If you're already churning credit cards, then you don't need us to explain what it entails. But what you might not know is that there's another way you can put those cards to good use to make some great passive income. Not only can you eliminate the annual fees associated with keeping your churning card accounts open, but you can earn much more than that as time goes on, and keep those credit card accounts in action which ultimately can allow you to maintain a bigger a better credit profile.

While the point here is to explain how you can use your credit card churning skills and experience and translate it into selling tradelines, let's take just a second to explain what churning credit cards actually is, for those who don't know. Just to be clear and direct, we'll let you know right know that it doesn't involve putting all your credit cards into a barrel and stirring them up until they're ready to spend.

(If you don't want to read the explanation for newbies about what churning is an prefer to jump right in to learning about selling tradelines and how you as a churner can benefit, click here to skip the intro and jump right into the good stuff.)

What Is Credit Card Churning?

To be brief, credit card churning is the art (yes, you churners have this skill honed down to a very fine skill in many cases which deserves the title of being an art) of strategically acquiring new credit cards - sometimes as many as possible - with the sole purpose of benefiting from their sign-up bonuses, special offers, points/cash rewards programs, and other financial perks.

A very generic and simple example of this could be as follows:

A credit card company is offering a $2,500 cash back bonus to new users who spend at least $10k in the first 60 days of receiving their new card. Well, the "churner" is remodeling his kitchen and is about to spend $12k on materials to do so. He's already got the card, and he even found an excellent deal from a building materials store where the $12k he's about to spend would normally cost him over $15k. He heads over, he buys his supplies, and he gets a great deal for being a smart shopper and saves over $3k on the purchase alone.

But, let's not forget that he just used his new credit card to make the purchase, and it was over $10k, which qualifies him for the $2,500 cash back. In theory, he's just saved another $2,500 because he already has funds in his bank account to cover the whole purchase in cash, meaning this credit card purchase won't be accruing interest for the next 3 years as he makes small payments. He'll pay everything off at once (whenever the time is right and in accordance with the terms of the credit card's sign-up bonus) and save another $2.5K on his building materials at the end of the day. This puts him at a total of somewhere close to $6k in savings for being financially savvy.

Now, there are many ways that churning can be done, and there are mountains of tactics, deals, and strategies that can be employed, including things like continually acquiring cards with zero-interest for 18 or 24 months where balance transfers are accepted, allowing the cardholder to repeatedly transfer balances over multiple cards and avoid interest. There's a world of possibilities for credit card churning. If you want to learn more about churning credit cards, we suggest you do some research about it if you'd like to get started.

Anyway, that's enough explaining. Let's get moving on with the idea of selling credit card tradelines. It's time to discuss and how selling tradelines can help those out there who are already out there churning and are ready to learn something completely new.

Credit Card Tradelines, Authorized Users, and Selling Tradelines

We suspect that if you're experienced with churning credit cards you've probably also heard about selling authorized user tradelines, however that's not always the case. In fact, that's the reason this article is being written.

While cruising the web, I noticed so many different people, blogs, forum posts, and youtube videos talking about credit card churning and something caught my eye. Nobody was talking about selling tradelines. Well, of course they're two entirely different subjects and ideas. They're not even related in any way apart from the fact that they involve credit cards. But what really motivated me to write and want to reach out to people who are already churning credit cards was the sheer amount of people discussing what they do with their cards "post-churn", so to speak.

Many people talked about how they leave their cards open, and many spoke about how they closed the cards at the earliest valid or logical opportunity - especially the cards imposing annual fees (some into the hundreds of dollars). The more I read about this, the more it began to click. I had a perfect solution for people to keep on working those cards in their favor, and getting paid for it.

You already know as a churner that what you're doing is completely legal and legitimate, and the same can be said about selling authorized user tradelines. However, both practices fall into this kind of gray area. You know, the whole thing about the ethics behind it, the fact that the banks and creditors obviously aren't in favor of the practice but can't do much about it, and this blanket idea by the general public that it's "dishonest" or not worth it. If there's anyone who's a great candidate for selling tradelines and already has the credit cards to do it, it would be people who are already churning. So let's dig in and give you an understanding of what it is, how it works, and how you can benefit from the accounts that you already have open from churning - or any credit card account for that matter.

What Are Authorized User Tradelines And What Does Selling Them Involve?

Technically, a tradeline is any line of credit issued by a lender or creditor to an individual. There are installment tradelines like home loans or auto financing, and then there are revolving tradelines which are the category that credit cards fall into. Authorized user tradelines (usually referred to as AU tradelines or simply tradelines within our industry) are really nothing more than credit card tradelines that have been issued by the cardholder (you) to an authorized user (not you).

