Maverick is right the wholesale cost for most of these firms is so low. I know when I was at one of the firms mentioned their wholesale cost was below .08/1000 shares
But what about the equity-only shops that charge a fee (somewhere between $3 to $5 per 1000 shares) that do not require capital contribution? Is their hopes that you're gross positive, regardless of whether or not you're net positive? Do they just teach low-profitability strategies that may not necessarily be sustainable? Do they just not have the resources to compete with higher firms? FNY, Trillium, Chimera, Kershner, T3 (somewhat) come to mind. These firms seem to be mainly equity only, do not require capital contribution, pay little, and have little to teach. What is the opinion of these firms/business structure?
I don't think you have their structure correct. As far as I know, First NY is set up as true prop. T3 has some that they back and I believe they are trying to start a hedge fund to have funds to back traders. The other firms I know little about, but I believe they are set up as JBOs with deposits as first loss. Any firm set up that way has a business model to generate commission as their profit center. I'm not judging the JBO model. But you must know that this is their goal.