Scottrade is one of the more established discount stock brokers in the industry, but I have to give them another praise after what happened since I wrote a review about them. This article outlines why Scottrade brings customer service to the next level, and what the brokerage firm offers.
Click Here to Open a Scottrade Account.
But First, What are the Commission Rates
Scottrade has always advertised its pricing of $7 per trade, while options are $7 per trade plus $1.25 per contract. Compared with its direct competitors who offer similar services, they are clearly the cheapest option. However, on a strict per trade level, there are others out there.
Scottrade’s Different Trading Platforms
Like many of the premium brokers, Scottrade offers multiple platforms that all have their unique advantages. Here’s a brief description of each:
- Scottrade Trading Website – The web platform is great if you are paranoid about installing anything on your computer. It’s also comparable to most discount broker platforms and offers the majority of investors’ needs.
- Scottrade Mobile – A special mobile application that simplifies the clutter to allow for faster trading on a mobile device. I will never know why you need to make trades on the go, but this option is there if you need it.
- Scottrate Elite – The full blown trading application that rivals the hardcore trading platforms of other brokerages. Streaming quotes, customizable and savable sessions as well real time news that is pushed to you.
Scottrade Knowledge Center
In order to help investors, Scottrade put together one of the most comprehensive investment resources online. With nearly 2,000 educational articles and interactive tools, investors can learn about everything from the basics of options to what the yield curve of a bond is.
Scottrade Branches and Customer Service
There are actually more than 400 Scottrade branch offices nationwide, so you can get your questions answered either on the phone or in person. The company is one of the top 100 companies to work for (according to Forbes) and it shows in the attitude of the employees. Everyone I spoke with were genuinely helpful and happy.
Why I’m Seriously Considering Scottrade
I’m beginning to become a Scottrade convert. I wrote a review about two weeks ago, and not only did the company tweeted about it, the PR spokesman of the company also personally emailed me to clarify my concern on their physical locations and offered to answer any questions I had.
At the time of the review, I noted that the local branches didn’t provide much more than what a phone conversation would do. As it turns out, each Scottrade representative can walk you through the whole trading platform in person as well as make trades for you (if you choose, or if the website goes down for whatever reason).
I also learned that within the branches, they are hosting live seminars to teach Scottrade customers how to better invest in these times. This is what they have to say about the seminars.
This year we are hosting 24 User Summits across the country. User Summits are free workshops for customers to learn how to easily manage their accounts and use the functions and features of our trading platforms. There are two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each session focuses on a different topic.
I’ve repeated said that while it’s better to have good customer support than bad, I seldom use it and therefore it’s low on my list of priorities when looking at a new broker option. However, Scottrade seems to take customer service to the next level (the helpfulness and positive attitude of the employees were very apparent once I spoke with them). In fact, I’m so impressed that I’m thinking of moving my funds over to a Scottrade account. While there are cheaper solutions out there, I’m sure that the customer reps would be glad to help me if problems were to arise.
Is Scottrade Right for You?
At the end of the day, this is a personal choice that you have to make. Compared with any other broker that has all the higher end services of Scottrade, this broker is the cheapest (and probably the best). However, there are less expensive alternatives out there if you are looking strictly at per trade cost. Is the few dollars a trade worth the piece of mind of knowing you are in the perfect hands? It’s entirely up to you.
If you decide to go with Scottrade though, click here to get started.
- Scottrade.com – Official Site
Scottrade Videos
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I bet a video is worth a thousand pictures! Here are a few videos that not only show you a glimpse of the Scottrade interface, it also teaches you to perform several functions from within the website.
Placing a Stock Trade with Scottrade
Scottrade Reimbursement Bonus
Scottrade is currently offering everyone up to $100 to switch over the account. This reimbursement will cover the transfer fee that many brokers charge when you switch, which is a nice touch.
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
I love Scottrade. They also have the highest customer satisfaction according to JD Power and Associates. Whenever I’m in the branches, everyone is very helpful and I found myself just wandering into the branches to chat because they welcome me every time and I usually learn a new thing or two.
Good to know that the experience doesn’t only pertain to me. Although I was greeted with a smile when I went in the branches anonymously as well, the other people I talked to at Scottrade knew about my website, which might affect their interaction with me.
Scottrade is much more expensive than Sogo. SogoElite is .004/share, with a minimum of $1. So unless you are trading more than 1750 shares on average SogoElite is a much, much better deal.
ScottradeElite, is a very weak “advanced” trading platform… The lag during volatile, high volume periods is several seconds. Unacceptable. However, it does give you access to some nice tools.
This “review” reads much more like an ad.