Traditionally, the authorized user is issued their own card based on the permission of the cardholder, and permitted to use the card to spend. To be clear, this is not a joint account. The authorized user has simply been "granted" the ability to access this credit line on behalf of the primary cardholder (you).

Here's where things get interesting. When an authorized user is added to your credit card, their credit profile automatically inherits and reflects the details (account age, credit limit, payment history, and credit utilization). If the payment history is perfect, the credit limit is high, the card account has some age behind it and the utilization is low, it can have a very positive impact upon the authorized user's credit score. For this reason, many people choose to add their spouses or their children as authorized users of a credit card or two to help boost or bumpstart their credit.

Now, as we mentioned previously, the traditional purpose (in the eyes of the card issuer) of an authorized user is to get allow someone else to have access to your line of credit, which in many cases leads to more spending. More spending equals more profit for the creditor. It's not too hard to figure that part out. However, when selling authorized user tradelines, the traditional method does not apply. Instead of adding a user so that hey have access to spend, you'll be adding a user for no other reason than allowing them to increase their credit score.

When you sell an authorized user space on your credit card, the buyer essentially is "renting" your good credit. This gives them a temporary but impressive boost to their credit score and helps them achieve their financial goals. In addition, you receive a healthy commission for adding them as an authorized user and they never actually have that genuine access to the credit line in the sense that they can't actually spend anything or access the credit (more on that in a minute).

Meet Max - He's Our Example Buyer Who You're Selling Your Tradeline To

Max is a 26 year old architect with a good credit history. He's never missed a payment, he's just started to make a good salary, and while he does have some credit history under his belt, he's having a hard time getting qualified for the new car he wants to buy. The reason it's not so easy for him to get financed without using an arm and a leg as a down payment is because his credit file is thin. He has a few credit cards, but they aren't very old, and the limits aren't high. He simply doesn't have the credit experience that the lender wants to see in order to finance the car he wants at a rate that acceptable for Max.

Even though Max has a credit score of 698 and no negative remarks, plus plenty of income, the dealership wants 20% down an an interest rate that would make your head spin. While he can afford to do it, he has the option to buy a couple of authorized user tradelines. By doing so, his average account age will triple, his credit limit will be 15 times higher, and he'll have a much longer history of flawless payments that are reflected on his credit profile. This might bring his credit score up to something like 785, which then enables him to finance the car with only 5% down and an interest rate that will save him $16k by the time his car is paid off.

While Max might need to pay $2k for a few tradelines that will put in in the position he needs to be, it's a heck of a lot less than paying $16k in unnecessary interest over the next 6 years on his car payments. And not only that, but while his credit score is up, he'll use that to his advantage and apply for a new credit card or two, which will be easily achieved, and with a much higher starting limit than any of the cards he currently holds. Overall, Max is making an investment in his future and using a completely legal loophole to improve his long-term financial situation rapidly by making a relatively small up-front investment by purchasing tradelines.

Hang On A Minute... I Get The Idea, But Isn't This A Huge Security Risk?

You're probably asking yourself, "Well that sounds like it makes sense, but what's stopping Max from simply deciding to rack up a bunch of credit on my card since I authorized him as a user, and then leaving me responsible for the debt as he bails out? Why would I take such a stupid risk with a complete stranger?"

And that's a very good question. It's also one of the biggest reasons that people are quick to judge the idea of selling tradelines before understanding the truth about how it works.

You see, when you add an authorized user to your credit card, the lending institution issues a second card for that person. However, the card is sent directly to your home, always, and with zero exceptions. This is how it works by default. Additionally, Max knows nothing about your personal information. He doesn't know your name, he doesn't know your account number, and he doesn't even know the number of the card that's been issued for him by your bank. Again, this is because that card is sent directly to you, not to him. And even if he tried to call the bank and obtain access to your account, he couldn't make any progress whatsoever since he has no personal information about you (the primary cardholder) or your credit card.

The only thing that Max knows is that he paid for the tradeline of a card issued by a certain bank with a specific age and a specific credit limit. That's all he knows and that is all he'll ever know. Even his credit report will not show anything more than the card issuer, the credit limit, the card's credit utilization, and the age of the account.

So as you can see, it's literally impossible for Max to actually spend any money on your card - even if he really wanted to.

Okay, Now I understand. But Where Do I Meet Max, How Do I make Him An Authorized User, And How Do I Get Paid?

This is the easiest part of all to understand. Selling tradelines on your own to a complete stranger would be extremely risky, stupid, and unwise. This is why tradeline companies exist. They are brokers with large inventories of cards from sellers like you, who have plenty of web traffic coming in from buyers like Max.

