The higher the charge...

By THIS IS MONEY
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There are large variations in charges made by share trading services. Putting aside costs such as advice, will the execution price of the deal be the same? For example, Pillings stockbroker charges 1.65% to sell shares, whereas Ample charges £10. Is it likely that Pillings would receive a better price, so negating their higher dealing charges? RW, Saffron Walden

Henk Potts at Barclays Stockbrokers replies: Obviously price in an important factor when considering which stockbroker to use. There are large variations in price between execution-only brokers and it pays to shop around.

You will normally find that it is cheaper to deal online with a stockbroker rather than by phone and more often than not, it is more cost effective to use a broker's nominee account rather than trade using share certificates.

Some brokers offer a completely no-frills service, but others offer research and special trading facilities such as 'stop orders' and 'limit orders' as part of the service, so be sure to establish what sort of service you prefer.

With regards to the price you pay for your shares, again this can vary from broker to broker, but high commission charges are not necessarily indicative of the fact that a broker will get a better price for you for your shares.

A number of larger brokers with competitive commissions have price improvement services which provide links to various retail service providers (RSPs) enabling clients to get the best price available at the time the broker places the deal.

For example, through Barclays Stockbrokers Price Improver service, we poll across nine RSPs and find the best price price and 90% of deals are transacted at a better price than that quoted by the London Stock Exchange.

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