The key is to understand this

Every financial instrument has a bid price and an ask price.

The ask is the price at which you buy.
The bid is the price at which you sell.
The spread is the difference between the bid and the ask.

In this Nasdaq market example the bid-ask price for Apple stock is $ 152,51 – 152,52.

You can....

Buy Apple at $ 152,52
Sell Apple at $ 152,51
The market spread is very small: $ 0,01

Brokers such as Trade Republic, Smartbroker, JustTrade and Scalable claim to offer free trading. Their offer is far from free, it is actually expensive. If you trade Apple once per week, the hidden cost is $ 520 per year. How does it work?

A market maker on the Hamburg exchange may have, at the same time, a bid-ask on Apple of $ 152,41 – 152,62.

You pay 10 cents more when you buy 1 Apple
You get 10 cents less when you sell 1 Apple
If you buy and sell 50 Apple via this market maker it costs you $ 10,00

The market maker gives part of these $ 10,00, to the broker who sent him the order.

Broker comparison – The Dow 30 stocks

See how much you save by switching to broker Freestoxx.

This table shows on the left the real market spreads versus on the right the inflated Lang & Schwarz spreads. If you are a Trade Republic, Smartbroker or justTRADE client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Boeing example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Lang Schwarz spreads versus real market spreads.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 208%.
On average 8,4 cents are added to the market spread.
On average you pay $ 12,60 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 1.000%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 21 cents.
You pay $ 31,50 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these costs. Open a Freestoxx account

This table shows, on the left, the real market spreads versus, on the right, the inflated Quotrix spreads. If you are a Smartbroker or justTRADE client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Johnson & Johnson example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 270%.
On average 14,5 cents are added to the market spread.
On average you pay $ 21,75 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 2.320%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 37 cents.
You pay $ 55,50 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these invisible costs. Open a Freestoxx account

This table shows, on the left, the real market spreads versus, on the right, the inflated Gettex spreads. If you are a Scalable client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Nike example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 222%.
On average 5,3 cents are added to the market spread.
On average you pay $ 7,95 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 1.440%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 59 cents.
You pay $ 88,50 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these invisible costs. Open a Freestoxx account

Broker comparison – Popular stocks

See how much you save by switching to broker Freestoxx.

This table shows, on the left, the real market spreads versus, on the right, the inflated Lang & Schwarz spreads. If you are a Trade Republic, Smartbroker or justTRADE client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Boeing example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Lang Schwarz spreads versus real market Nasdaq spreads.

Example Lang Schwarz spread on Nasdaq stocks.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 324%.
On average 71,6 cents are added to the market spread.
On average you pay $ 107,40 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 1.110%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 588 cents ($ 5,88).
You pay $ 882,00 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these costs. Open a Freestoxx account

This table shows, on the left, the real market spreads versus, on the right, the inflated Quotrix spreads. If you are a Smartbroker or justTRADE client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Tesla example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Quotrix spreads versus market spreads on Nasdaq stocks.

Example of Quotrix spread on US Nasdaq stocks.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 308%.
On average 49,9 cents are added to the market spread
On average you pay $ 74,85 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 725%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 258 cents ($ 2,58).
You pay $ 387,00 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these invisible costs. Open a Freestoxx account

This table shows, on the left, the real market spreads versus, on the right, the inflated Gettex spreads. If you are a Scalable client your orders are executed at these inflated spreads. Freestoxx does not charge you a commission AND executes orders at the best price available in the market. This Uber example shows how much extra spread you are charged by these brokers.

Average and worst

On average the market spread is increased by 239%.
On average 45,7 cents are added to the market spread.
On average you pay $ 68,55 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

The worst increase in market spread measured is 1.220%.
The worst market spread increase in cents is 431 cents ($ 4,31).
You pay $ 646,50 extra when you buy and sell 150 stocks.

Avoid these invisible costs. Open a Freestoxx account