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

[Imustacheyouaquestion]

My first sale was added towards the end of August and the card closed in September. I should have been paid at the end of October, correct?

[secondcor521]

My first sale was added towards the end of August and the card closed in September. I should have been paid at the end of October, correct?

The email ARS referenced above implies you should see a direct deposit by 11/10.

(My experience has been that they are slow to pay but they always do pay and pay accurately.  Since this is bonus money anyway I hope nobody here is relying on the timely payments to, say, make rent.)

[Imustacheyouaquestion]

Oo

The email ARS referenced above implies you should see a direct deposit by 11/10.

Ah, I misread when direct deposit should hit your account.

[hgjjgkj]

I have 2 cards with the new company now. Both 2 years old. 1 has an 11k limit. The other has a 15k limit. I think the second card is in a more expensive price tier. I have never sold anything on the second card, but the first one sells pretty decently. Should I lower the limit on the second one with the company so it falls into the cheaper tier?

Secondly, just got approved for a card with a 24k limit but its brand new. How soon could i reasonably list it?

[DavidAnnArbor]

I have 2 cards with the new company now. Both 2 years old. 1 has an 11k limit. The other has a 15k limit. I think the second card is in a more expensive price tier. I have never sold anything on the second card, but the first one sells pretty decently. Should I lower the limit on the second one with the company so it falls into the cheaper tier?

Secondly, just got approved for a card with a 24k limit but its brand new. How soon could i reasonably list it?

Usually these cards are supposed to age for at least 3 years. So I'm impressed the new company has sold tradelines for your card that is 2 years old with only an 11k limit.

[hgjjgkj]

I have 2 cards with the new company now. Both 2 years old. 1 has an 11k limit. The other has a 15k limit. I think the second card is in a more expensive price tier. I have never sold anything on the second card, but the first one sells pretty decently. Should I lower the limit on the second one with the company so it falls into the cheaper tier?

Secondly, just got approved for a card with a 24k limit but its brand new. How soon could i reasonably list it?

Usually these cards are supposed to age for at least 3 years. So I'm impressed the new company has sold tradelines for your card that is 2 years old with only an 11k limit.

Elsewhere in the chat, 2 years is cited frequently.

[topshot]

The payout chart has categories for 12-24mos, 2-7 yrs and 8+ yrs so apparently even just 12 mos old COULD work.

[arebelspy]

They aren't taking 12 mo old cards right now unless they have a very high limit, but there are people selling spots on cards < 2 yrs.

[secondcor521]

I have a Capital One card that says "business" on it but appears to be reporting on my personal credit report.  Can it be used for piggybacking?

[hgjjgkj]

They aren't taking 12 mo old cards right now unless they have a very high limit, but there are people selling spots on cards < 2 yrs.

What is the definition of a very high limit?

[tj]

They aren't taking 12 mo old cards right now unless they have a very high limit, but there are people selling spots on cards < 2 yrs.

What is the definition of a very high limit?

I'd guess over $30k.

[secondcor521]

I have a Capital One card that says "business" on it but appears to be reporting on my personal credit report.  Can it be used for piggybacking?

Anyone?  Bueller?

If nobody knows I can just ask the company.

[arebelspy]

My understanding is that it will not work, that they show up because you are also personally liable, but it will not show up for AUs.

Be interesting to test it. Add one of your kids, then check their report free with credit karma or something in a month.

[HangarBay44]

Hello everyone, happy to be part of the forum!

I am quite interested in selling tradelines, however I dont have very old lines of credit. Im looking into opening a few new cards and using them lightly for a couple years to let them season and get their limits increased, so that I may then sell those credit lines in the future.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which banks / cards would be better to do this with?

Thanks!

[arebelspy]

Barclay is the best, IMO.

[kpd905]

Does anyone have any recommendations for which banks / cards would be better to do this with?

Right now Discover, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, and US Bank cards are working.  But a lot can change in two years, there are constant changes when certain companies do an audit to watch for activity like this, resulting in the tradeline companies pausing the use of those cards.

[HangarBay44]

Barclay is the best, IMO.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Does anyone have any recommendations for which banks / cards would be better to do this with?

