The “Shopping Cart Trick” for Store Credit Cards (2024)

Update: The shopping cart trick isn’t working to avoid a hard inquiry for everyone. So, use this method at your own risk.

Comenity Bank, Synchrony Bank, and Wells Fargo store credit cards all require a hard credit inquiry now to get approved. However, you can still use this trick to see if you’re pre-approved. Knowing that you’re more likely to get approved will help you avoid using an unnecessary hard inquiry.

Having bad credit comes with more than a few downsides. But two of the biggest concerns are how to qualify for new credit accounts and how to fix your credit.

There’s a simple strategy that, in many instances, can help you do both. It’s known as the “shopping cart trick,” or sometimes the “soft pull trick.”

What is the shopping cart trick?

The shopping card trick allows you to apply for a retail store credit card while avoiding a hard credit pull on your credit report. You’ll be more likely to get approved because the credit card issuer won’t see your full credit history with your application.

Another benefit is that the shopping cart trick can help you add an account in good standing to your credit report. Plus, you can get deals from stores you shop at frequently, such as a certain percentage off your purchase, gift certificates throughout the year, or free merchandise.

Find out how you can implement the shopping cart trick and whether it’s suitable for your financial situation.

It can be a positive tool to help rebuild your overall finances in many cases. Ready to find out how to avoid a credit pull on your next credit card application? Let’s get started.

Why You Want to Avoid Hard Pulls on Your Credit Report

First, it’s important to understand why you would want to use the shopping cart trick. For many people, a hard inquiry on their credit report results in automatic denial from a creditor because of their poor credit history.

Maybe you have a string of late payments on other accounts, or you went through a foreclosure or bankruptcy in the last couple of years.

Typically, negative items like these would completely prevent you from qualifying for a credit card. But if your full credit report is not accessed as part of the application, you significantly improve your approval chances.

Preserve Credit Inquiries

Another reason you might want to avoid a hard pull by using the shopping cart trick is to preserve your existing credit during the application process.

Every time you apply for credit, credit card issuers perform a credit check, and it counts as a hard inquiry on your credit report. And each hard inquiry reported to the credit bureaus can lower your credit scores and be listed there for up to two years.

Why is this a big deal? Well, if you randomly apply to 15 credit cards hoping for one to approve you, you could lower your credit between 5 and 10 points for each entry.

Applying for numerous credit cards can damage your credit score and may also raise red flags when creditors review your report. They’ll wonder why you need so many credit cards.

They will assume that you’re struggling financially, which means you will probably get denied. But, even if that’s not true, a creditor has no way of knowing that. So, the shopping cart trick can help keep your credit from getting worse while still giving you access to the credit you need or want.

How does the shopping cart trick work?

Now that you know how the shopping cart trick can help you, particularly if you have bad credit, let’s talk about how to do it. But first, a disclaimer: there’s no guarantee that these steps work every single time.

Readers have had better luck with some store credit cards than others. It may also take a few tries to get the right offer to pop up while you’re online. So use your best judgment, and don’t be afraid to try more than once if it doesn’t work the first time.

1. Don’t Opt Out of Credit Card Offers

Before you do anything, make sure you haven’t opted out of receiving prescreened offers from credit card companies. You may have done this either through 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or www.optoutprescreen.com.

The opt-out service allows you to stop receiving pre-approval credit card offers in the mail and over the phone. While it can be annoying to get all of that junk mail, receiving those prescreened offers is an integral part of the shopping cart trick.

If you haven’t manually opted out, then you’re good to go in pursuing the shopping cart trick. However, if you have opted out, it’s easy to opt back in by visiting the website or calling the phone number.

You can always opt back out once you’ve been approved for one or more credit cards so that your mailbox isn’t cluttered with unwanted offers.

2. Disable Pop-up Blockers

The next step in using the shopping cart trick is to disable any pop-up blocker or ad blocker you have on your Internet browser. The shopping cart trick relies on the retail website sending you a pre-approval credit card offer while you’re attempting to check out online.

If you have any type of blocker activated, then you won’t receive a store credit card offer at the appropriate stage — even if you qualify for one! So go ahead and disable it. You can turn it back on when you’re done utilizing the shopping cart trick.

3. Join the Store’s Loyalty Program

This step is optional. However, joining the store’s loyalty program may increase your chances of getting a pop-up pre-approval offer.

4. Clear Your Browser History

Right before you visit your chosen store’s website (we’ll give you a list of eligible stores below), be sure to clear your browser history. This includes wiping your cache and cookies.

To do this, find your browser settings in your menu bar, then select “History.” Alternatively, you can hit the CTRL button and H to reach the same page.

Next, click on “Clear Browsing Data” and select the following options: Browsing History, Download History, Cached Images and Files, and Cookies and Other Site Data.

If you want to skip all of those steps and you use Google Chrome as your web browser, you can also use an Incognito Window.

You can find this option in your browser settings or just click CTRL + Shift + N. Then, you don’t have to worry about any browsing history interrupting your shopping cart trick.

