Comments on: Sharebuilder rocks!

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:57:27 +0000

There is another discussion about the swill Sharebuilder is calling Real Time Trades at http://www.toomerscoffeecommunity.com/2008/10/13/sharebuilder-ing-direct-website-cannot-handle-the-load-in-a-rally/

Hope thsi helps

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:15:55 +0000

I highly recommend AGAINST Sharebuilder, I meant to say.

By: Jason Shick

Jason Shick — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:14:54 +0000

Don’t go with Sharebuilder. What the last poster said is true: the website often takes FOREVER when you are trying to get in and sell quickly or get in and buy. It makes the whole process extremely stressful, not to mention that it actually makes it very difficult to be able to react in the way you need with a changing market. I HIGHLY recommend Sharebuilder. I sent three emails to them today, and all I got back in response was a canned, computer-generated answer that said they are aware that the site takes a long time, and they are “addressing it.” Folks, I don’t believe they are doing ANYTHING about it. Appalling.

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:23:20 +0000

These people should be dragged into court via class action for their slow website. It has cost many people many thousands of dollars today in the rally…but they still keep charging $9.95 for service that sucks.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:44:37 +0000

I haven’t set up an account with Sharebuilder but I was going to until I read this. I didn’t realize that selling was a real time transaction and cost $16. That’s a rip-off and is, in my mind, complete misrepresentation.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:16:53 +0000

Careful about real-time trades with these guys. I just paid over $100 dollars in commission on a real-time trade due to their large order surcharge. Their customer service says “In addition to the base commission, a large order surcharge of $0.015 for each additional share over 1,000 shares will be incurred. The total commission (base commission + surcharge) is subject to a maximum of 2.5 percent of the principal, but no less than the base commission.”

In my mind that translates into a rip-off for large orders. No more real-time trades through sharebuilder for me!

By: TDavid

TDavid — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:44:23 +0000

Back when I wrote this review Zecco (max 10 free trades a day, 40 free trades a month) wasn’t around, Gunnar. My wife and I are using them for our stock competition and liking them so far. The interface is clumsy, but free trades aren’t a gimmick.

I still have an account with Sharebuilder but agree with you that they need to bring their prices down and add more features. If Zecco adds partial shares, I’ll probably transfer the portfolio to them.

By: Gunnar

Gunnar — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:15:55 +0000

First off, i’ve been using sharebuilder for over 2 years, and I started back when I knew nothing about stocks and would only make an occassional trade every few months and was lured in by their user friendly appearance. I’ve since switched to tradeking and now I can look back and see how bad sharebuilder really is. First off, the price per trade is $15.95, not the $4 they advertise everywhere. The $4 only applies is your subscribed to some kind of automatic monthly investment program they have. The most outrageous feature they have is the fact that you need to pay $4.95 a month just to have access to basic features such as a P/L tracker. Tradeking on the other hands charges a no gimmick 4.95 per trade and all the charts and trackers for free that sharebuilder charges a monthly fee for. No, i don’t work for tradeking, i’m just really, really happy I switched to them.

By: Garner Weng

Garner Weng — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:29:12 +0000

First of all, make sure that if you think the fees are “low,” that they really are for you — as it will depend on how much you can afford to invest each month. Depending on that, it could be quite a high percentage fee. Second, make sure you don’t need customer service. I have been a customer for about 2-3 years — and when I had a serious problem in not being able to access my account, I found the customer service so slow, unhelpful, and uncaring that I am looking to move. It would be one thing if everything worked seamlessly and the fees were the best — but neither is the case. I have also had other problems, such as not being able to access my tax documents; and a bank as common and prevalent as Wells Fargo gives me a number of no-fee transactions per year. Given that, who needs Sharebuilder’s attitude?

By: LCW

LCW — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:21:15 +0000

For a good argument against Sharebuilder go to http://thenewmoney.wordpress.com/2006/01/22/sharebuilder-review/. I used to invest with Sharebuilder but have since went with Scottrade.