Firstrade Review

3-star brokerage firm rating

Firstrade Review


Few fees but expensive to trade stocks at or under $2 and make trades with over 5,000 shares

Firstrade Review: Commissions, Fees and Investments (2012)


  • Stocks and ETFs: $6.95; for stocks at or under $2 and trades over 5,000 shares, add 1/2 cent per share for the entire order
  • Options: $6.95 plus $0.75 per contract for market and limit orders
  • Mutual funds: $9.95 no-load funds, $0 load funds
  • Bonds: net yield basis
  • CDs: $30 for primary market CDs, net yield basis for secondary market CDs
  • Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, ETFs
  • Minimum to open Firsttrade account: $0
  • All Firstrade fees

Firstrade Website (Firstrade.com)/Trading Tools Review


Firstrade Securities review

Firstrade.com trading tools are not impressive. They are clearly behind the curve when comparing to competition.


Firstrade Securities Pros


  • $0 minimum to open account
  • 10,000 mutual funds and fixed income investments to choose from
  • No inactivity or account maintenance fees
  • No annual, setup or termination fees for IRA accounts
  • Free dividend reinvestment


Firstrade Securities Cons


  • Expensive commissions for stocks under $2 or orders of over 5,000
  • Paper-heavy registration and service setup process
  • Short Term Redemption Fee of $19.95 will be applied to redemptions of no-load fund shares held less than 180 days


Firstrade Review 2012 Summary


Firstrades' $6.95 flat rate per trade for stocks and ETFs commission is pretty good. However, with 0.5 cent per share surcharge for stocks under $2 or orders of over 5,000, penny stock and large-size trades are very expensive.

Firstrade has an impressive selection of mutual funds to invest in and very good commissions for buying/selling mutual funds. Customers will be charged $19.95 fee if mutual fund is held for less than 180 days.

Firstrade has no IRA setup and maintenance fees, no volume requirements and no inactivity or account maintenance fees. The firm also offers free dividend reinvestment. Customers could now get 10 ETFs commission-free: BLV, BIV, BIV, VBK, IJH, VIG, VIG, IVV, DBC, DBC.

Because of surcharges on stocks under $2 and large-orders, we can't recommend Firstrade. The firm was also rated in the bottom of the list in 2011 major investment magazine broker survey. There are more attractively priced and higher rated Online Brokerage Firms to consider for a brokerage account.


Firstrade Promotional Code/Offer/Coupon


Get 90 days of free trades:

Open Firstrade account


Firstrade Reviewed by Brokerage Review on . Rating: 3


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