You will only get good rates if you trade on high volume or have a proven track record. If you are anywhere close to new, you will have trouble finding rates below $3 / 1000
I'm paying 1.50 per 1000 with $150 software fee (DAS) for about the same volume as you. I get 10:1 if that means anything. 4 seems a little steep for over 1m shares. anything over 1m shares you should be paying 1.50-2.50 per 1000 and nothing more. I mean, even with full ECN pass through, you can't make profits unless the ECN pays more than your commission. Easier to find ECNs like Bats which gives somewhere around $2.7 per thousand. Even EDGE and ARCA only give $2 per thousand. You should be targeting $1.50-$2 IMO. $3 or $4 is a rip off for 2 million shares and software should not be more than $150 or $200 MAX.
If you believe the numbers you posted is legit.....I can tell you that you are seriously being ripped off right now.....
The rates you mentioned are very aggressive but a friend of mine pays much less for 2 million shares a month. He pays close to .0008 and it gets lower than 8 mils for volume over 2 million.
it really depends on your style. if you're scalping S, C, or SIRI all day long, you can get better rates but if you want hard to borrow stocks and the ability to trade anything, it's hard to find a deal under $1 for less than 5 million shares per month. I know some places that will even give you 30 cents a thousands if all you're scalping is those few stocks, but you can't trade other stocks or options or hold overnight. You get what you pay for in terms of clearing. The cheaper the clearing is, the more likely there could be restrictions on what you can/can't trade, your size, etc. Some people can do that and scalping is a great way to generate big volume that helps out the firm and gets you cheap enough rates to make a profit on collecting ECN rebates for adding liquidity without the stock even moving 1 cent. Other styles such as momentum, news, fundamental, etc require much more flexibility, especially if you want to hold overnight.
Cost is just one criteria. How much capital are you able to put up? Are you willing to combine your capital with the other traders in that prop shop? Are you willing to run your busiess with the rules that the prop shop issues? Then there is the 365 day lock up period for your capital. If you have limited capital, joining a prop shop my be your only option. However, if you have the capital necessary to open a customer portfolio margin account, you can get good rates for your volume, keep 100% of your profits in a segregated customer account, with good leverage. Run your trading business your way, from where ever you want with professional platforms and great service from my firm. If you'd like more information, contact me.