Skip to content 
Selling Tradelines: How It Works and Who It Fits
Selling tradelines means letting someone be on your credit card as an authorized user for a fee, then removing them after a set reporting period (like a rental). The buyer gets the account’s age and limit on their credit report, usually boosting their score. They don’t get access to use the card at all, since the new card gets sent to the primary cardholder’s address, and the seller gets paid.
It’s one of, if not the BEST passive income method I’ve ever come across.
How selling tradelines works
The process is short on the seller’s end:
- They list a card’s bank, age, limit, and statement date
- A buyer purchases an authorized user spot
- The seller adds them online, usually in under 10 minutes
- After the reporting period, they remove them and get paid
The buyer never receives the card and cannot make charges. That point is the most common misunderstanding about selling tradelines.
Who selling tradelines suits
This tends to fit people who already hold older cards and do not use all of their available credit. Sellers usually share a few traits:
- Several cards that are two or more years old
- A clean payment history
- Cards with room under their limits
- Willingness to add and remove users on a schedule
The more cards you have, the more opportunities you have to get paid.
What you can expect to earn
Earnings depend on the age and limit of your cards and how often you cycle users. Sellers with several active cards listed often bring in a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars a month, though the figure varies widely. You can run your own numbers with the Tradeline Seller Earnings Calculator.
Tradeline Express lists cards with utilization under 10% and keeps authorized users on for 90 or more days, compared with the 60-day window many companies use.
What to weigh before you start
Adding authorized users is legal under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, but a few points are worth knowing:
- Some banks, such as Bank of America and Chase, are stricter about authorized users
- Citi, Discover, American Express, and Barclays tend to work well
- A company that paces how many users join your cards helps limit risk
Once you understand the tradeoffs, listing your first card is a quick step.
