yep *grandfathered* is the word. The rates I got was when i just opened an account. I generated around 1K worth of commissisons for a 3k account and I tried to negotiate commissions for a day trading account when I moved funds from Tradestation. No luck... the guy told me it was TDA telling them to keep commissions higher (conflict of interest as TDA charges 9.95$). So anyone grandfathered good luck, new people... good luck (sarcasm)
Hi guys, Just googled "negotiated thinkorswim commissions" and came across this thread. Do you know if Forex commissions are negotiable? being charged 1$ for every 10K units at TOS at the moment.
You guys are nuts, come to Interactive Brokers and your commissions will be much lower. They won't hand-hold you quite as much as ToS or other brokers but their discounted commissions are worth it and they provide all the necessary tools to learn how. IB is completely transparent and you don't have to negotiate any rates as they go down with volume per their web site commission listings. They start at very inexpensive rates: 0.005 per share stock/ETF commission 0.70 per option contract execution 0.2 basis point FX commission https://www.interactivebrokers.com/Universal/servlet/formWelcome?p=100&atype=IT&ibsrp=139
You neglected to mention that there is a $1 minimum commission, so you must trade at least 2 option contracts or 200 shares to make full use of their pricing. Also, the TOS platform is far superior for trading options and if you are swing trading, the ease of use and flexibility offsets the higher commission cost (I have $1.25/contract). Also, I'm not sure what the "completely transparent" refers to, as both TOS and IB have their commissions on their webpages. BTW, I have 2 accounts with IB and 1 with TOS, so I'm not knocking or promoting either one. They both have their place.