Start Options Broker Review

Overall Rating = 6.6/10 – Reviewed on Feb 1st, 2011 (Revised on Jan 5th, 2012 to reflect that no brokers accept PayPal, so all brokers automatically get 9/10 for deposits)

Deposit: Rating  9/10

I deposited via credit card like most other brokers, they all accept major credit cards. I did get an email from them saying they accept all sorts of different payment methods but that ended up being false. This doesn’t really matter, all the brokers are the same in this category. You start trading instantly as soon as you deposit.

Platform: Rating  8/10

Ease of trade – Having started with this broker, I got used to their platform and in comparison to other brokers. I still love their platform. The platform is simple and easy to use. Pick a price from the drop down box, and then click call or put. A confirmation screen will show up and let you decide whether or not you’re sure to make the trade.
Fat finger possibility – Low, it’s pretty hard to make a mistake with the platform unless you’re going too fast and click call instead of put.
Fixed trades – Since you’re selecting boxes from a drop down menu, you can’t pick your own trade amount. It’s pre set by their system. The only thing you can request is to have your limit raised. This is good or bad depending on your trading style, for me it doesn’t matter. But I understand some people do care about the flexibility.

Price Quotes: Rating  6/10

For the most part (90% ish) their prices are within a pip of the real price. Occasionally (5% of the time), they might quote a price, then after you click call/put it’ll increase the spread in their favor by a few pips. The last problem (5% of the time) is sometimes their expiry price will be WAY WAY off; sometimes this is in your favor; sometimes its not in your favor. This isn’t very good, you tend to want a consistent broker. It’s usually the odd hours that they make this error, during low volume the price spreads more or takes a while to update on their platform.

Withdrawal: Rating  5/10

From my own personal experience, from the day I sent in the request to the day I got the money. It took 11 days for a credit card withdrawal. I’d imagine with a wire transfer it’d take even longer, projecting for 15-20 days. From my friends tell me, it usually takes 2-3 weeks from the day they tell you your withdrawal is processed. They claim to “process” your withdrawal within 3-10 business days. This just means they initiate the transaction in that time, you must then add your bank/credit card processing time + their own processing time. Usually when you withdraw your money, you want it asap. I’m patient so it’s ok for me to wait, so I’m neutral on this one.

“Live” Chat / Support: Rating  5/10

Maybe it’s a time difference, or it’s just my luck. But I’ve never been able to connect to live chat. I always get that form to fill out with my question and get an email reply within 24 hours. I’ve tried this around the clock and same thing. Banking department is similar, they usually reply within a day for initial point of contact but any follow up is done within a week.