Comparison of fee models of online brokers

If you are looking for an online broker, the order fees also play an important role, as they can significantly reduce the return. Especially for smaller order volumes of 500 to 1,000 euros, the order fee can amount to more than 1 percent of the order volume, depending on the broker. For large order volumes of 50,000 euros, the difference between individual brokers becomes even more significant, especially since this order size can lead to partial executions on Xetra, which in turn is associated with additional costs.

The Fee models of the online brokers can be roughly divided into three categories: Fixed price models, fee scale and variable order commission. When trading on Xetra and on the floor exchanges, an exchange-dependent fee is added to the pure order fees, which the broker charges to the trader on a 1-to-1 basis or settles as a lump sum.

The fixed price model
This model, often called the flat fee model, is probably the simplest of all fee models, as the investor always pays the same price for each transaction, regardless of the order volume. However, depending on the trading venue, the exchange-dependent fees are added to this. Of the online brokers active in Germany, flatex, netbank and Directa, for example, offer a fixed-price model, whereby Directa charges order fees on a pro-rata basis from an order volume of 50,000 euros.

The scale of fees
With the fee scale, the classic fee model, a fixed fee applies up to a certain order volume. If the order volume exceeds this fixed limit, the transaction is charged at the higher fee. This can be annoying for the investor if the order volume exceeds this limit by a few euros and he thus slips into the next higher fee level. In this case, it is important to find out in advance from which order size the costs increase sharply. This fee model is currently used by 1822direkt, Postbank and OnVista Bank (for the Classic Depot).

Variable order commission
The fee model of the variable order commission is the basis of most online brokers. The order commission is calculated as a percentage of the order volume. As a rule, depending on the broker, between 0.10 and 0.30 percent of the order volume is charged as order commission. For smaller order volumes, a minimum commission is due, which is usually between 6 and 10 euros. In addition, the maximum costs are usually capped, so that for large order volumes only the maximum price (cap) is charged. Depending on the broker, the caps are between 30 and 75 euros. The majority of brokers charge transactions according to this fee model, including comdirect, Cortal Consors, DAB bank, ING-DiBa, Lynx, maxblue, OnVista Bank (with the Freebuy Depot), Sparkassen Broker and ViTrade.

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