What is a primary tradeline and how to add one to your credit?

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by Aidan Kang, CFA

Senior Writer

Credit Repair

UPDATED: October 01, 2022

Have you been working hard the past years, yet you haven’t saved much? Did you make financial mistakes in the past that hurt your credit until now? You’re not alone.

But if you’re planning for a big financial decision in the near future, like buying a house or a car, you’d want to build your credit first.

Have you heard about primary tradelines? You might have heard about primary tradelines for sale, too, and wonder, is it a legitimate way to boost your credit score?

That’s what we tried to figure out in this article. We looked at various sources online and read stories of people through independent sites.

Stick with us until the end and find out the truth about primary tradelines for sale. Don’t skip anything, or you might get yourself in legal trouble!

Understanding what a primary tradeline is

A primary tradeline is a credit account under your name. For example, when you apply for a credit card and get approved, that’s a primary tradeline added to your credit record.

With a primary tradeline, you’re the borrower and considered responsible for paying the charges made on the account.

Now, there are also tradelines for sale. What’s the difference between authorized tradelines and primary tradelines?

With authorized user tradelines, you’re piggybacking with someone else’s credit. You’re added as an authorized user, although you can’t really use the accounts for your purchases, and you’re not responsible for paying the bills.

What’s important with authorized user tradelines is that the records are added to your credit history, which benefits your credit score, as long as the tradelines are in good standing.

Are primary tradelines better than authorized user tradelines? It still depends on what you need at the moment.

Primary tradelines are best if you have no payment history or a thin credit record. Getting a primary tradeline under your name will help you start with your credit score.

Meanwhile, if you already have an established credit history, an authorized user tradeline can help you get a boost temporarily.

Can you purchase primary tradelines?

Yes, you’ll find sellers offering primary tradelines for sale. However, they’re technically illegal and problematic.

For instance, some companies offer closed accounts or defaulted accounts to be your primary tradelines.

But think about it—if an account is closed, it means it’s no longer available to you. If it’s in default, it means there’s a negative payment history attached to it.

These aren’t going to benefit your credit score.

Also, these are accounts that somebody else opened under their names. So, how can they be a primary tradeline for you?

Here’s the truth: While you can purchase primary tradelines, it’s not legal and usually associated with fraud and scams.

If you’ve received offers like the following tradelines, avoid these at all costs:

1. Primary tradelines in default – These tradelines will have negative entries that would only pull down your credit score.

2. Closed account primary tradelines – It’s a red flag that a tradeline company has found a closed account under your name if you don’t have one in the first place. Plus, a closed account won’t increase your credit score.

3. Joint account tradelines for sale – You cannot simply purchase a joint account. Creditors require both applicants to be present at the time of the application, so it’s shady that they can get a joint account under your name.

4. Primary tradelines with CPNs – We’ve heard companies saying you can use a credit privacy number (CPN)—you can’t. It’s illegal to use synthetic or fake SSNs because that’s fraud.

5. Guaranteed high-limit account for a fee – This is where you pay a consultant to open a primary tradeline account for you for a fee, which we’ve heard can be as steep as $3,000. However, they only apply for a credit builder on your behalf. You can do it yourself without paying anyone.

How can you add primary tradelines to your credit report?

Free primary tradelines are free and completely legal. These are your options:

1. Open a new credit account

The best way to add a primary tradeline to your credit report is to get approved for a credit account in your name.

You can apply for a credit card, personal loan, mortgage, or auto loan. These are free primary tradelines and completely legal.

Once approved, it usually takes 45 days for the account to appear on your credit report. To get the benefits of primary tradelines, you must ensure that you pay your bills on time and don’t max out your credit limit.

2. Open a joint account

If you have no credit history, another great option is to open a joint account with your parents or siblings. The other person’s credit history can help increase your chances of getting approved for a new credit line.

3. Get a secured credit card

If you have bad credit, opening a new credit line can be quite challenging. One good option is to open a secured credit card instead, which means you’re putting up a deposit. That serves as security for the lender that they have something to collect if you miss your payments.

4. Consider a credit builder loan

Similar to a secured card, you need to pay first a credit builder loan. The lender will put your payments in a savings account and report your payments to the credit bureaus.

After the loan term, you’ll get your money back. They will only deduct the interests and some fees.

5. Sign up for Experian Boost

Your rental or utility accounts are also considered primary tradelines, but they’re not always reported to the credit bureaus. This is where services like Experian Boost come in handy.

Experian Boost is a free service that allows you to report positive payments on your rent, utility, phone, and even streaming subscriptions. While they have lesser weight than credit accounts, they can still help boost your credit score.

How much do tradelines cost?

In general, opening a primary tradeline should cost you nothing. However, if you got approved for a secured credit card, you’ll have to pay a security deposit, which also serves as your credit limit.

Some cards will also have annual fees, and loans will have interests. Experian Boost is free. Meanwhile, if you use a rent-reporting service, the cost usually starts at $2 a month.

