Which Share Trading Platform Is Best

tryingtogetmyheadaround

I have currently got £2000 I would like to buy shares with. I have a Vanguard ISA and that's doing well. I just have never bought individual shares before.
What platform is best from a cost point of view / 1st timer?
Keep seeing ads for EToro but have no idea if that's a good place to start or not. The part that stopped me adding funds was I saw it exchanged my money into USD, so just thought that was odd to buy UK shares. As thinking the currency exchange could eat up gains.
Sorry if this is a stupid question.

eskbanker

If you're capable of conducting the requisite amount of research and due diligence to trade in individual shares then doing so for the substantially smaller number of platforms should be a doddle....

grumiofoundation

tryingtogetmyheadaround said:

I have currently got £2000 I would like to buy shares with. I have a Vanguard ISA and that's doing well. I just have never bought individual shares before.
What platform is best from a cost point of view / 1st timer?
Keep seeing ads for EToro but have no idea if that's a good place to start or not. The part that stopped me adding funds was I saw it exchanged my money into USD, so just thought that was odd to buy UK shares. As thinking the currency exchange could eat up gains.
Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Really your vanguard ISA is not doing well, the investments within it are 'doing well' - although since chances are these investments are mostly one or more index trackers really the index is 'doing well'. 

Choosing anything based on 'seeing ads' without researching is probably not very sensible, especially when you are risking money. 

Why exactly do you want to buy individual shares? Is it due to the ads you keep seeing? Chances are you will make less money buying shares than investing in funds, so financially the best place to start is probably to invest a further £2000 in your better diversified funds. 

Buying individual shares is generally seen as far higher risk than index funds. For smallish amounts the buying/selling costs (typically in region of £10 each time) eat into your profits/exacerbate losses. 

There are a number of platforms that do not charge for buying and selling shares (eToro, freetrade, Trading 212), you have to decide if you are comfortable using less established companies. Buy as said above this will probably be less research than would generally be suggested to buy individual shares.

tryingtogetmyheadaround

All I'm doing it for just a bit of fun...... The money is just from I would have spent in the pub/going out!!! So I don't do any research in the pub on what I'm going to drink / eat I pick what I want and come away with less money each night. So even if I get 100% loss I'm not going to notice it (that sound like I make a fortune, I don't but I wont be upset losing it)
All I am doing is pick the ones that still have a massive ladder to climb to get back to a position that were in when they started the year. You are probably be right I will pick wrong but at least I didn't buy in February.
As I say not really planning on making loads of money just thought I would give it a go putting a couple of thousand in that would have already be spent in normally time and see what happens.
Thank you both for your concern, I have gone with EToro and lets see what happens!!!

Alexland

tryingtogetmyheadaround said:

...So even if I get 100% loss I'm not going to notice it

...

I have gone with EToro and lets see what happens!!!

How fortunate of EToro to have found their latest best customer happy to lose all the money.

Sobeboy15

Alexland said:

tryingtogetmyheadaround said:

...So even if I get 100% loss I'm not going to notice it

...

I have gone with EToro and lets see what happens!!!

How fortunate of EToro to have found their latest best customer happy to lose all the money.

That’s not very festive! 

ElephantBoy57

Are the different flatforms the same. When my HL says that a certain share is in profit, is it taking into account all the trading costs, or just the share value? If I have bought the same share again, so bought at two different prices, does it take that into account?

Another_Saver

@Sobeboy15, my brother uses Freetrade and Trading212 for play money. We both use Vanguard and iWeb for boring serious amounts. Just don't get into CFDs, because then you're crossing from harmless punt gambling into serious bad gambling.

@ElephantBoy57, I bought a Tesla share on HL back in April 2018, sold earlier this year, the amount quoted in the transaction history includes the dealing fees, same with iWeb.

Alexland

Sobeboy15 said:

That’s not very festive! 

There seems to be a speculative zone between investment and outright gambling that Etoro etc target.

I'm not saying it's wrong but it's certainly not for me.

blue_max_3

I have been using trading212 for a few months. It's absolutely not a replacement for a savings account or even a unit trust. I doubt you would ever lose all your money, but you have to accept you may take a hit. If you are prepared to stick with it for the longer term and not intending to cash-in at a particular time, you'll probably do fine.
You can do as much research as you wish, but just following the herd can work too. 
It's actually quite a good time to buy shares. The pandemic has decimated many values, so some sort of recovery is likely to happen. Some will be better than others, of course.
I wouldn't invest too much in it, but for a little toe dip, it's been an interesting time.

eskbanker

tryingtogetmyheadaround said:

All I am doing is pick the ones that still have a massive ladder to climb to get back to a position that were in when they started the year.

Are you under the impression that all companies priced below their early-year highs will return to those?  Just because you think there's a ladder there doesn't mean there isn't a snake too, that could be equally as likely to be the direction of travel - many shares have returned to previous highs but ask yourself what the underlying reason is for those that haven't....