FAQ's
(frequently asked questions)
Do I trust the company providing the tradelines?
Make sure to choose a tradeline company that acts with integrity.
The most important part of the process of buying tradelines is being able to trust the company you are working with. After all, you want to be sure you won’t get stuck with tradelines that are low-quality, are overpriced, or don’t post well. Plus, you want to be certain your tradeline company provides secure online transactions and takes extensive measures to prevent fraud.
Watch out for unethical and unprofessional tradeline companies, and make sure to choose one that you trust and that will treat you with integrity and respect.
When will my tradelines post?
Some tradeline companies say that it could take up to 60 days for your tradelines to report. If you don’t want to wait two months for your tradelines to show up on your credit file, we can get tradelines to post in as few as 11 days, and sometimes even sooner than that.
How long will I stay on the tradeline?
Ask how long you will be an authorized user for and remember to factor that into the price.
Some tradeline companies only keep AUs on their tradelines for a single reporting cycle. This doesn’t give you very much time to accomplish your goals.
Generally, it’s best if you can stay on the tradeline for at least two reporting cycles, which should allow you enough time to accomplish your goals. If you think you might need additional time on the tradeline, ask whether the company offers extensions.
Check what the company’s policy is, and remember that if their standard is just one cycle, keep in mind that you’d have to double the price in order to be on par with companies that keep AUs on for two reporting cycles.
What steps can I take to ensure that my tradelines have the best chance of posting?
To minimize the chances of a non-posting occurring, make sure to take the following steps:
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As we mentioned above, remove all fraud alerts, credit freezes, and credit locks from your credit report, since these block new information from being added to your credit file and therefore prevent tradelines from posting.Purchase your tradeline no later than the purchase by date that is shown on our tradeline list.
Consider buying multiple tradelines as a precautionary measure to hedge against potential non-postings.Only buy tradelines from companies that have high posting success rates and a money-back posting guarantee.
Do not buy tradelines from banks that you have outstanding collection accounts with or have declared bankruptcy with, since you may be blacklisted from working with that bank again.Use the correct address that you have on file with the credit bureaus so that your identity can be cross-verified with your credit file.
Double-check your order and payment information for accuracy. Typos in your personal information can cause a non-posting and incorrect bank account information can delay payment processing and therefore can delay the tradeline from posting.
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What is my average age of accounts?
Age is one of the most important factors in your credit history, so it is important to understand what your own average age of accounts is and how that metric could be impacting your credit. It will also play a role in determining which tradelines you should add to your account.
Calculating your average age of accounts is easy. Just add together the ages of all of your revolving accounts (e.g. credit cards) and divide this total by the number of accounts.
For example, let’s say we have four accounts and their ages are 2 years, 4 years, 5.5 years, and 6 months. Here’s how we calculate the average age of accounts: 2 years + 4 years + 5.5 years + 0.5 years = 12 years / 4 accounts = 3 years average age of accounts.
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Not sure how old your accounts are? You can pull your own credit report for free (without hurting your score) on websites like Credit Karma.
Use our partner tradeline calculator to determine your utilization ratios.
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What is my utilization ratio?
Your utilization ratio, or the ratio of the debt you owe to the total credit limit of all your revolving accounts, is another important influence on your credit score to be aware of.
Your utilization contributes about 30% of your credit score, so having a high overall utilization ratio or individual utilization ratios can drag down your credit, even after tradelines are added. Therefore, it’s important to calculate your utilization ratios before buying tradelines.
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Here’s how to do it: add up all of the debts you owe on your revolving accounts and then add up all of the credit limits of each of your revolving accounts. Take the total amount that you owe and divide it by your total credit limit to get your overall utilization ratio.
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Do I have any credit cards with high utilization that should be paid off?
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If you have credit cards with high utilization, consider paying down the balances first.
Even if your overall utilization ratio is relatively low, individual credit cards with high utilization can still hurt your credit. Adding a tradeline can affect your overall credit utilization as described above, but will not solve the problem of having one or more cards with high utilization individually.
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If you can easily pay down your balances to get the utilization to be 20% or lower, that would be money well spent, because you are lowering your utilization ratios to a level that is considered to be better for your credit.
