]

FYI, Bank of America is closing accounts for Irregular Authorized User Activity.  If you value that account, I suggest you remove from the list.

[TomTX]

FYI, Bank of America is closing accounts for Irregular Authorized User Activity.  If you value that account, I suggest you remove from the list.

Tradeline company already suspended sales on BoA cards.

[FrugalZony]

.......I usually never count my money while sitting at the table, there'll be time enough for counting, when the dealin's done....
.....

Quoting myself ;)
out of my three January adds, only two posted correctly (Barclaycard)
Followed exact same procedure for each.
Barclay even makes you call in to add a SSN...

Still happy with two succesful ones, but bummer on the one that didn't post.