Right now Discover, Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, and US Bank cards are working.  But a lot can change in two years, there are constant changes when certain companies do an audit to watch for activity like this, resulting in the tradeline companies pausing the use of those cards.

Good point, two years is a long time. I am leaning towards Barclays and Discover now, both adding and removing AUs online is very important to me.  For now Ill look into those cards and then be hopeful they are available to sell when the time comes!

[BikeFanatic]

I had a few add on my citicard now that it is over two years old. I was able to add on line but not remove online. Does anyone have experice with this? I hate to call because I give them opportunity to ask questions and I am not too cool under pressure.

[MsFrugalista]

...but not remove online. Does anyone have experice with this? I hate to call because I give them opportunity to ask questions and I am not too cool under pressure.

You can send a secure message. I don’t think you can remove AUs online on the Citi website. Secure message has worked like a charm for me. Just confirm they removed the correct AU once you get confirmation of the removal (I haven’t had a problem, but it is Citi after all...).

[solon]

That's really odd. I have the opposite experience. I have to call to add, but I can remove online.

At first it appears you can add online, but there is no place to enter the SSN. The SSN is crucial, so even if you do add online, you still have to call to add the SSN. I find it's easier just to do the whole add over the phone. As for pressure, I've never felt any. They ask for all the details of the AU, but they never ask anything I don't have the answer to.

Removing is dead simple. Just click the Remove button next to the name. That's it.

[arebelspy]

Try a different browser.

[59ona64]

What company/broker is currently recommended? Or are people advertising on CL, or elsewhere?
If you're finding the AUs on your own, what is a reasonable charge on a 15 year old TL with a $19,200 limit (just off the top of my head...) aside from "whatever it's worth to you."

[hgjjgkj]

Has anyone added a user to the wrong card before? How big of an error is that?

[cashstore2022]

Does anyone know if adding authorized users for tradeline purposes affects my ability to do Chase credit card approvals, under their 5/24 approval/denial policy?  I'm very interested in doing another round of Chase Sapphire cards, so I don't want to jeopardize that... yet.

[ketchup]

Does anyone know if adding authorized users for tradeline purposes affects my ability to do Chase credit card approvals, under their 5/24 approval/denial policy?  I'm very interested in doing another round of Chase Sapphire cards, so I don't want to jeopardize that... yet.

It would affect the client's 5/24 status potentially (if you add them to a <24mo old account), but it wouldn't affect yours in any way.

[arebelspy]

Does anyone know if adding authorized users for tradeline purposes affects my ability to do Chase credit card approvals, under their 5/24 approval/denial policy?  I'm very interested in doing another round of Chase Sapphire cards, so I don't want to jeopardize that... yet.

Adding an AU does nothing to your credit report. Doesn't show up or affect it in any way.

[Captain Mustache]

+1 for supporting someone from the community to create one.

I'd be willing to assist with the web development and SEO pro bono.

Also, my good friend owns a real estate company and could definitely shuttle some leads as that seems to be the main stopping point.

Although it's obviously much easier said than done. Like many people here I have a personal business for my side hustles and what not but the management, accounting, etc would be all out of my area of expertise.

[dragoncar]

Does anyone know if adding authorized users for tradeline purposes affects my ability to do Chase credit card approvals, under their 5/24 approval/denial policy?  I'm very interested in doing another round of Chase Sapphire cards, so I don't want to jeopardize that... yet.

A round?  I read that Chase will no longer approve a new Sapphire card if you already have one.

[ducky19]

Has anyone else had to continuously prod the finance guy from the new tradeline company to get paid??? This is the second time out of the last two times that I've had to contact him about payment! I even waited well past the timeline laid out in their email. The first time I was fed the line that their accountant was on vacation over Labor Day weekend (still waited 5 days to get paid), this time I was told it was sent today and should post on Thursday. I can only wonder if it would have posted "today" had I not said something. I realize this is basically free money - I get it. But I really don't think I should have to constantly prod and poke to get paid! Anyone else have similar experiences?

[arebelspy]

Anyone else have similar experiences?

Yes. =/

[flashflooder]

^^well, it's now Thursday and I haven't yet been paid for September adds.

[Joel]

I eagerly signed up at the beginning of 2017, but I was only getting sales on an old but low credit limit card. Since they gave users the opportunity to cut prices on better cards, I have not received a sale. It’s been over six months. In all honesty, I’m thinking about closing my account as it seems to be a waste of time. Oh well the whopping $225 I earned was nice.