5. Apply for a Credit Card at the Store Website

Use the list below to find a store where you’d like a retail credit card. You can create an account if you don’t already have one, or you can choose to go through the steps as a guest. It’s up to you.

Next, add a few items to your shopping cart — don’t worry, you’re not actually going to buy them. Pick a few items rather than one large item, and shoot for about $100 worth of merchandise. Once you’ve window shopped, head to the checkout page.

During the checkout process, you’ll start to fill out your billing information as if you were going to buy the items. Don’t click the purchase or submit button. The whole point here is to wait for a credit card offer to pop up while you’re filling out the page.

For the best chance of receiving an offer, fill in your data slowly and don’t use any autofill text. If you don’t get an offer to pop up, change things up in your shopping cart and try a few more times. It might just take the winning combination for your efforts to pay off.

Look for Offers that Don’t Use Full SSN

Once you receive your credit card offer, the pop-up will likely offer you a percentage discount on your purchase when you sign up for the card. Click on the button that allows you to accept the offer.

You’ll then be taken to a separate page to apply for the store credit card. This is the final test to see if the shopping cart trick has worked. If the page just asks for the last four digits of your Social Security number, then it probably won’t result in a hard pull on your credit report.

However, if it requires you to enter your full Social Security number, the application will likely result in a hard pull on your credit report. At that point, it’s best to abort mission, so you don’t rack up several inquiries. Of course, you can always try again on another website to see if you get different results.

Eligible Credit Cards for the Shopping Cart Trick

Once you know how the shopping cart trick works, it’s time to decide which online stores you want to try out. Most retail cards that come through Comenity Bank work, plus some Synchrony and Wells Fargo cards.

Keep in mind, there’s no guarantee that the shopping cart trick will work every time. However, it only takes a few minutes to get to where you know whether it does or not. Here’s a comprehensive listing of retail store credit cards from each bank that may not require a credit check with your application.

Comenity Bank Retail Store Credit Cards

Synchrony Retail Store Credit Cards

Wells Fargo Retail Store Credit Cards

The Impact of Retail Cards on Your Credit Report

Before applying for multiple store credit cards, consider how they could impact your credit score. Like any new credit card, a new store card lowers the average age of your credit accounts.

The older your accounts are, the better your credit score fares in the “length of credit history” category, which accounts for 15% of your overall credit score. You also now know that if you don’t avoid a hard pull, those inquiries can eat away at your credit score as well.

Additionally, it’s important to think about why you have bad credit in the first place. If it’s from overspending and burdensome debt, then you might want to rethink opening even more credit cards. But if you’re committed to rebuilding your credit scores over the long term, a new account does have some benefits.

If you pay off your balance in full each month, it can lower your credit utilization ratio. Additionally, those on-time monthly payments can help your credit score since your payment history accounts for 35% of your score.

Credit limits on store cards are very low, usually around $500 or less. However, if you request a credit limit increase after months of using the credit card and making timely payments, the credit card issuer will typically give it to you. This will also lower your credit utilization ratio.

Is the shopping cart trick right for you?

Only you can answer that question. But, if you’re able to refrain from charging items you can’t afford, you can benefit financially by qualifying for a store credit card with the shopping cart trick.

Start by only getting cards from stores you already shop at regularly. Then, you can make your usual purchases and pay off the balance in full each month to maximize your positive payment history — without spending any extra money.

It’s also wise to refrain from continuing to open new accounts since that’ll keep your age of accounts low.

Be strategic straight from the get-go so you can truly take advantage of every single benefit that comes with no-credit-check store cards. If you’re unsure of the best route to take, start with one single new credit card. Then you can test out your behavior and quickly close the account if you’re uncomfortable.

By having a game plan for every possible outcome of the shopping cart trick, it will help you not only avoid credit damage, but also improve your credit over score time.

Alternatives to the Shopping Cart Trick

There are many alternatives to the shopping cart trick for building or improving credit score.

Secured Credit Cards

One option is to apply for a secured credit card, which is a type of credit card that requires a security deposit to open. The credit limit on a secured credit card is typically equal to the amount of the security deposit. Making on-time payments with a secured card can help improve credit score.

See also: Best Secured Credit Cards

Become an Authorized User

Another option is to become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card account. This allows you to build credit by piggybacking off another person’s good credit history. However, be sure to choose the right person to be an authorized user for, as the primary cardholder’s credit habits can also affect the authorized user’s credit score.

Credit Builder Loans

A credit builder loan is a type of loan that is designed to help people build or improve their credit. These loans are typically small, with a low credit limit, and are repaid over a set period of time, usually a year or two. The purpose of a credit builder loan is to help the borrower establish a positive payment history.

With a credit builder loan, the lender places the loan amount in a savings account or a certificate of deposit (CD). The borrower makes regular payments on the loan, which are reported to the credit bureaus. Then, when the loan is fully repaid, the lender releases the funds in the savings account or CD to the borrower.

This process helps the borrower establish a positive payment history, and can help improve their credit scores.

See also: Best Credit Builder Loans