My very first trading experience. Is this trustable?

shadowloud

Recruit
Messages
1
Hello,

I recently started to get interested into trading. I watch news alot and hear about dollars losing value and so on, therefor I was just curious to learn how it works. I started with 50,000$ of play money then I managed to rise up to 70,000$. Since I achieved this very easily, I thought I sure could try it for real now. Then I registered on Etoro because I liked the fact they accept PayPal as payment method since I got no credit card. I liked the interface as well quite simple to use (although I discover now there's alot of a ton of useful customization with some other brokers). So I deposited $50 and managed to grow it into 75$~ (there's 5$ withdrawal fees).

Obviously, I discovered at the end that withdrawal process is done upon validation while depositing is instant. I can understand they want to validate by themselves for security purpose, but if it was really for security purpose ... isn't there more chance of handling fraudulent deposits than withdrawals? Finally, when I withdrew my money they split the amount into 2 deposits and sent to 2 different PayPal accounts : 55$ was sent to the account I made deposit from and the other 15$ was sent to the account I requested withdrawal to. I'm also a little afraid by the fact there is a section on their websites where they ask to upload passport and driver licence.... I did upload driver licence, but got no passport... I just don't see why they would absolutely need that... I don't understand do they want to confirm my identity THAT MUCH?

Being not entirely satisfied of my experience with Etoro... I started to look at other brokers. FXCM seemed very awesome. But now I discovered there are some laws in Canada that stops you from registering there. They wont even allow to register with "Canada" as a country. The only broker I could register with is Questrade.... but there is a huuuuge list of ridiculous administrative fees such as inactivity charges, transfer charges, currency conversion extra charges... there's even mailing charges. But I'm not surprised, getting trolled by the government and their friends here is something usual (but that's another topic).I also looked at real banks brokerage service... but if I understand right.. most of them charges like 5$ on any order I would open? It seems huge to me if you only invest little amounts.... I don't know if they got leverage either like most online brokers?

So... what should I do? Now that I understand a little how trading works, I would like to invest a bigger amount. Maybe something like 5000$. But.... I just don't trust Etoro... I feel that if I invest a big amount into this I'll just never see it back. I have seen alot of negative feedbacks here as well (so if you got positive feedbacks, please let me know). Should I just lie about my country with FXCM and get a credit card or do I risk losing all? I don't know about their withdrawals and deposits process.

I'm not sure what I should do right now.. so if you got any advice.. Thank for your support.
 
Many brokers do the "instant sign up and funding" and save the surprise about needing documents for later. This allows those brokers the advantage of not having to check documents of impulsive people who sign up and blow their account in the first few days.

I can tell you that any broker that allows withdrawals without confirming your ID is a scam. The reason for the laws about needing ID is to prevent money laundering and illegal transfers of funds.

Many brokers also will only allow the initial deposit to go back to the original source and only then are willing to consider sending withdrawals of profits by other means.

Canada appears to be experiencing the same problem as the USA. Over zealous laws to "protect" traders from bad brokers define "bad brokers" as "any broker not registered with our country and following our country's rules." The problem with this is that the trading rules in different countries are often contradictory, so it would be nearly impossible for the same broker to be registered in the US, Canda, UK, Australia, etc., unless they open a separate corporation in each country and limit where each branch can accept clients from (some brokers do this, some don't).

Don't lie on your account application forms. Unless you can establish a valid and well documented residence elsewhere, saying you live somewhere else puts you at risk of having all of your trades nullified and a possible report from your broker to the tax authorities in your country mentioning that you just might be trying to hide income from them.
 
One other thought - don't fund an account with any broker until all your ID documents are approved. When the time comes to make a withdrawal, this should simplify your life.
 
Many brokers do the "instant sign up and funding" and save the surprise about needing documents for later. This allows those brokers the advantage of not having to check documents of impulsive people who sign up and blow their account in the first few days.

I can tell you that any broker that allows withdrawals without confirming your ID is a scam. The reason for the laws about needing ID is to prevent money laundering and illegal transfers of funds.

Many brokers also will only allow the initial deposit to go back to the original source and only then are willing to consider sending withdrawals of profits by other means.

Canada appears to be experiencing the same problem as the USA. Over zealous laws to "protect" traders from bad brokers define "bad brokers" as "any broker not registered with our country and following our country's rules." The problem with this is that the trading rules in different countries are often contradictory, so it would be nearly impossible for the same broker to be registered in the US, Canda, UK, Australia, etc., unless they open a separate corporation in each country and limit where each branch can accept clients from (some brokers do this, some don't).

Don't lie on your account application forms. Unless you can establish a valid and well documented residence elsewhere, saying you live somewhere else puts you at risk of having all of your trades nullified and a possible report from your broker to the tax authorities in your country mentioning that you just might be trying to hide income from them.


Agreed, and also verifying ID is a process in which protects your funds/yourself/and also the broker.

Also please becareful of brokers that have stipulations on trading with them, stating restrictions on fund transfers, minimum deposits per month, and minimum lots to be traded per month (all in which are not stated in the beginning).

These regulations restrict the trader, and to be honest, it is unfair.
 
The ID thing has been important a lot since 9/11 as well, since it would be an easy way to deposit fund and then have them withdrawn somewhere else, not truly going from bank to bank but with brokers looking to protect their clients right to privacy....
 
I've found out that some brokers look for your documents when you wish to withdraw funds, while others have a rule that a certain period after you've opened an account you MUST send them documents... Do they do this to protect themselves or to try an scam you??
 
I've found out that some brokers look for your documents when you wish to withdraw funds, while others have a rule that a certain period after you've opened an account you MUST send them documents... Do they do this to protect themselves or to try an scam you??

That is a requirement by the law. A legal broker should ask for document when you open an account. Because you are dealing with your money.
 
Many brokers won't require documents to get started. ALL brokers that don't want to be shut down for AML violations will require ID documents before letting you withdraw money.
 
I believe it is memorable experienced for every Forex trader. Because, Forex is our main business and we traders are very serious in this market. By the way, I had started my trading career by demo trading as like other new Forex traders. By the way, my first trading pair was most usable trading pair EUR/USD. Luckily, I was able to close my trade with 3$ profit. That was my first trading experience. Interestingly, the trade was without using take profit and stop loss.
 
I do agree also to take more education before going into live. I don't know how you trade in Demo, but if with a clear strategy, it might be good for you to make a small incremental maybe USD 500 1st. From demo to USD 5,000 are just too big incremental, and it wasn't that easy to replicate your trade from DEMO to LIVE. Slow and steady growth might be better for you.
 
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