True, but it doesn't change the fact that you are getting ripped off. If you want to stay with the same broker, at least: call up one of the upper management, explain that their rates aren't even close to competetive, and demand a reduction. No amount of convenience is worth the rates you're paying.
Call them and tell them you want $1.25/contract and no flat fee. If you do small size only they might only give you $1.50, but you'll at least get that.
95 cents actually Ex rates #2, it's only .95/contract no other fees or charges. You just have to trade more than 20 contracts at a time.
This is never the advice that I would give. Take profits when your target is reached. If you want to reduce commissions, change the position. I rarely enter a position that would eat more than 10% of projected profits round trip. The only reason it sometimes turns out higher than that is if I was wrong several times. So obviously the other way to reduce commissions is to be wrong less frequently.
And 10 trades/month. Not that it's difficult, but the rates change if you don't trade at least that frequently.
Your view that it is not high is clouded by the fact that you are paying 4 times the average retail rate for options. That is why your advice to open bigger positions or squeeze out more profits needs to be avoided. Bigger positions do not affect the % and squeezing out more profits is not how you combat higher costs, you look to control costs by preventing overtrading or more efficient type of positions. I can understand why it is difficult for you paying over $100 roundtrip for one of your option positions. That is a large %.
Don't quote me, but if you call them you will find out that is not a big deal. Your rates won't change.
I suggested the bigger positions in post #2. Both opt789 in post #13 and Cache Landing in post #15 do mention bigger positions to reduce your commission. Also the original poster in post #4 did mentioned "I pay a per-contract commission, and so larger position will not change the ratio." Sometimes to get that "per-contract commission" you are required to trade a certain volume, or bigger positions. As I mentioned before the original poster isn't going into detail, such as commissions, trading sizes, how often he trades or broker. So any advice he gets will be based on that limited information.
No. Why do you think its crazy? What is your average commission to profit ratio? I use the following formula to find the ratio: total commission in a year / net profit in the same year.