Anyone used eToro?

Keeping

It's a social trading platform that allows you to follow and copy other traders. On the face of it it seems like a bad idea, putting your money into the hands of someone who may or may not be qualified but there are some quite useful stats regarding the person you wish to copy.

Average profit, %win/loss trades and much more. Just wondered if anyone had experience with it. I'm testing it out using the virual money but I wanted to ask, if you copy someone and they perform a trade, does your account also perform that trade automatically or do you still have to log in manually and make the trade?

What about when they sell?

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5198298

In answer to your questions, if you tell the system to copy someone else's trades then the only way it could work is for the system to do just that, immediately and automatically, otherwise you would be unable to secure the same price as the person you were following.

If you fancy a bit of a gamble and feel someone else's luck might last longer than yours, then you could do this, but the trades are a lot more expensive than if you went to a more conventional site and placed your own bets on the markets.

mvarrier

Thanks Jeg,

For creating an account and posting your long first comment just to tell us how great the site is.

masonic

mvarrier wrote: »

Thanks Jeg,

For creating an account and posting your long first comment just to tell us how great the site is.

Not to mention including a referral link. How helpful

bowlhead99

How to copy a top trader.

Step 1 find your top trader. There is probably one with a great return and lots of followers. Realistically he has 10 accounts which over time have massive variation in risk and levels of luck. His toptrader_abc is on a good run this month while his toptrader_def account had shocking losses and never got any followers. Sooner or later he'll bin that one entirely and start up toptrader_pqr and toptrader_xyz_69_the_new_dawn and see how they go. He gets commission from attracting new followers and posting spam links on forums. He doesn't really need the trading income which is pretty much a break-even zero-sum game, less costs, plus luck.

Step 2 note that the toptrader_abc has £50k of capital. You don't need that much, because you can copy at a reduced scale. You deposit your £5k.

Step 3, auto-copy the trades of the top trader you're following. This week he is making some big wild speculative trades which are a bit of a departure from the slow and steady patterns he was making before. Still, you're following him, because he's the expert right? All the followers can't be wrong. After three massive gambles in a row come off when the Swiss manipulate the Franc exchange rate, he's up to £120k! And your £5k is almost £12k. Wow this is fun and easy.

Step 4, keep following. You're not learning because you don't know why he's really doing the deals he's doing, but you watched the YouTube video which he posted (for advertising money) and he sounded credible. This guy knows his onions. Keep blindly following. £12.5k now!

Step 5. Keep following. Oh, he's lost 4 gambles in a row. Back to £5k where you started. Ah well, "Easy come easy go. Would never have got to £12.5k myself anyway". "Oh crap, £3k now".

Step 6. The fallacy that it'll all turn around soon. The guy I'm following is a legend. Well, at least this particular lucky account of his was showing over £100k this week, not sure if he has others and how they're doing. But now he's just down to £25k (I'm £2.5k) so hope his next moves are good ones... But they're bound to be, he was just a bit unlucky there because nobody saw that China policy change coming just as the market closed.

Step 7. All in. The guy I'm following is betting the S&P500 pretty big, betting half his capital on it. I'll follow. Dammit, lost. He's doing it again... Should have used a longer stop really... Dammit, lost.

Step 8. Incredulity. Wow, I've lost nearly all my £5k. Just £200 left and Toptrader_abc is down to his last £2k. Whaaaaaaat, he's just reloaded his account with another £50k from his private bankroll. Didn't see that coming! I don't have another £5k down the back of the sofa! I'm not putting any more in, this £200 will have to do me.

Step 9. Grim reality. Ok so Toptrader made another big bet on the S&P after he credited his account again and it came off, third time lucky. I guess even a stopped clock is right a couple of times a day. His £50k is back up to £90k. Wish I reloaded. I scaled back my trades massively because I was running short so I only turned £50 into £90 just now. So with that £40 profit I now have £240. Looking back woefully at my account history after putting in that £5k at Step 2, I've lost 95% of an entire year's savings. !!!!!!.

Step 10. If you can't beat 'em... Recruit. "Hey forum! Anyone using this social trading site? You don't need £thousands to join and if you follow my referral you get a little account credit and so do I. Great fun and you can make a lot of money. There's this one guy, top trader, his account has got Ninety Thousand Pounds in it and 100% of his trades since noon today have been winners! Follow along you won't regret it!"


I've invested in all kinds of things over the years, traditional investments, alternative investments, spreadbetting, matched betting at online bookies and casinos etc etc. I've been to Vegas and put a $500 chip on red just for a laugh, played a few hundred dollars a hand at blackjack. I have a finance degree and enjoy some risk and am not afraid of losses in the pursuit of long term reward (obviously the casino stuff and sports betting without bonuses is just for fun).