[ducky19]

Was told the money should be in my account today... still nothing. I have not received an add for an AU since the first time I pointed out I wasn't paid back in September. Prior to that I was getting several AUs at least every other month. Coincidence? Possibly... doesn't feel like it though.

[flashflooder]

I eagerly signed up at the beginning of 2017, but I was only getting sales on an old but low credit limit card. Since they gave users the opportunity to cut prices on better cards, I have not received a sale. It’s been over six months. In all honesty, I’m thinking about closing my account as it seems to be a waste of time. Oh well the whopping $225 I earned was nice.

Can you explain what you mean by the bolded bit?  Did I miss something?

[Captain Mustache]

I eagerly signed up at the beginning of 2017, but I was only getting sales on an old but low credit limit card. Since they gave users the opportunity to cut prices on better cards, I have not received a sale. It’s been over six months. In all honesty, I’m thinking about closing my account as it seems to be a waste of time. Oh well the whopping $225 I earned was nice.

Can you explain what you mean by the bolded bit?  Did I miss something?

Basically, you can take a card that would be a better value to a potential AU (older, higher limit) and set it to a lower tier (cost them less, get paid less).

You could get potentially get more adds, but I'd consider it bad karma for the community as it's lowering the worth for everyone.

[el_ingeniero]

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

[ducky19]

Holy crap - you're buying $30k worth of gift cards each month???

[dragoncar]

Holy crap - you're buying $30k worth of gift cards each month???

yeah, wut?  TEACH ME

[tj]

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

You have to know that you'll get shut down eventually. It's not a sustainable practice. Read flyertalk.

[TomTX]

^^well, it's now Thursday and I haven't yet been paid for September adds.

September payout just showed up in my account (pending) this morning.

ACH can be slow because it is a "batch" process with a middleman between the banks. The sender cannot accurately predict when the ACH will show up in the recipient's account, nor when the recipient bank will clear it.

https://www.avidxchange.com/ach-vs-wire/

I recently began using Zelle when a friend needed to send me money. It's really easy, and really fast. Typically the payment shows up within seconds on my end (pending, but usable/added to the account balance) and fully clears no later than the next day.

You activate Zelle with your bank and give them an email address or phone number for Zelle. The sender does NOT need your account numbers or routing, they just need the email or phone you gave your bank - and at least with my bank, I used a different email address for Zelle, so the payer doesn't even need to know the email your bank uses to send you alerts/account resets/etc. This also allows you to quickly send money between your own accounts - you just give a different Zelle email to each bank.

Some formerly proprietary quick payment methods (ie ChasePay) are really Zelle now. A large chunk of major and minor banks support it: BoA, Chase, Ally, Citi, Capital One, USAA, US Bank, etc.

[robartsd]

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

For tradeline sales, the balance on the closing date is the important thing. It should be small, but enough above zero to post to the credit report. I don't think a manufactured spending charge that got paid off before the statement closes would be a problem. I'm surprised that you have a manufactured spending system that is worthwhile for anything other than sign up bonus spending thresholds. The pattern others here have talked about here is is 1) open cards with big bonuses, 2) manufacture spending if needed to get the bonus, 3) convert to no fee product before paying annual fee if applicable, 4) offer for tradeline sales if possible after the card ages.

[Spartans]

Holy crap - you're buying $30k worth of gift cards each month???

yeah, wut?  TEACH ME

reddit.com/r/churning/

[Spartans]

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

You have to know that you'll get shut down eventually. It's not a sustainable practice. Read flyertalk.

Folks have been doing it for years so it has been sustainable. But yeah starting now is late in the game, wells are starting to all dry up.  Post office just announced no more gift cards for money orders so Walmart or other grocery stores are the go to.  YMMV with WMT though.

Or are you saying that selling tradelines is not sustainable?

[tj]

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

You have to know that you'll get shut down eventually. It's not a sustainable practice. Read flyertalk.

Folks have been doing it for years so it has been sustainable. But yeah starting now is late in the game, wells are starting to all dry up.  Post office just announced no more gift cards for money orders so Walmart or other grocery stores are the go to.  YMMV with WMT though.

