Tradeline selling - is this a real thing??

[JD1967]

Hello everyone ... thanks in advance for any and all feedback ... a question

Bumped into a number of sites/posts regarding tradeline selling (as I understand it, allowing access to your unused credit on a credit card)... before I invest a lot of time in trying to figure this out, I thought I'd ask the BH community if tradeline selling is legit or not ... my gut tells me this is a complete scam but that may only be because I'm clueless ... interested in any and all feedback ... thanks

[8foot7]

Legit. Works.

[Jack FFR1846]

Go look at the thread in the MMM forums. The 2 companies they recommend (You have to PM arebelspy to get the info) have been vetted and are safe to work with. Yes, I sell to both companies. You don't want to go to some random seller because there are lots of ways it could bite you. Been doing this for maybe 2 years.

I also do low balance forgiveness, which pays way less but is zero risk.

[runner3081]

Tied with MMM is the Wealthy Accountant blog.

https://wealthyaccountant.com/2017/10/1 ... -side-gig/

https://wealthyaccountant.com/tag/tradelines/

[willthrill81]

Has anyone personally had a credit card cancelled due to this, or do you personally know anyone who has? That seems to be the only risk involved.

[hayhayday]

I did this a heavily 2017-2018 on about 20 accounts, have 2 left . The rest were closed some after 5 adds some after 20 but all got closed except barclays. Still well worth it as total payout was around 125k but I wouldn't sell trades on any account or bank you want to do biz with in the future.

[tjtv]

The risk of card closures is extremely high. There's another risk though, and that's the risk of being implicated for conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud or conspiracy to fraudulently obtain credit. Risk of that is probably pretty low, but penalty could be quite severe.

I mean what do you think is the reason these people need their credit score boosted for anyway? It's probably not so they can qualify for a Macy's credit card. They want to boost their score that they can qualify for large $$ loans, some for honorable reasons like wanting to buy a house for their family, but others have much more dishonorable intentions of what they will do with the money.

[surfstar]

Wow. Never heard of this.

Would like to hear more though - how much per month are people earning - per card / per credit amount?

[willthrill81]

The risk of card closures is extremely high. There's another risk though, and that's the risk of being implicated for conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud or conspiracy to fraudulently obtain credit. Risk of that is probably pretty low, but penalty could be quite severe.

Do you have any confirmed reports of this ever having actually happened to anyone?

[willthrill81]

Would like to hear more though - how much per month are people earning - per card / per credit amount?

The MMM posts indicate that you can earn about $125-$300 per AU over a 3-6 month period. I can see how people could be easily tempted to game the system, but it sounds like the risk of account closure is very low if you keep AUs for at least three months (and preferably longer) and don't have more than 2-3 per account.

[JD1967]

Thank you everyone ... if you sell access to your credit card etc are you on the hook, financial or otherwise, for the credit extended to who knows who for who knows what ?

[whodidntante]

It's really the realliest of the real.

[willthrill81]

Thank you everyone ... if you sell access to your credit card etc are you on the hook, financial or otherwise, for the credit extended to who knows who for who knows what ?

Which laws do you believe this violates? It's certainly not fraud. My understanding is the FTC is basically given the go ahead to this practice.

[MikeZ]

I looked into it.

Yes it's legit, but I got a really bad feeling about who is buying the tradelines. Think identity thefts, etc. to do bustout fraud. I'd rather not be assocated with that risk.

[Nate79]

Yes it is real, but benefits are way reduced than when it became hot some years ago especially on MMM forum. The credit cards have really cracked down on excessive and out of normal authorized user adding. And when they crack down it can be brutal (close ALL of your accounts with that institution).

But that is all it is. You are adding authorized users no different than adding your spouse, child, neighbor or someone who works for you. In fact people like Clark Howard for years has said to add your kid as an authorized user (don't give them the card) to build their credit. This is a very old practice for building credit for people you know. The risk is low/zero - i.e. you don't give them the card. The only difference is you ask money for the practice which you could have always done in the first place.

[StevieG72]

Go look at the thread in the MMM forums. The 2 companies they recommend (You have to PM arebelspy to get the info) have been vetted and are safe to work with. Yes, I sell to both companies. You don't want to go to some random seller because there are lots of ways it could bite you. Been doing this for maybe 2 years.

I also do low balance forgiveness, which pays way less but is zero risk.

Could you elaborate on that last sentence?

