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Catalog Charge Cards

Date: Thu, 03/30/2006 - 09:18
Submitted by on Thu, 03/30/2006 - 09:18
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Has anyone here ever tried one of those credit cards that they issue to people with poor credit to use specifically in the catalog that they send you with the card? Are they even worth trying? What kind/quality are the products in the catalog? I'm thinking this is most likely a rip-off, but I thought I would ask someone who knew first. Thanks!


I have an account with USA shopping club. As far as it being a ripoff, it depends on how you want to look at it.

The normal fee to open this account is $149.95; however someone called me with a promotion offering to open the account with $79.95. I did it and use the account very little. It was basically a way for me to boost my FICO score and it did boost it about 30 points as soon as the account began reporting. I have a 12K limit, which if you brought everything on the website, you couldn't exhaust the credit limit. But it looks good on your CR.

They only report to TU and the majority of the stuff on their website (usashoppingclub.com) are not eligible to be charged to your account. I ordered some inexpensive items just to get the account going. DVDs to be specific and they were all brand new as if I purchased them in a store. They also gave me a credit voucher for the amount of my membership fee, which you have to use within 90 days of opening your account. You can use it to make payments on your account, which is good. In essence you get the membership fee right back. I would say, try something like this only if you have the cash to shell out for the membership fee and only if you are looking for a way to boost your credit score. Other than that, it's worthless as most of the items on their website you can't use your card to purchase.


Submitted by TGIF16 on Thu, 03/30/2006 - 09:30

TGIF16

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Thank you for the quick reply! I didn't realize you could actually check out the merchandise in the catalog without being a member. Are the items under "buy now pay later" the only ones you can purchase on your card? And are the prices reasonable? I do need to boost my score considerably, that's why I'm giving this some thought.

Thanks again!


Submitted by on Thu, 03/30/2006 - 09:37

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The items that you cannot purchase are in red, which if you look on the website, is most of the stuff on there! The DVDs I purchased were similar in price to any other place. I would say any of their items are overpriced. It's just that you can't use the credit for much of the stuff.

As for boosting your FICO, there are many ways to do so.


Submitted by TGIF16 on Thu, 03/30/2006 - 18:13

TGIF16

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