Test a broker's execution with tiny live trades first

[Amanhasnoname]

A demo account tells you very little about fills. On many platforms the demo server runs on a simplified feed with no real liquidity behind it, so slippage looks suspiciously friendly. Only real money exposes how an order gets routed.

A cheap way to find out: fund the minimum and run around 100 micro-lot trades across different sessions, using the same pairs planned for later. For each one, record the price on the ticket at the click, the actual fill, the spread at that moment, the time from click to fill, and any rejection or requote. Make sure the sample includes the London open, a quiet Asian stretch, and at least one high-impact release.

Then do the arithmetic. If average slippage is 0.3 pips on a pair quoting 0.6 pips of spread, the real cost of entry is closer to 0.9, which is 50 percent more than the advertised figure. A strategy aiming at 3 pips can live with that. One aiming at 1.5 cannot.

If possible, run the same test at a second broker and compare the numbers side by side. Differences are usually larger than the marketing suggests.

How many test trades did it take before a broker's real behaviour showed up for you?