[Jack FFR1846]

There are credit cards who will credit up to $1 per billing cycle or $2 per billing cycle with that as your total for the cycle. Most people just add to their Amazon balance. I get gas. I have maybe 10 cards that work.

[StevieG72]

I have dismissed this in the past, but it has peaked my interest again.

My concern is what happens if.... And I know this isn't supposed to happen, but sometimes things happen that aren't supposed to happen.

I sell a tradeline... all is well, I am eagerly anticipating the easy money headed my way soon.

The person that bought the tradeline knows which card they are buying (buyer knows CC company, age of credit, credit limit), so they call Barclaycard for example and say my card was lost / stolen please send me a new card. Oh yeah please send it to my P.O. Box, I have had mail missing recently. <--- this being the part that is not supposed to happen. Or they simply call and ask for the CC number stating they lost the card and need to make an online purchase. <--- again not supposed to happen but not beyond the scope of possibilities. Maybe it is a CC with a local bank, tradeline purchaser strolls in to the bank and can verify identity easily.
Anyways, somehow the authorized user gets an actual card or even the CC number by calling the CC company and you are on the hook for ALL charges. The authorized user is not responsible for any of the charges.

Now I would assume an authorized user would be shut down and directed to have the account owner call, but the what if drives me crazy!

[willthrill81]

I have dismissed this in the past, but it has peaked my interest again.

My concern is what happens if.... And I know this isn't supposed to happen, but sometimes things happen that aren't supposed to happen.

I sell a tradeline... all is well, I am eagerly anticipating the easy money headed my way soon.

The person that bought the tradeline knows which card they are buying (buyer knows CC company, age of credit, credit limit), so they call Barclaycard for example and say my card was lost / stolen please send me a new card. Oh yeah please send it to my P.O. Box, I have had mail missing recently. <--- this being the part that is not supposed to happen. Or they simply call and ask for the CC number stating they lost the card and need to make an online purchase. <--- again not supposed to happen but not beyond the scope of possibilities. Maybe it is a CC with a local bank, tradeline purchaser strolls in to the bank and can verify identity easily.
Anyways, somehow the authorized user gets an actual card or even the CC number by calling the CC company and you are on the hook for ALL charges. The authorized user is not responsible for any of the charges.

Now I would assume an authorized user would be shut down and directed to have the account owner call, but the what if drives me crazy!

TMK, authorized users cannot do anything with a credit card account beyond making charges with a card in their possession (e.g. cannot request a new card or change contact info). I've not heard of a single story of this happening with anyone.

But if you're really that concerned about it, just don't do it. Churn credit cards for bonuses instead.

[JD1967]

Thank you everyone ... the info is very useful ... how much money are we actually talking about here ... I have 2 CC at WFargo and Chase that I dont use ... both many many years old ... both w healthy credit lines ... if I added authorized users to these credit lines how much $ comes back to me and how often ... on average ... I assume everyone's experience is different within some range ...

Dont care for wfargo or chase by the way and could not care less if either throw me out of their bank ...

[fyre4ce]

I would expect the income to be taxable - can anyone confirm this?

[Nate79]

I would expect the income to be taxable - can anyone confirm this?

Yes, the companies report it as income.

[whodidntante]

Thank you everyone ... the info is very useful ... how much money are we actually talking about here ... I have 2 CC at WFargo and Chase that I dont use ... both many many years old ... both w healthy credit lines ... if I added authorized users to these credit lines how much $ comes back to me and how often ... on average ... I assume everyone's experience is different within some range ...

Dont care for wfargo or chase by the way and could not care less if either throw me out of their bank ...

Depends on:
Current market for tradelines.
Exact age of cards and credit limits.
Which tradeline pimp you use.
How responsive, efficient, and organized you are.
How much risk you want to take.
Luck

In other words, no one knows. Go try it.

[AllMostThere]

Hello everyone ... thanks in advance for any and all feedback ... a question

Bumped into a number of sites/posts regarding tradeline selling (as I understand it, allowing access to your unused credit on a credit card)... before I invest a lot of time in trying to figure this out, I thought I'd ask the BH community if tradeline selling is legit or not ... my gut tells me this is a complete scam but that may only be because I'm clueless ... interested in any and all feedback ... thanks

This thread seems to have died out. Have any BH's actually done this? How much $$ can a single account yield on a monthly basis? Better yet, did the original OP move forward with this tactic?

[Jack FFR1846]

I do.

Go to the MMM thread. It'll give you more info. They've also vetted 2 companies, which is super important.

I'd say I average maybe $5k a year.