Where commission tiers actually pay off for scalpers
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 8:35 am
Tiered commission looks like a loyalty discount, but the break points decide how much it is worth, and the schedule wording matters more than the headline rate.
Illustrative schedule only, brokers differ: 7 USD per round-turn lot for the first 100 lots in a month, 6 USD for the next 400, 5 USD beyond 500.
A scalper doing 1,260 lots a month (3 lots x 20 trades x 21 days) pays, on a marginal basis:
- 100 x 7 = 700
- 400 x 6 = 2,400
- 760 x 5 = 3,800
Total 6,900 USD, an average of about 5.48 per lot. If the 5 USD rate applied to the whole month once the 500 threshold is crossed, the bill would be 6,300 USD, 600 less. Both can be sold as the same tier table, and the difference is whether the lower rate is retroactive or marginal.
Other details to check: whether volume is counted per account or across linked accounts, whether it resets monthly or rolls, and whether lots in metals or indices count equally. Chasing a threshold with extra trades is a bad idea, since each one costs spread and risk.
Are the tiers on your account applied to the whole month retroactively or only to lots past each threshold, and was that stated clearly upfront?
Illustrative schedule only, brokers differ: 7 USD per round-turn lot for the first 100 lots in a month, 6 USD for the next 400, 5 USD beyond 500.
A scalper doing 1,260 lots a month (3 lots x 20 trades x 21 days) pays, on a marginal basis:
- 100 x 7 = 700
- 400 x 6 = 2,400
- 760 x 5 = 3,800
Total 6,900 USD, an average of about 5.48 per lot. If the 5 USD rate applied to the whole month once the 500 threshold is crossed, the bill would be 6,300 USD, 600 less. Both can be sold as the same tier table, and the difference is whether the lower rate is retroactive or marginal.
Other details to check: whether volume is counted per account or across linked accounts, whether it resets monthly or rolls, and whether lots in metals or indices count equally. Chasing a threshold with extra trades is a bad idea, since each one costs spread and risk.
Are the tiers on your account applied to the whole month retroactively or only to lots past each threshold, and was that stated clearly upfront?