Or are you saying that selling tradelines is not sustainable?

IMO, selling tradelines is more likely to be sustainable than mega levels of manufactured spending on lucrative cards. If you're running a 2% card, you'll probably be fine, but your margins are going to be low with the activation fees and what not that it wouldn't be worth it for most people. If you're doing a 5% card, like the old vanilla visa's at a grocery store or drug store, or the old chase freedom where you got 10 points (10 cents) per transaction, adn you ran a script for a ton of micro-transactions, the bank canceled your card after a month or 2 it.

You used to be able to buy coins from the US Mint and then deposit the coins in your bank account. Those were the days.

[Car Jack]

You used to be able to buy coins from the US Mint and then deposit the coins in your bank account. Those were the days.

And Redbird......and buying US Savings bonds with a credit card and no fee at $30k per person with a 6 month cashing in window (I got into that bigly).

There are still MS options out there.....and opportunities that purists would argue are not MS because, after all, I did pay 38 cents for that 20 gallon gas fill up.  :D

[CanuckExpat]

You used to be able to buy coins from the US Mint and then deposit the coins in your bank account. Those were the days.

It pays to have your finger on the pulse. Used to be "easy" and lucrative to MS, now it appears to be the Golden Age Of Bank Account Bonuses

Or perhaps it was. We were in for several thousand for the year in bank account bonuses (or like 20% of our retirement spending or something) and then all of a sudden we both started getting declined

Easy come, easy go

[tj]

You used to be able to buy coins from the US Mint and then deposit the coins in your bank account. Those were the days.

It pays to have your finger on the pulse. Used to be "easy" and lucrative to MS, now it appears to be the Golden Age Of Bank Account Bonuses

Or perhaps it was. We were in for several thousand for the year in bank account bonuses (or like 20% of our retirement spending or something) and then all of a sudden we both started getting declined

Easy come, easy go

Nice. It probably helps to have 2 people in your household since you can double up on all the offers.

Off topic,, but how'd you get paid to offer an opinion on fried chicken?

[arebelspy]

^^well, it's now Thursday and I haven't yet been paid for September adds.

September payout just showed up in my account (pending) this morning.

ACH can be slow because it is a "batch" process with a middleman between the banks. The sender cannot accurately predict when the ACH will show up in the recipient's account, nor when the recipient bank will clear it.

https://www.avidxchange.com/ach-vs-wire/

I recently began using Zelle when a friend needed to send me money. It's really easy, and really fast. Typically the payment shows up within seconds on my end (pending, but usable/added to the account balance) and fully clears no later than the next day.

You activate Zelle with your bank and give them an email address or phone number for Zelle. The sender does NOT need your account numbers or routing, they just need the email or phone you gave your bank - and at least with my bank, I used a different email address for Zelle, so the payer doesn't even need to know the email your bank uses to send you alerts/account resets/etc. This also allows you to quickly send money between your own accounts - you just give a different Zelle email to each bank.

Some formerly proprietary quick payment methods (ie ChasePay) are really Zelle now. A large chunk of major and minor banks support it: BoA, Chase, Ally, Citi, Capital One, USAA, US Bank, etc.

+1. I've switched some of my tenants to using Zelle. It's pretty nice.

I do a fair amount of manufactured spend churning Visa Gift Cards either through online portals or for fuel rewards, mostly on my 2% cards with no annual fee.

It's worth about $600/month for 8 Walmart trips every month across a couple of credit cards.

As long as I pay off balances before the payment cycles close would I be OK, or should I get new credit cards to churn gift cards on?

Totally.

You need to have utilization under 10%, but you can basically pay off all of the amount due except for like $3so then the statement closes with a $3 balance and reports., then pay that off (before it earns any interest).

[tj]

but you can basically pay off all of the amount due except for like $3so then the statement closes with a $3 balance and reports

Make sure it's not a card that gives a credit for small balances, I'd have it closer to $10 for that reason.

[arebelspy]

but you can basically pay off all of the amount due except for like $3so then the statement closes with a $3 balance and reports

Make sure it's not a card that gives a credit for small balances, I'd have it closer to $10 for that reason.

I haven't seen any credit that high, but sure, any small amount above what they might credit, basically. :)