Trading212

teekay_tk

Hi all

I was looking at apps on Android for share dealing and Trading 212 seems to be very popular platform. Has any one used it? I can't seem to find real user review for it. It is strange as it has been downloaded like a million times. The reviews on Google Play store are not very helpful as they are usually about app usability but not about long term experience.

They charge EUR2 for buying/selling. Is this competitive?

Is there a good Android share dealing platform someone can recommend?

I am a complete newbie when it comes to share dealing. I am just learning about it now a days.

Cheers

bowlhead99

Hi,

When someone doesn't have a huge amount of posts on a forum (even if they've been a member for a long time) and starts asking questions about share trading services that I've never heard of, I usually smell spam. So I checked some of your other posts.

The good news I guess, you don't seem like a spammer. So, apologies for doubting you.

The bad news: back in January you were trying to get 83% of your tens of thousands of pounds of debt written off because you could only afford to pay 17% of them. And were on a debt management plan, right?

The idea of suddenly getting into share trading (which can be similar to gambling even if you are a professional with tens of thousands of capital behind you and decades of experience), is sounds like a bad joke. Share trading is not the way to get rich from a tiny amount of savings. It is the way to lose your tiny amount of savings.

Anyone who gives you friendly advice on the best trading platform to use for that purpose is likely to be inadvertently contributing to destroying your finances and life further. Desperate people kill themselves over this stuff. When you are short of money and unwilling or unable to ever pay back your debts, the last place to go for entertainment or to rebuild your life is an app-based share trading service with no verifiable positive reviews which allows you to deposit money and click away your meagre savings.

Sorry if that sounds harsh.

EdGasket

Trading 212 is FOREX, not sharedealing; A EUR 2 dealing charge for shares would be highly suspect as it should be more like EUR 15.

teekay_tk

bowlhead99 thanks that is why I love money saving expert. It keeps me in check from doing stupid things again.

I'll drop this idea for now. Certainly seems I don't know what I am talking about.

JohnRo

teekay_tk wrote: »

I'll drop this idea for now.

Take the sound advice given, forget about it completely.

ehn101

Trading212 is a CFD trading platform which allows you to trade leveraged instruments. If you know nothing about trading it's not advisable you go for a CFD broker because it is easy to end up in debt to the broker if you don't understand lot sizes and the concept of margin. If you want to dabble in shares the safer way would be to open a stocks and shares ISA and invest in physical stocks instead. You should learn how to value stocks as well as know the basics of technical analysis before you open an account though.

BananaRepublic

I know someone who lost £20,000 buying and selling shares a few years ago. He still has not told his wife. I have been buying unit trusts for 25 years. I don't have the confidence to buy shares.

Jake85

Yes, forex and cfd trading involves risk of loss, so you need to always keep that in mind. I looked at Trading 212. They have a play money account - a practice account, as they call it. It's a good option if you want to take a look at the markets without risking any real money. Their website's FAQ section states that 'your loss is limited to the amount in your account', however, their min deposit is GBP 100, EUR 100 or USD 150 (again from their website), so it's your call whether or not you are ready to risk losing at least that much.

bowlhead99

Jake85 wrote: »

Yes, forex and cfd trading involves risk of loss, so you need to always keep that in mind.

I would call it "involves likelihood of loss" rather than "risk of loss".

The latter implies you might lose and you might not, just be generally aware there are risks ; while the reality is that a vast majority of retail investors who try forex trading do incur losses.

I looked at Trading 212. They have a play money account - a practice account, as they call it. It's a good option if you want to take a look at the markets without risking any real money.

Most CFD, trading and spreadbet houses offer trial accounts. Alternatively you can just refresh a currency chart on Google Finance and imagine how much you might have made or lost if you had called the direction or timing of movements correctly and were willing to lose all your money by getting it wrong.

Their website's FAQ section states that 'your loss is limited to the amount in your account', however, their min deposit is GBP 100, EUR 100 or USD 150 (again from their website), so it's your call whether or not you are ready to risk losing at least that much.

Again, most trading or spread-bet firms allow you to place controlled-risk bets,or purchase options on prices, which have a known downside so you can limit the risk to 100% of the money you've actually got on the platform.

Without knowing anything in particular about this one, the fact that they've had their FCA licence less than two years doesn't inspire me to give it a go over and above their more established rivals - any more than I'm inspired by the thoughts of a brand new MSE member who has apparently signed up to the MSE forum solely to kindly tell us what we can read in the FAQ and suggest it's a good idea to open up a play account.

bugbyte_2

Sorry to bump an old thread. My son - bless him - wants to spend a small amount on a Tesla share to say he 'owns' Tesla. I have tried to put him off saying he is buying for the wrong reasons and a world tracker fund is a better option for lots of different reasons. I even tried to explain that Tesla does not have a P/E ratio because it hasn't turned a profit. What will put him off is the fact you can't buy less than one share, and Tesla is trading at $384! Putting all of this aside, He came up with Trading 212 as his platform as it does not charge to trade. I explained to him it trades FOREX and CFD's which are not shares, but are used to go long or short on stocks - not a world you should go into unless you know what they are doing. It also trades 'Exchange Traded Equities' I don't know what these are - are they Shares as we know them? Are they linked in some way to ETFs?

I have advised him if he wants a low cost broker to go with degiro as at least it has some history.

Han_naH

I think it's another name for ETFs. But as Bugbyte said, as far as I can see (I opened an account) it is a spread bet on the stocks rather than holding the stock itself. Quite a simplified interface encourages people to click buttons, like binary trading does. This appeals to the monkey brain in us and makes them cash.

If I am missing something, do tell.

Tell your son that Trading 212 amounts to entering Eugene's Lair.*

*sorry only Bugbyte gets that.