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Tradeline Buying 101: How to Choose a Tradeline

Posted October 21, 2018 by EasyFinance.com to Investing 1 0

Are you one of the third of Americans who have poor credit? According to Fox News, over 30% of Americans have bad credit. Bad scores may mean higher APR, higher insurance premiums and could even mean being denied for loans. You’ve heard the story that paying off debt and getting rid of credit cards is a good start. But what if there’s something more you could be doing? This is where tradelines come in. Whether you’ve heard of them or not, there are a few things you should know about maximizing the advantages of purchasing a tradeline for your credit account.

1. Know What a Tradeline Is

As a borrower, you can have credit extended to you. This is then reported to a credit reporting agency as a Tradeline, which is a record of any activity for any type of credit with your account. Agencies use these records to keep track of your credit’s score. Therefore, knowing which kind of tradeline to choose is essential for preventing headaches and frustrations down the road. This is because building your credit score takes time – purchasing a tradeline is then added to a “revolving” line of credit.

 

2. Two Important Variables

The first thing to keep in mind when you’re browsing around for a tradeline is the age of the card. A credit score is typically broken down by the age of the tradeline. In most cases, the age is calculated by your payment history (35%), outstanding payments (30%), the length of your history (15%), the credit mix and new credit – both 10%.

 

3. High Limit Tradeline

Higher limit tradelines lower the authorized user’s overall utilization ratio. This ratio is used to determine the total amount of debt a borrower utilizes, compared to the revolving credit that credit issuers have approved for the borrower. However, high utilization credit cards can lower the credit score. That’s why it’s important to secure a lower overall utilization ratio.

 

4. Cost

The actual cost of tradelines differs, depending on the specific tradeline company. On the low end of the spectrum you can expect to pay $150. The higher end may require anywhere up to several thousand dollars. By themselves, tradelines don’t cost a lot of upfront money. The main cost comes in the form of tradeline companies doing all the “grunt work” that goes into setting up your account. Remember: the typical cost of a tradeline is normally determined by its age and the credit limit. The higher the limit and the older it is, the more expensive it is.

 

5. Score Increase

There is no set amount to how much your credit score will increase after adding tradelines. Credit is unique to each individual and their account. The only way to know for sure is to call a company and have them do a credit report analysis. The downside is: most can’t predict or calculate a specific per-point increase.

 

Conclusion

Many people find authorized user tradelines incredibly valuable. Of course, knowing about how the system works and educating yourself is one of the best things you can for your finances. There are many tradeline companies on the market and knowing which one to go with might be difficult. What you’ve just learned are the basics of purchasing tradelines. As with most things, it’s worth venturing on your own to find out more about what you can do for yourself. Taking advantage of them is certainly beneficial.

 
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