David88

Just realised from another poster they get you both ways! I changed to 'manual' when I realised the above. But now I see that incurs me a $15 charge on every transaction. Putting the two together, you should consider any purchase of shares up to about £4000 to incur an effective 1% transaction charge, realisable on sale of your shares. This means there is about a 1% bias against any transaction you do (you are starting 1% down), so there is an advantage in looking for medium to longer term investments rather than attempting to make small gains of one percent here or there. I am going to change back to automatic, as I tend to invest small amounts, and reconsider my whole approach.

Wow! They get you both ways! I have just lost £40 buying and then selling £4000 of US shares at the same price. This is because they automatically convert my USD to GPB at a 0.7% charge on top of the normal exchange margin. So I changed to 'manual'. But now I see that incurs me a $15 charge on every transaction. Putting the two together, you should consider any purchase of shares up to about £4000 to incur an effective 1% transaction charge, realisable on sale of your shares. This means there is about a 1% bias against any transaction you do, so there is an advantage in looking for medium to longer term investments rather than attempting to make small gains of one percent here or there.

Just lost £40 buying and then selling £4000 worth of US shares at the same price. I only noticed this because the share prices and exchange rate hadn't moved and I looked at 'my account' straight after. It may be harsh to describe this as a 'scam' as IG needs to make its profit somehow and a lot of its services are free. I thought IG took its profit purely from the trading margin between currencies USD/GBP which is an amazing deal for me as I invest lots of small amounts for fun, so a transaction fee is a killer. In fact there is a default setting tucked away somewhere which instantly converts any shares sold back to your base currency at a 0.7% mark up on the margin that already exists. I would be more than happy to pay 0.7% when withdrawing money from IG as a fee for using their services, but to pay it every time I sell a share is a complete sting, especially as this is a pretty well hidden charge. I would urge everyone to find the setting and switch to manual!

Thanks Caseynotes and Charlotte! Itching to buy up Gilead but I'll wait till April Fool's day.

Tried phoning the helpline but it was on hold forever. Any wisdom appreciated - happy to wait till April, I’d just like to know how it works.

Hi. I am trying to avoid the £10 transaction fee. I have done 3 trades this month, March and paid £30 fees. Do I now have to wait until 1st April to do a transaction free of the £10 charge? The preview still shows a £10 charge.

Thanks dmedin! I will see what I can find about custody fees!

I'm trying to work out what the information on my platform means. I bought some shares for £1000, commission £10, withdrew £2.30 left over, and the platform is telling me I have made £20 profit. So on that basis I should how have £1007.70 in my account, but instead I have £999. I am buying US shares with GBP - am I taking nearly a 1% hit on currency exchange? Any thoughts welcome.

What I mean is, when do the shares actually get bought? At the moment my money has gone from my account but I don’t have any shares either.

Hi, not done shares before. I have ordered some shares in Gilead on Friday night (UK) after 10pm. How does this work now?