Every time you enter a business transaction, whether you're buying a gallon of milk or a new car, you should be aware of the terms and stipulations. We think almost everyone can agree on that. For example, although buying a gallon of milk is much less complicated than buying a car, you still need to know what the price is, where to pay, and what forms of payment are accepted.

Making any simple purchase is straightforward and rather basic knowledge for us because we simply read the price tag, go to the checkout, pay, and leave with our product. It's like second nature. We do it so often there's really not much to be aware of. Still, we watch as the price appears on the screen once the product is scanned, we watch the cashier as they count our change before handing it us, and with pricier items we're always sure to check that we've got our receipt in case we need it.

On the flip-side, buying a car is something we do far less often. The process is much longer and you may notice that we really have no idea what we're doing accept choosing what we want, signing where we're told to sign after agreeing to the pricing or financing, and then leaving with a bunch of paperwork. Usually we're so excited with the owning a new vehicle that we give very little attention to the process or the fine print of the documents we sign. Most of the time we just scan over them to make sure the dollar amounts are correct, clarify that we'll be putting "X" amount down, paying "X" per month and that's about it. What we're allowing is for the knowledgeable person to navigate through the process while putting our trust in them that everything will be handled correctly. And we do this because we buy from places who we assume or know are reputable.

Now let's discuss buying or selling authorized user tradelines from a tradeline company. Most people have absolutely no idea at all how this works. They're weary at first, require an adequate introduction to the product, and then usually need an explanation of how the process actually works and why. At that point, the buyer or seller would decide if this is right for them, and if so, allow the tradeline company to take the lead - just as they do with the car salesman. But car sales are a bit more standard of a process than buying or selling tradelines, and it's important to learn what most tradeline companies aren't telling you.

What's The Big Secret About Tradelines?

While there isn't always a specific big secret - and while there shouldn't be any secrets at all regarding a transaction or agreement involving your credit and personal information - there are many companies out there selling tradelines that aren't exactly giving you the whole story. In the name of clarity and transparency, we'd like to shed light on a few things that are extremely important for you to comprehend before buying or selling authorized user tradelines for the first time.

Authorized User Tradelines Are Temporary

While they make a big impact to your credit score - if used correctly and when you already have good credit - they're not a permanent solution. The whole point of buying tradelines is to improve your credit score so you can achieve your financial goals more quickly and on better terms. Sometimes the goal might not even be considered something directly related to finance but as more of a security - like when you want to be sure your credit score is in excellent shape before applying for a new career position or renting an apartment or storefront location for a new business.

When you buy a spot as an authorized user you are giving yourself a window of opportunity in which you can operate with more confidence and the higher likelihood of a favorable outcome. This doesn't mean you're going to have better credit forever. It's a tool to help you grow your financial history through pre-emptive action and how you use it is entirely up to you.

Tradelines Are Not Magical

While we consider tradelines to be one of the fastest and most powerful tools to boost your credit score, they're not magic. They will not help you if you have personal credit problems like collections, late payments, delinquencies on your own cards, or a bunch of maxxed-out credit cards. They're intended for use by responsible, ethical individuals who have displayed good financial habits and require extra help to find the best path to lower financing rates, lower down payments, loan approvals, and agreeable interest rates - just to name a few. They can also help you acquire your own personal credit lines for no other reason that to go on building your own credit as quick as possible.

Tradelines are not for everyone. While they can and do work wonders, they can't help those who are in situations where damage has already been done. In other words, don't look to tradelines to improve the chance of getting a mortgage if your credit history isn't clean and things aren't in order.

Security Is Extremely Important

When you're buying an authorized user slot from a tradeline company, you'll be required to provide sensitive personal information. If not, there's no way the credit line can be reported to the credit bureaus and it won't appear on your credit report. That means you need to trust who you're working with, and take the time to understand their processes and ask questions when you have concerns or doubts.

When you're selling a tradeline, you're adding someone as an authorized user to your account - and while they'll never have access to the account, the card, or have any ability to spend or make purchases, it's still important to be able to trust that this person is real. If the buyer was using a fake or synthetic identity, the bank or credit bureau could easily catch this and close your credit card account, regardless of the fact that you were oblivious to what you were participating. You're not going to go to jail over it, but nobody wants their account closed, right? That means it's the job of the tradeline company to strictly and actively check every single tradeline buyer to ensure the safety of their sellers and to be sure the company themselves isn't an unwilling participant in blatant criminal activity.

