Quote from Mom0/pH0x:
LOL that's absurd, EVERY SINGLE ORDER has to ''slide down'' to .004?!?!?! which is a mediocre rate at best... that's a ridiculously over priced rate... nearly any joe off the street can get a better deal than that at 100% without nearly 20k... the rate is far from competitive. anyone who does any ''due diligence'' will know this beyond the shadow of a doubt... it is a mediocre rate even at the retail level, but ESPECIALLY for prop...
at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that bright trading offers some of the worst rates in the business...
Not to belabor the point, but I think your overall assessment is dead on. Two of ET's most successful traders posted their experiences when considering joining Bright in the past year or two, and both found the commissions to be unrealistically inflated.
Dustin (one of the top traders from the ET blotter thread), had this to say:
Quote from Dustin:
As a true life example, after getting shut down at Tuco I called Echo and Bright. Don's quoted rate for me was >50% over Echo's rate, so I chose the latter. (With the >1k rate at Bright it's hard to compare exactly)
I've traded with Bright in the past, he knew my volume, and the rate didn't compare. I do 2-4M/mo volume fwiw.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1864939#post1864939
Shreddog (along with Lescor, the top traders on the Opening Orders thread), had an even more detailed assessment with these thoughts:
Quote from Shreddog:
As far as rates maybe I just can't negotiate because there was no comparison. My rates at Echo are much lower than the best I could get out of Bright. There really was no "negoatiation" it was pretty much a take it or leave it offer from Bright. And Echo doesn't hold back a penny a share to rebate at the end of the month.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1865098#post1865098
Both, I should point out, are top notch, consistently successful traders, who are well respected and have a long posting history on ET.
Probably the best summary of the situation with rates at Bright come from Shreddog at the above post, when he said:
Quote from Shreddog:
Is Bright a good firm? Of course. But the Brights have taken the Starbucks business model of premium branding, much to their credit. However, the coffee is pretty darn good across the street and doesn't cost nearly as much.
So what you are seeing is Don protecting the brand on these boards, much like you see Starbucks convincing you to pay $4 a cup for coffee. Most of the "bashers" (I personally know several of them) are just trying challenge the company line and some misleading statements that appear here from time to time. If it seems like he's being picked on, well, he's the only representative from a firm on these boards trying to sell us on his firm.
That exactly matches my take on the firm. Bright is an excellent and financially stable firm, and they charge premium pricing for their commissions because they can find traders willing to pay it. And, so long as they can, they would be silly to do anything else. That said, I'll continue to follow Dustin and Shreddog's path and continue to trade elsewhere.
While Bright likes to mention how traders are constantly joining them from other firms, I only know one experienced and successful trader, who still trades at Bright (out of 5-6 that have either traded there in the past, or strongly considered trading there). I believe that commissions were the key factor for the rest trading elsewhere.