One of the biggest responsibilities of the tradeline company is to ensure a safe, secure, and smooth transaction. Since buying and selling tradelines successfully involves a deep understanding of the business, they are the mediators. The have the platform and the traffic to ensure that your tradelines will sell quickly, and they'll pay you handsomely for each and every sale you make. They also perform background checks on the buyers themselves to ensure that you're not aiding in helping someone to grow a false or stolen identity.

On top of that, they hold the latest and up-to-date industry knowledge on everything and anything related to authorized users across all of the various lending institutions, which means that you can successfully and and remove authorized users repeatedly while minimizing the chances of your account closure.

By now, things must be clicking together in your head. All of those cards you've churned, are churning, or will be churning have a actual monetary value for generating genuine and stable passive income instead of simply letting them sit. Imagine making money with an extremely small amount of effort (we'll discuss that in a minute) by simply utilizing a card that you already have, and thought it was really only useful for it's churning value. It's a heck of a win to learn about the option of selling tradelines and to begin doing it. Depending on the number of cards you have, their age, and their credit limits, you can really begin to clean house if you strategize properly and choose a good tradeline company to work with.

What's The Actual Work Involved? What Am I Required To Do?

The first thing you'll do is sign up. The second thing you'll do is submit the brand (lender/issuer), credit limit, account age, and statement date of each credit card you wish to begin selling tradelines on. You'll never provide your card number (or any of it's 16 digits), the expiration date, the security code, or anything of that nature. We'll verify that your card is eligible for our inventory based on the data you provide, and if approved, we'll provide you with a quote for your commissions. If it's agreeable for you and you decide to move forward, your card will be added to our inventory where eager buyers like Max can make their purchases and you'll begin seeing the money roll in.

But that's not all. We'll furnish you with a complete instructional resource document, with the simple details and instructions for adding the authorized user to your card. The adding of the buyer to your card is done either online, withing your bank's mobile app, or in some cases by making a quick phone call to the bank. it literally takes minutes. After that, all you're required to do it wait. Less than two weeks after the end of your card statement, Max will see that your tradeline has appeared on his credit profile. His score will be higher, and he'll be able to get his financing taken care of.

The amount of time he'll remain on your card is for two billing cycles, which gives him plenty of time for taking care of his business. In other words, each tradeline purchase guarantees the buyer that the tradeline will post to their report for two consecutive months. After that, we'll notify you when you can remove him as an authorized user. You'll have already been paid by us once we verify the first posting period, and you'll be able to sell or "rent" two (2) AU spots per card at a time. That means that if your cards sell quickly (which most do), you'll be getting paid a commission for two sales every couple of months, for each card you're selling.

At the end of the day, the very small learning curve when aking your first sales are the hardest part. After that, you'll be a pro as there's very little to do, and we guide you along the way with each and every movement. We tell you when a sale has been made on your card, when and how to add the user, when it's time to request your payment, and when you can remove the authorized user from your card. Each and every spot or "slot" that you sell equates to approximately 5 to 15 minutes of overall time. Considering that each sale earns a commission of anywhere from $50 to $600 per card depending on the age and limit, you can see how these can become a extremely easy and lucrative way to make decent cash. Many sellers are spending less than 25 hours per year to earn as much as $25,000 to $30,000. Those with the best and most desirable cards, or those with a very large number of cards can make even double that.

Even if you make slightly less, or a lot less, the time spent vs. the amount earned generally equates from anywhere between $500 to $1,300 per hour when everything is said and done.

Furthermore, as we've explained, the risk is absolutely minimal. In fact, the biggest potential risk (assuming that your tradeline company is doing to their job to protect you as previously mentioned) is the unfortunate risk of an account closure. Yes, it happens. And if you sell tradelines long enough, it's bound to happen with at least a card or two at some point along the journey. But with a healthy pile of cards and a solid set of rules, that'll be nothing more than an unfortunate event.

Is This Really Legit? Is It Legal? How Soon Can I Get Started?

Yes, yes, and as soon as you'd like to. If you want, you can click here to signup now. If you want to learn more about selling tradelines with GFS group you can visit our sellers page here. You'll find some important FAQs there as well. Likewise, you can always contact us if you have concerns, questions, or want to learn more details before taking the next step. We're always available to guide you, and we're excited to explain this process to people who are churning credit cards already and have the cards that are sitting idle and can be of great use to you, to us, and to our customers.

So remember all you credit card churners, instead of cancelling those cards or letting them sit there earning nothing while waiting for the bank to cancel them due to inactivity, make a smart strategy to add a secondary option for once your finished churning your credit cards.

If done correctly, it's something that can also help improve your credit over the longrun by keeping your cards instead of closing the accounts. If you're interested, we're excited to hear from you and explain more to get you moving. Also, please don't forget to share this with anyone else who churns credit cards and may be interested in selling tradelines.

(header image photo credit: frankieleon via Flickr)