If you want to start your trading journey online, you may be surprised to see how many companies offer this service. The critical aspect to embed in your trading psychology is that you must understand the market you are investing in.
You can invest in several markets, including stocks or forex, or commodities such as gold and oil. Knowing how these markets work should be the first important step you make in the world of trading.
This knowledge ranges from microeconomics, such as the study of individual behavior, to macroeconomics, which looks at the bigger picture and the variables of what causes inflation.
We will explore four things a reliable trading site will offer you and what you should keep looking for while on your trading journey.
Transparency
We are starting with the most important feature today – transparency. More specifically, transparency revolves around how honest the trading site is about fees such as commissions and what price your asset is available at.
For instance, some trading sites will not honor your buy or sell order without implementing costs at each end. They will put these conditions in the small print of your initial terms and conditions you sign, and they will take a slice of your profit.
This can prove to be a blow if you expect a decent return from your investment, especially if it is a fairly large amount and the commission is taken as a percentage.
Accessibility
Using a provider that has a visible online presence is key. Accessibility plays a crucial role in this too. This can be as simple as having a website that is accessible so you can log in to their services easily on a mobile app from any region in the world.
Some trading apps might look the part and even offer all the services you need. However, some trading sites are only permitted to operate in a few countries. If you find yourself in a different region or territory, you may be unable to execute your trade.
Customer Service
Making sure that the trading site you use has customer service that is easy to contact is extremely important. You could apply this point to businesses more generally.
If you use a business online, you want to ensure that they have a customer service desk that is available immediately and can be contacted instantly, whether by phone or email.
You may find a trading site that lets you execute your trades easily. However, if you have issues and need to speak to somebody about it, it is not a good experience if you are waiting for days or weeks for an email response.
The world of trading can be difficult to navigate at the best of times. It is a volatile market that can move very quickly in either direction.
If you are having problems while trading and need somebody to sort it out for you quickly, then you want a customer service agent available immediately. In addition, it plays into the wider belief that a company with reliable customer service is a reliable company to deal with.
Waiting weeks for a response could indicate bigger issues at play with the service, and that it is probably best avoided.
Good Reviews
If a trading site is reliable, its online reviews will reflect this. It might be difficult to find good reviews online if a company is just starting off as a trading platform.
This doesn’t mean that they don’t provide a reputable service, but it might be best to stick to companies that are dominant in the sector when starting your trading journey. Customers are likelier to leave a bad review when they have experienced questionable service.
Conclusion
If a trading site is reliable, it will usually have reviews that are more positively weighted. No company is perfect, and performing effective due diligence is the first step to ensuring you use a reliable provider you can trust.
As we discussed in the beginning, ensuring you understand what you are investing in and how the market works is far more important than the four points we have touched on today. Your capital is always at risk when you invest.
Even if you perform the necessary research and believe your trade will be a success, it could easily result in you losing money. This is because the market is volatile, and just because it has behaved historically in a particular way doesn’t mean that history will repeat itself.