What are the real costs of investing on eToro?

There is no investment cost per se on eToro, as long as we do not use premium options and invest with an understanding of the external factors. Costs can be avoided almost entirely by meeting certain conditions and investing rationally.

Let me give you some examples:

• Opening and running an investment account is free and there are no hidden conditions. It is important what the main currency of the account you choose, because it has an impact on the investment cost in a given market. So if, for example, you intend to invest in the US, it is good that the main account is also in $ because it will save commission on currency conversion.

• There is a cost of withdrawing funds from eToro is $ 5 regardless of the amount, but Platinium users are exempt from it. To become a Platinum you need to invest at least $ 25,000 (paid-in capital)

• Using leverage is a paid service, just like taking out a loan for investments. This can be avoided simply by not using such tools. By the way, this is the basic principle of investing in my opinion. Invest only your funds, never borrow for investment, except for real estate ;-)

• Investing in different markets simultaneously with different currencies will result in conversion fees from the main currency of the account. It can be avoided like I did. My main account is in $ and I only invest in the US, so no currency exchange. The currency of the account can be changed in the settings.

• When depositing funds to the main account in a currency other than the currency of the account, exchange fees also arise, which can be avoided by exchanging currencies on electronic platforms with good rates or by using solutions such as Revolut. Thanks to this, having an account on eToro in $, we can immediately deposit $ without the cost of currency conversion.

• Trading some instruments may be more expensive than regular stocks for which eToro charges 0% commission. An example of this can be cryptocurrencies that already have spreads included in their rates on eToro. The spread is the difference in the price of buying and selling a currency, in this case a cryptocurrency. To avoid these fees, you simply have to give up trading cryptocurrencies, which are already a very risky tool for the brave.

• The greatest cost that the investor can generate for himself is simply sanctioning the loss by setting the automatic stop loss function (without the user's influence) or making his own decision to close the copy or sell the position before it has managed to recover any losses, i.e. a virtual decline in value in the portfolio. I also described it in separate posts.

• The last cost that comes to my mind, and which most investors do not take into account, is frequent trading on porfoils, i.e. opening and closing copies far too often. I described it in a separate post here.

There are usually some costs associated with each activity, but as you can see, eToro can be a virtually cost-free way to increase your capital. It is enough to understand its mechanics and basic principles related to the currency market. Of course, this is my view on the whole topic and it is not exhaustive, but 90% of the time it will be enough to make key decisions.