Oanda spreads and costs

Beginner Questions
1

Hi I’m a beginner and using a demo account with Oanda and I’m really confused with the calculations.So below are my trades :

Sell Market EUR/USD
100,000 Units @ 1.15035
10/5/2018, 11:06:58 AM
Half Spread Cost -6.5000
Commission 0.00
Balance of 7021.17

Buy Market Filled EUR/USD
100,000 Units @ 1.14985
10/5/2018, 11:20:56 AM
Half Spread Cost -7.0000
Commission 0.00
Balance of 7071.22
50.00 (This is my profit)

Sell Market EUR/USD
100,000 Units @ 1.14969
10/5/2018, 11:21:58 AM
Half Spread Cost -6.5000
Commission 0.00
Balance of 7071.22

Close Trade EUR/USD
100,000 Units @ 1.14917
10/5/2018, 12:06:39 PM
Half Spread Cost -6.5000
Commission 0.00
Balance of 7123.37
52.00 (This is my profit)

So in the first trade my take profit kicked in to close the trade and I got $50 but my balance is -7071.22 - 7021.17 = 50.05. In the second trade I closed it by myself and got $52 and balance is 7123.37 - 7071.22 = 52.15. So my questions are :

  1. Why did I get .05 extra in the first and .15 in the second ?
  2. I have changed my trade many times by moving stop loss or take profit do I not incur charges for each change ?
  3. Is commission 0 because this is a demo account ?
  4. Half spread cost for first trade together is 13.5 and second is 13 does that mean they charge me those amounts ? So actually my profits would be 36.5 for first trade and 39 for second ?

Thanks. :slight_smile:

2

The purpose of trading spread and commission is the same! Since, they are charging you by spread, that’s why commission is zero in this case.

3

There are three types of charges you get with brokers:

  1. Commission - this is referred to as Core based spreads. Meaning you get the spreads as they are sent by the LP. The broker charges a commission in order to make a profit.
  2. Spread - AKA Marked-up spread - this is when the commission is included into the spread by the broker.
  3. Both - Some brokers will have small commissions and marked up spreads in order to lure in more traders with the offer of a lower commission fee. Just take a look at the spread and compare it to a few other brokers (preferably DMA/STP ones, because they usually get paid by commissions only) and do the math.

I hope this article would explain it - Core vs Marked-Up Spreads | What is the difference | JFD Brokers

4

Thanks for replying mate. Can you also please answer the other queries I’m still confused about those.