Thanks for the input. I’m not familiar with Sogo (I assume SogoElite is offered by SogoTrade), but a quick search turns up a few bad stories on customer support. Every brokerage has its pros and cons. If cheap trades is your thing, then there are other options out there like I said in the review. If you are more like an investor who trades a few times a month (or even a year), then there are different options that would be a better choice.
Again, as I noted, it’s all based on what’s important for you. What works for you may not work for someone else, and vice versa.
This is very helpful information for me. MoneyNing can you email me a few suggestions on what would be a good company for me to work with based on my experience of being brand new to the stock game and just want to do small trades a few times throughout the year?
Thank you in advance,
Nick
I started with ETrade Financial, and they were awesome for me (although they are a bit pricey, especially if you don’t meet their high account balance requirement).
If I had to start again, I would probably go with Scottrade and/or TradeKing because of their customer support. It’s ultra important when you start out that you get helpful people who won’t look down on you even if you have very basic questions, and it’s at those times when the phone support (or Scottrade’s in person conversations) is really useful.
With Scottrade, you get a physical branches for face to face Q&As plus they are one of the kindest people customer reps on the planet.
With TradeKing, they don’t charge you extra for phone assisted trades, so you can always call them up every time to help you with the first bunch of trades without paying an arm and a leg for it.
For more information on them, you can read my TradeKing review and see which one you like. For the most part, you probably won’t regret going with either, especially considering that you only plan to trade a few times a year.
I trade 2000-10000 shares at a time, so something like Scottrade with a flat rate makes way more sense for me (and a lot of people I talk to) rather than a per share basis. Also, I’ve been using ScottradeElite for over a year now, and I have never experienced any lag, my trades always go through at the exact price I bid or ask, and because of it I’ve made a ton of money. Also remember ScottradeElite is more for trading, not investing, so that is where a flat rate also saves you money (although the platform definitely helps investors who use it properly).
I have a very similar experience as the author, so I wouldn’t call this an ad at all. With so many companies outsourcing customer support to india, it’s nice to see a company that actually puts it as a top priority.
The Scottrade experience is really amazing, and I would never hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
Scottrade is really expensive. I prefer Sogo because of the cheaper rates, and i think every newbie like me will go for the cheap stuff. After all Sogo is not so bad, it’s easy to trade and it functions fine.
It’s true that Scottrade has tons of branches but I would’ve liked the broker to provide retirement services. Since they have the branches already, it would be perfect if they can offer financial planning type advice.
As it stands now, the trading platform seems to work okay so the branches don’t help me much since I don’t need to talk to anyone ever.
Optionshouse has nice rates for options and stocks. Done mostly options so far and no problems.
I like OptionsHouse as well, but Scottrade is just not the same. For the average investor, there is no question that the latter offers more help. OptionsHouse is more for someone that already knows what they are doing while Scottrade is more for the people starting out. However, many advanced traders still use Scottrade, as apparent in the polls that they have the highest customer satisfaction.
My time is limited to respond, so I’ll do brief and quickly.
I’ve used Scottrade for years and am a happy customer, but I must say it’s a brokerage for the buy and hold investor. Recently I showed interest in “writing” put and call options, which scottrade does not allow, so I opened a Charles Schwab option account that does have this feature. Not sure why Scottrade does not allow writing of options.
Some other cons are withdrawing cash and no dividend reinvestment. You must have a $5000 equity to use the visa check card to withdrawl or else you get a $15 charge. Without the use of a debit card to make withdrawls, you have to wait atleast a week to receive a check in the mail after stopping in the branch and asking for a withdrawl.
If you’re buying none dividend paying shares and holding for longterm, scottrade is ok, but I’m sure you can find cheaper brokerage houses.
Scottrade does allow writing calls, not puts however, which I agree is lame. But an intermediate investor can buy a call in a bull market, and write a call or buy a put in a bear market, so 3 out of 4 isn’t bad for non-advanced traders.
I am not an active trader but when I do, I use Sharebuilder. I like the fact that it links to my ING account and trades are around $9.99. I have used Etrade, Ameritrade, and now Sharebuilder. Really Etrade seems the best to me, but I closed that joint account several years ago for personal reasons.
I have never tried Scottrade, so this was an interesting read. Should I switch again it will probably be to them. Thanks for the info.
I use TD Ameritrade and I really don’t like them much. Thanks for the Scottrade review. I will look into them and see if I like what I see.
To offer a different perspective….
I trade my own funds for a living, usually doing a few trades per month. I also teach people how to trade.
After having taught lots of traders, they often have a big concern about which brokerage to choose….do they choose based on commission rates; customer service; ability to visit their money as well as see a smiling face in a branch; trading platform; etc.