All Banks And Lending Institutions Behave Differently

All tradeline companies know this, but not all of them talk about it. Every institution has their own methods for how and when authorized users can be added to an account, how many can be added to an account, and what steps are required from the cardholder in order to add and remove these users. They also vary inregarding when and how they report to credit bureaus (which can affect the overall result on your credit score and determine the impact of any given authorized user status on your credit profile). As a seller or someone who is adding authorized user to your card, you need to rely strongly on the tradeline company to have up-to-date information and follow the best practices. These precautionary measures help to minimize the occurrence of problems regarding everything from credit lines posting to the buyers report correctly to the security of your card account. The bottom line here is you need to use someone who is experienced and trustworthy.

Almost any business can claim they're the best, but very few tradeline companies in operation today actually dedicate themselves to the rigorous and demanding practices that their buyers and sellers deserve, while also ensuring their own safety as a brokerage between the two parties. The best tradeline companies want long-term sellers and return business (and recommendations) from their buyers. A lot of them try to deliver this but fail miserably for no other reason than bad practices, lack of experience, or simple laziness. It's easy to make promises and get paid for a service, but it's not nearly as easy to maintain a high-level of performance in this industry. Always proceed with caution and care.

Certain Banks Will Close All Your Accounts

As we mentioned previously, security for the seller is important. Even if you're not adding malevolent users to your accounts, adding too many users in too short of a time, not keeping track of your accounts, or failure to follow the instructions of the tradeline company are all things that heighten your risk of account closure.

Many banks are very easy to work with regarding adding authorized users and others can be a nightmare. What's more? Some of the easiest banks to work with will cause the worst problems if they decide to shut down your account.

For example, if a specific card issuer determines they're going to close your credit card for what they see as "abusive" use of the card's authorized user policy, they will also shut down other credit cards you have with them, and even close your checking and savings accounts. For this very reason, there are certain strict rules to follow when selling authorized user tradelines on those cards. For the same reason, you'll discover there are many banks that the top tradeline companies don't even allow in their inventory - because they're just too risky and problematic.

How Much You Get Paid Is Often A Mystery

A lot of tradeline companies - in fact almost every single one of them in operation - will not tell you how much they're willing to pay you as a cardholder who is looking to sell unless you sign up with them first. What does this mean? It means they can easily set their own prices on what they feel like paying you depending on a handful of factors. There is almost zero transparency in this industry and it's one of the reasons that people often think buying and selling tradelines is such a shady practice.

With the intention of providing complete transparency, GFS Group provides our full commissions table for the public to see. That means if you're considering selling tradelines, you can calculate exactly how much money you'll make for each sale by viewing our commissions before filling out lengthy forms, providing your info, and waiting for someone to respond with a quote.

The Buying And Selling Process Is Not Always Clear

A lot of tradeline companies use vague terms and expressions to describe the process of selling or buying authorized user tradelines. This includes the payment methods, payment requirements, seller requirements, times of payouts for commissions for cardholders, and a number of other things.

You'll notice how on a lot of the major tradeline company websites there's a lack of FAQs, or that the FAQs themselves don't provide straightforward answers. Many tradeline companies offer a bit of promising information and speak highly about the services they offer without really giving any details into how its done, what's required, or if you even qualify. They always want you to contact them first. This is a telltale sign that the have something to hide - whether they're hiding it from the public or from their competitors. Either way, it's not a great way to do business.

The way we see things is that this industry needs more transparency and clarity in all aspects. We want our customers and clients to have the ability to inform themselves without pressure and then decide whether to contact us for more info, to register as a seller, or to buy tradelines from us.

Get With The Program And Get Real Results

Remember, as we spoke about earlier, you're not just buying a gallon of milk here. You're trying to improve your financial future. That's something you shouldn't take lightly. If you want the best chances for a great outcome you need to seek out the best company for getting the job done. At GFS Group it's extremely important for us to offer the highest level of service and performance possible to each and every person we do business with. Knowing that we're committed to delivering excellence, we have great confidence in providing high-quality results that will leave you satisfied, time and time again.

Stay tuned to our blog for more information and if you need to inquire about any of our services, reach out to us without hesitation.