Switched to a prop firm after 6 losing months with a discount broker

I spent about 8 months trading through a cut-rate broker that advertised zero commissions but had spreads that ate me alive on every scalp. After December I added up my fills and realized I was giving back roughly $140 a month just in hidden slippage and markup. A buddy pushed me to try a funded prop firm instead, and at first I figured it was another gimmick. Then I actually ran a 2 week demo and compared my fills on the same pairs, the difference was night and day. Now I pay a flat fee and the profit split is honest, no games with the quote feed. Has anyone else compared their real order costs across brokers and found the cheap one was the expensive one?

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jordanr8912h ago

Ran the same test myself on EURUSD during London open and the gap was wild. My discount broker showed a 0.8 pip spread on the screen but my actual fills averaged closer to 1.9 pips once you counted the slippage on entry and exit. That hidden markup is basically a commission you never see on the statement, so the "zero commission" pitch is straight up marketing. Do the math on 40 trades a month and suddenly that cheap broker costs you more than a funded account fee plus a real spread. The lesson is you gotta track your real fills, not the quoted spread. Your broker is making money somewhere, the only question is whether they tell you where.

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