Other than these associated costs, adding a primary tradeline should be free.

Now, if you’re buying an authorized user tradeline, you’re looking at $200 for newer accounts to $1,000 for seasoned tradelines. New accounts have low limits and young credit age, while seasoned tradelines are old and have higher limits.

Authorized user tradelines sold will be reported on your credit for two to six months, then they will appear as closed after that. If you’re to ask us, it’s better to stay away from these tradelines. They’re expensive for a temporary boost to your credit score.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying tradelines?

Free primary tradelines under your name are good for your credit record if you keep their standing good. But what about buying authorized user tradelines?

Here are some of their pros and cons:

Instead of relying on authorized user tradelines for sale, it’s better to turn to more legal alternatives to improve your credit.

What are the alternatives to primary tradelines for sale?

Opening free primary tradelines are still your best option to build your credit. Building your credit the right way takes time.

There’s no better alternative to primary tradelines for sale than building your credit through best practices, such as the following:

1. Never make late payments on your bills

Your payment history makes up 35% of your credit score. It’s the most important factor that can make or break your credit standing.

Creditors will report your late payments if you’re behind by 30 to 90 days. That will also result in as much as 100 points drop in your score.

So, you have to ensure that you’re paying your bills on time every month. Late payments can set your credit score back significantly, yet it takes months to recover and increase your score.

2. Keep your credit utilization low

You should aim for 30% credit utilization or less. You shouldn’t spend more than a third of your credit limit.

Credit utilization ratio makes up 30% of your credit score and is the second most important factor in calculating it. We’ve learned that high scorers tend to keep their credit utilization at 7-10% only.

So, make sure that you pay your balance in full every month. You can also use your credit card’s high balance alert, so you can stop using it when you’re nearing the ideal limit.

3. Reduce your debts

It will also help you build your credit score faster if you pay off your outstanding debts. If you have several balances in different accounts, you may try to consolidate them into one.

You can apply for a personal loan or use a balance transfer if your credit card has a 0% interest promo.

You can save money on interest, and it will be easier to manage since you only have one due date to remember. As you settle your debt, you also improve your credit utilization ratio.

4. Try to remove negative entries on your report

Even when you’ve settled your delinquent accounts, they may still appear on your credit report for 7 to 10 years. They may still affect your credit score, so it’s worth it to try to remove them.

If you’ve paid the account, you can send a goodwill letter to your creditor to remove it from your credit report. If you still have some outstanding balance, you can negotiate with your creditor a workable payment arrangement.

Alternatively, you can try a pay-for-delete agreement, where you will pay your debt and, in return, the creditor will no longer report your account to the credit bureaus.

Likewise, it’s also possible that your credit report contains inaccurate entries or missing information. It’s good to check your credit report regularly, and if you spot errors, it’s best to dispute them immediately.

You can send a dispute letter to the creditor reporting it, or you can dispute directly with the three national credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

They have 30 days to respond to your request, and if, after investigating, they find your claim to be valid, they will remove the negative entries from your report.

5. Have a good credit mix

Building a good credit standing also requires a healthy mix of credit accounts. For instance, if you only have a credit card, you might want to consider opening other accounts, such as a personal loan.

A good credit mix demonstrates your ability to handle your obligations with all kinds of debt. If you have steady payment records for all that you’ve borrowed, lenders are likely to approve you for loans with low-interest rates.

6. Keep old accounts open

So, you’ve paid off your debts and settled all the delinquencies. Should you close the accounts now?

In general, it’s better to keep them open even after you’ve paid all your balances. That’s because the age of your credit history is also a crucial consideration in calculating your score.

Also, it’s important to remember that if you close the accounts, it will remove all the other information related to it, including your credit history and credit limit. So, your credit utilization ratio will also suffer.

7. Apply for a new credit line only when necessary

When we say you need to have a good credit mix, don’t be tempted to apply for a new credit line everywhere. Every application will result in a hard pull to your credit report, which can cause your credit score to decline, albeit temporarily.

It’s best to apply for a new client line only when necessary. If you must, then a strategy you can use is to space out your applications by 30 days. This will help your credit score recover from the previous hard inquiry before another.

8. Monitor your progress

You may want to sign up for a credit monitoring service to track your progress. It’s an easy way to see how your credit score changes over time, including when you have a new credit line opened or a paid-off account.

You can find several free credit monitoring services, but there are also paid ones with identity theft and fraud protection. Identity theft is becoming more prevalent these days. Once it happens to you, your credit score can take a huge hit.

Conclusion

A primary tradeline is a credit account you opened in your name. However, you might hear about primary tradelines for sale. While there are tradelines that sell authorized user tradelines for decades, their legality isn’t guaranteed. They may be useful in giving your credit score a quick boost, but they are expensive for a temporary benefit. It’s still best to build your credit the right way, although it takes time.

Aidan Kang, CFA

Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.