In actuality, while all of these are important – not a single one of them will make you a better investor…nor a better trader! You must always keep that in mind when you are thinking of switching brokerages.
The other thing to watch out for is fill execution. Most brokerages will tell you that they use a NBBO in order to get the best execution. I have multiple internet connections in my office. Once or twice per year, I enter identical orders, simultaneously, at a well-known brokerage that everyone has heard of..and at a brokerage that the trading public has heard of. 9 out of 10 times, the well-known brokerage gives a worse fill (both buy and sell) than does the other. Sometimes as little as a penny or two..the biggest difference I saw was 10 cents (using IBM in each case). That is not too big of a deal when you’re buying 100 shares, but it starts to add up when the trade size increases.
This is not meant to be a knock against Scottrade. However, keep that in mind when you visit a brokerage branch office and see the cadre of smiling faces, greeting you at the door….makes you wonder why they’re smiling!
I place some very large orders, where a 1 or 2 penny difference equals $100’s of dollars in gains, but I always use limit orders with Scottrade (been with for 2 years, made hundreds of trades), and I’ve never had a single problem, never lost any money.
Scottrade is pretty good and I’ve been using them for a while now. $7 isn’t the cheapest but it’s cheap enough for me to worry about features and functions rather than strictly on the deal. The customer service is good, so even though I don’t call them much, it’s nice to know that it’s there if I need it.
I find that Scottrade is really good with customer service, even better than other brokers that rank high in the SmartMoney broker survey that comes out every year. That’s why even though it’s more per trade than others, I still stick with this firm.
I thought the commercial with the helicopter and the Scottrade CEO was a little goofy but the broker is pretty solid. Like everyone else say, the consumer experience is excellent there.
Funny you mention that because I was thinking about the same thing! The message of the whole thing seemed to be simple though – $7 a trade regardless of how much money you have.
I like how I always see Scottrade branches. There’s something about seeing a real person when you are having problems. You can really explain your issue properly when you are talking to them face to face.
I actually go there so much that they know me by first name now and one of the ladies (I won’t name names because I don’t want to get her in trouble) and I go have coffee sometimes.
I feel like I have the inside track sometimes and I like that.
Everyone seems to like Scottrade but I’m not digging the $7 a trade. It seems a little too high for me when there are other options that are giving out $3 or less per trade.
$7 is a thing of the past. I believe it comes down to whether people like the physical branches and solid customer service or not. If you want a no frills broker and you trade often, there are many other options that offer a cheaper trade like OH, TK or J2T.
Been a Scottrade customer for a long time and their platform works well for me. I rather stick with them than try to pay a couple bucks less to trade when I am not a day trader. This one works for me.
I cannot access my account through Firefox. I have been receiving the message copied below for weeks.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to complete your request at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please return to Home page and try again at a later date.
If you require immediate assistance, please contact your local Scottrade branch.”
As an IT administrator, I can say that it’s almost impossible for Scottrade to help with this issue because it’s computer specific and probably related to either a) your cache or b) something you installed (plugin, trojan, other software).
If something is wrong with Firefox, you may want to clear your cache, reinstall firefox or as the very last resort, restore your Windows system to a previous state.
Is there a Scottrade review of the branches? I’m looking for opinions on their experiences when they go into the branches and what exactly you can get help with over and above what can be done over the phone.
I’ve been in the Scottrade branches before and the employees are happy and willing to share information in general. However, I suggest having specific questions with you when you walk in just in case the person you find aren’t very talkative and start telling you everything right off the bat.
I almost prayed that my call would be routed to national, unlike what the commercials say. The manager at my local office had a “Hey, we’re discount brokers — can’t help ya with that (anything).” Another site I was just on had others complaining about local offices where they are.
These guys cost me a alot more than any other broker I’ve used, because of bad trade executions, inaccurate quotes (by up to 10 or so seconds behind), and a site that goes down at busy market times — more than any broker I’ve used. NONE of the other broker’s was bad — try any other.
I’ve been with Scottrade for years, and I’ve never experienced the site down, never had any lag (you should use their free java Scottrader platform if you’re making trades; I never use the website, and I don’t know why you would unless you’re making a market order for a long-term investment, where you wouldn’t care about a few cents difference in the buy price).
I’m reading all of the online trade forums to try and find one to invest with. E-trade only had one good review and a ton of bad ones. This one seems to have just the opposite but I’m still searching. It helps that some of the replies give other companies names so I can look those up. Thanks for everyones comments. It will hopefully help me make a choice in investing that I won’t end up regretting.
I opened a Scottrade account as so far I love it.