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On the other hand, if the amount that you owe is quite large and you are not in a position to significantly lower your utilization right away, then perhaps getting a couple of high limit tradelines may be the easier route to go.
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Either way, utilization ratios are very important and should be taken into consideration when buying tradelines.
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A credit freeze, credit lock, or fraud alert will prevent new tradelines from posting to your credit report.
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Do I have a credit freeze, credit lock, or fraud alert on my credit report?
A credit freeze, credit lock, or fraud alert will all block access your credit file, which prevents any new information from being added to your credit report. Therefore, if you have placed a credit freeze or fraud alert on your credit file, new tradelines will not post.
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Be sure to check whether you have a fraud alert or credit freeze before purchasing a tradeline and contact the credit bureaus to remove it if necessary.
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What is my priority: age or credit limit?
While the length of credit history (AKA credit age) only makes up about 15% of a score, age also goes hand-in-hand with payment history, which is the most valuable factor in credit scoring. The more age an account has, the more time it has had to accumulate a positive or negative payment history.
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All of our tradelines have a perfect payment history, and together, age and payment history make up 50% of a credit score. Therefore, we believe it is better to prioritize age in most circumstances.
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However, there are some cases in which people choose to prioritize the credit limit of a tradeline over its age. Be sure to carefully consider your personal situation and what is most important to you.
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What are the credit limits of the AU tradelines?
If you are buying tradelines from a reputable business, the tradelines should all be from reliable banks, have perfect payment histories, and have low utilization. Since these factors are going to be about the same for each card, the two main things to consider when choosing tradelines are age and credit limit.
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The age of a tradeline is often even more important than its credit limit.
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The credit limit factor is important because it can affect your overall utilization ratio. While individual cards with high utilization can still have a negative impact on your credit, getting your overall utilization as low as possible can still be very beneficial.
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Additionally, depending on your goals, the credit limit can be an important factor if you are trying to establish a history of higher-limit accounts in your credit file.
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How old are the tradelines?
As we stated previously, the age of a tradeline is extremely valuable, and in most cases, it is more important than the credit limit. This is because a seasoned tradeline will contribute not only to your length of credit history but also add a long period of a perfect payment record.
As we said earlier, these two categories together make up half of your score, far outweighing the other categories. Therefore, a good general rule of thumb is to buy the oldest tradelines your budget allows for.
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Another reason you want to go for older tradelines is that tradelines that do not have sufficient age can actually hurt your score by decreasing your average age of accounts.
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If your average age of accounts is 3 years, for example, your tradeline should be a minimum of 4 years old, but ideally much higher than that if the goal is to see a significant difference. If you buy a tradeline that is only 2 years old, your average age of accounts will decrease, which could damage your credit score. This is why it’s critical to do the calculations using our Tradeline Calculator before making a purchase.
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Which tradelines should I buy? How do I choose the right tradelines?
To determine which tradelines to buy, you need to think about age as well as credit limit. Photo via Hloom.com.
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Once you have determined what your priorities are, you will be better prepared to choose the right tradelines for you. If you want to increase your average age of accounts or extend the age of your oldest account, go for the older tradelines.
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If you are more focused on credit limit or your overall utilization ratio, check out our higher-limit tradelines.
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You can view the tradelines we have available and sort the list by age and credit limit on our updated tradeline list.
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Do the tradelines have perfect payment histories?
Payment history makes up 35% of a credit score, making it the most important component. It is crucial that any tradelines you add have a perfect payment history, because even one missed payment can do serious damage to your credit. All of our tradelines are guaranteed to have a spotless payment history.
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Are the tradelines substantially better than what I already have in my file?
Obviously, a tradeline will only be effective for you if it is superior to the other tradelines that are already in your credit file. The safest bet is to look for one that is significantly higher in age and/or credit limit than the accounts that you already have in order to affect your averages as much as possible.
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It is difficult to affect an average, especially when there are already several accounts in your credit file, so adding a tradeline that is only marginally better than your existing tradelines may not have the desired effect. Make sure to invest in a high-quality tradeline that has real potential for results rather than just adding more of what you already have.
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