But "social media enhanced trading" is something that I'd never use as a serious money making tool and it doesn't even tempt me as a fun sideline. It would be like going to a casino and giving someone else your money and telling them to have all the fun and then come back and tell you how much you lost.

jegwright

Wow, what a cynical outlook you have!!!

I'm not expecting to make a fortune on eToro. In the same way I don't expect to come out of a casino and have enough to retire.

Personally I enjoy it. It's fun and easy. At the moment, I'm in profit.

Yes, you can lose money on the actions of others. But is that really different to any other investment???
The value of anything rises and falls on actions from something.

The link was just to help. When I joined, I didn't know about the bonus, so missed out. Didn't want others to do the same. I see my whole post has been removed now. Shame... I thought it was an accurate statement of the situation. I guess other, more cynical people, would rather limit free speech and have you read only their version of events. Life goes on...

bowlhead99

jegwright wrote: »

Wow, what a cynical outlook you have!!!

As a general rule, people should be very cynical about any potential returns they might make from any trading, gambling, or investment opportunities. A natural sense of scepticism helps you keep your shirt while all around you are losing theirs.

When a short new thread generates a response from a brand new forum member within 24 hours of its posting, who only has positive things to say and "thoughtfully" provides a referral link (for which his income relies on him having recommended the service in a positive light), you can see why we might be sceptical.

Before this thread existed you weren't a forum member. Very soon after the question was posted, you were. Perhaps you randomly came across it by coincidence in the exact right time window, while Googling etoro, even though you are already a happy customer of etoro who wouldn't need to Google them? Who knows.

The link was just to help. When I joined, I didn't know about the bonus, so missed out. Didn't want others to do the same. I see my whole post has been removed now. Shame... I thought it was an accurate statement of the situation. I guess other, more cynical people, would rather limit free speech and have you read only their version of events. Life goes on...

Although this forum is large and hard for the site operators to moderate, it is set up to be semi self-policing in that if enough people hit the "spam" button, the suspicious post is hidden. This can happen very often for new joiners who create accounts and proceed to post glowing reviews of services, accompanied by links, within their first ten, twenty, fifty, posts.

So, freedom of expression here is welcomed but is probably more about supporting existing forum members' rights to be heard above the spam, than it is to help spammers serve their own self-interests. After we expressed ourselves that your post smelt of spam, it was removed.

There is a busy and thriving referrals board in a separate part of this site.

You are right of course that you can make or lose money on the actions of others when using any type of investment.

However, with "traditional" investments you get a regulated investment fund manager allocating your money in a discretionary way across a diversified set of assets in line with a stated strategy and prospectus. By contrast, with social media you can search the popular traders and see over 3300 people "currently copying with real money" user caraj51, who presents a photo of a middle-aged Indian man. The stats show that he has only had 40% "profitable weeks" over the last year and his overall profit is -61% for that 1-year search period. Doesn't strike me as safe store of value. But according to the etoro risk rating, he has a "risk score" of just 4 on the 1-7 scale.

Social media and anything that shows you what's trending to generate a buzz and attract customers, relies heavily on extroverts, egotistical attitudes, "me too"; "show me something exciting happening right now", and other qualities that are entirely incompatible with the way that most wealth around the planet is generated over time.

This is not to say of course that nobody ever made money off etoro or that you should avoid it if you have spare money and fancy playing with it online to see what you can turn it into.

Someone will no doubt be along soon enough to say they like it and they made money while some other wag will note that the best way to make a small fortune in trading is to start with a large one hahaha. We have been here before and the topic will no doubt come up again in another few weeks or months.

jegwright

So it's not 'opinions that differ from yours' you don't like... it's the 'opinions of new members'.
I see... What a charming online community I seem to have joined.

I couldn't resist replying to your response. Good thing too... as apparently I need to post 50+ times before I get a vote.

So... eToro isn't for you. I understand that. You're not a fan. There are risks outside of your control. Yes.

I guess you don't like the free bets given out by bookies on match day either. You're risking your money on another man kicking a ball into a goal. And on top of that, somebody else is benefiting from your bet!

I still stand by my comments. I'm a fan of eToro!
It turns trading into a fun, social event that facilitates learning from others. It get's my vote (when I'm allowed to, that is!).

colsten

jegwright wrote: »

What a charming online community I seem to have joined.

If you are not impressed with this community, you are entirely free to leave it at any time. Nobody has ever been held prisoner on MSE.

If you decide to stay you should make an effort to comply with the site's rules which exist for the benefit of all members, and the benefit of the site owner.

jegwright

I’m intrigued… what rule do you think hasn't been followed?

I can see a healthy discussion... no rule breaking here!?!

colsten

I was referring to you posting a referral link in your original first post.

Although perhaps it was good that you did, because now we know why you are so positive about eToro.

Anyway, I am out of this thread as I don't plan to contribute further to seeing it on the front page of this board.