I tried to open a Scottrade account and became exasperated. The direct-ACH link to my checking account didn’t work (I tried over and over), so I went to the two-small-deposit route. After three days with no “small deposits” hitting my bank account, I emailed them to find out what was going on. They replied that they HAD made the two deposits, but that if they weren’t showing up on my end, it was probably because I didn’t enter my bank account number right. I move $ around daily and am hardly a novice at setting up and using these kinds of financial accounts (as I had told them), so this “help” came across as condescending and a little snotty. I promptly linked an e*trade account perfectly and easily. I haven’t heard back from Scott, but if both of their set-up methods fail (as they did for me) them I’m less than impressed with their online system and I’m really not interested in entrusting them with my $.
I am new to the trading arena and appreciate all of the comments. For a beginner, which site offers the best tutorials and guidance in learning trading techniques? Also, what is the best avenue to learn trading the correct way?
I don’t know why it didn’t work for you jgw but my ACH transfer with Scottrade worked fine. The customer service was the easiest to deal with as well so maybe you just found a bad rep that day? Have you tried to call another person?
I used to have an account with Scottrade.
I will tell you why I closed the account:
1. The web site is very slow. I placed an buy limit order and changed my mind and tried to cancel the order before it was executed. The web site does not move for a few minutes, and I could not cancel and I lost a lot of money.
2. The stock information it offers was not sufficient enough. I had to use Google Finance and Yahoo Finance to get more information about the companies I was interested.
3. You have a lot of unreasonable limitations. One example is that I once tried to trade TGX, it says “Please contact your local branch about placing an order on this security.” I trade it online without any restriction with the brokerage I am using now.
So, I decided to find another discount brokerage.
Oh, one more thing. When I tried to withdraw my money, it does not allow me to use ACH which is free even though I used it when I deposited the fund. They required me to pay $20 for wire transfer. I wonder why they do not offer ACH withdrawal that is faster, safer and cheaper. Free ACH for deposit only. So, you might want to consider that too, if you withdraw your money often.
James.
I had a serious communication conflict after calling my Maryland Scottrade office contact, attempting to ascertain accurate information regarding an account transaction of mine. After several email requests to the National Service Center and two telephone calls over a period of two weeks, the Maryland office in question was unable to clearly answer my questions and even developed a defended unresponsive posture, as I grew increasingly frustrated. As I continued my quest for an accurate answer, I was able to speak to a very capable broker in the Scottrade Compliance Department, who LISTENED to me and was able to focus on my issue. If one of the local offices cannot satisfy a query, I recommend the Compliance Department at Scottrade. If that doesn’t work, one might try the Branch Administrator, which is where I finally lodged my complaint.
Scottrade does not permit clients to access a current monthly statement, which can thwart a customer from accessing a detailed account of the “Total Money Balance”. In order to secure a detailed account, one has to step back to the previous month’s ending balance and add up each transaction during the current month to access each transaction which flows into the “Total Money Balance”. If that sounds confusing, it is. Moreover, it is unfortunate that I had to go through great pains over a period of six weeks which included numerous emails and phone calls to secure this information. Given that my trust level in general has been seriously breached by the banking industry in a general context, I want current detailed accounts of all my monetary transactions from all banking and brokerage institutions with whom I deal in a timely way. Notwithstanding the fact that I will no longer deal with the Maryland office, I am sticking with Scottrade, as my overall experience over the last ten years as been on balance, positive.
I was not aware of $20.00 wire transfer fee for withdrawals. So far, Scottrade
has executed all my transactions online without a single glitch. Sharebuilder was unable to complete a buy request for CONX (Corgenix Medical, $0.17) because they do not offer it or it is not on their list of securities). Scottrade completed my request at the requested price (limit order, placed the night before). One good thing about sharebuilder, they transfer monet back to my checking with no charge. They (sharebuilder) also were able to complete a buy request for Bershire (BRK.B) when Scottrade could not do it. This was the night before BRK.B was open to everyone at a fair price ($73.00 vs $1300.00+.
I am looking for someone to sort of become a mentor in order to learn how to trade and what to look out for so that I dont get burned trying to learn. Anyone have any ideas on how to network to find someone you can trust.
Thanks
Miles, check out better-investing.org. There may be an investing club close to where you live. You can find no better place to guide you on how to select stocks. There is a membership fee (but well eorth it). A disclaimer in in order: I’m not an officer nor an employee of Better-investing.org.
I am a buy and hold investor and would like to find an on-line broker that is “friendly” to this type of investing. I don’t do more than a couple of trades a year. Have tried to look at websites for all the brokers out there and things get very confusing, as well as, who’s going to tell you their downside. Can anyone provide names of companies to look at for someone who holds their positions for a longer period of time.