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I am interested to know what percentage of their user base they lost after the past few months. I know I personally cancelled my account with Robinhood, but I d

by ar_lan 5y ago

I am interested to know what percentage of their user base they lost after the past few months. I know I personally cancelled my account with Robinhood, but I don't know if I'm in the minority or not. I just don't see the point of them anymore. Once the other trading platforms started offering $0 transactions, I saw way less value in Robinhood - then, following that, the argument was "fractional shares", which many other platforms offer. Is it just that they are the most famous name in the retail investor space?

missedthecue 5y ago
I don't think there is another broker with zero commission options trading is there? That seems like a big reason for a lot of people
- ragnarok451 5y ago
  Surprising that everyone else was quick to pick up zero commission trades for equities, but not for options
- mandeepj 5y ago
  Not sure about others but Ameritrade is charging $.65 per option trade and that's almost nothing - https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    That's not per trade, that's per contract.
    - whimsicalism 5y ago
      Massive difference.
- chewmieser 5y ago
  I think Fidelity does zero commission options trading.
  - bingo_cannon 5y ago
    Fidelity has $0.65 per contract
voidfunc 5y ago
Probably a small but not insignificant loss. I don't think the WSB / Memestock users are the majority of the platform. For a lot of people I know RH still has the best feeling UX and easiest access for simple investing. I think they're fine but if pessimism means the stock takes a haircut or dive when it starts trading I'm going to buy-in. There really is not a similar investing app that appeals to the Gen-Z / Millenial market as well as Robinhood does.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  Absolutely this. Too many people overfocus on the $0 trading fees because that is how Robinhood initially differentiated itself, but it is absolutely the experience that is keeping people today. $0 fees have been commonplace for a few years now.
jc713 5y ago
I personally left to Schwab after all of the issues RH had with poor customer service and services going down all the time.
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
I would guess they gained more users than they lost. The outrage was real and obviously some users left, but at the end of the day most people will still use whatever platform is easiest and cheapest for them.
- nathanvanfleet 5y ago
  Wait why are you assuming they gained more than lost? OP also mentioned that other places have $0 trades anyway in terms of the cheapness.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    But they aren't anywhere near as seamless or slick as Robinhood. I exclusively use Charles Schwab but I don't even really think they're competing for the same type of users that much.
  - stu2b50 5y ago
    Any news is good news. They gained a surge of users when they had that huge outage when COVID first hit. People overestimate the degree to which anyone cares about the controversy, and underestimate the degree to which it's free advertising.
- willio58 5y ago
  Agreed. I bet the GME stuff that happened resulted in _a lot_ of free advertising for Robinhood.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Someone1234 5y ago
I moved away but not because of the GME/liquidity issues but rather their handling of 1099 tax information the last two years has been terrible (delayed, altering website to cover up their delays, and corrected both years). It is just unprofessional. Plus they only offer "First In, First Out" stock sales which can have absolutely MASSIVE tax implications. Most real brokers offer FIFO, LIFO, and most importantly specific lots. PS - I do keep a few bucks in RH so I can continue to use their real time graphs/watchlists/options information/etc, since my normal broker's website/app has terrible UI/UX by comparison (and it isn't close). RH is known for bringing free transactions, but maybe they should be known for being the first broker with non-terrible UI.
- nefitty 5y ago
  I think the UX is what really makes apps like Robinhood stand out. People are used to a certain level of slickness, and a lot of traditional services just haven’t kept up. It reminds me of when I first downloaded the Chime bank app... It was glorious compared to every other bank app/website I had used before. I think focusing on UX really does have a big impact on adoption, as it can differentiate a company in a competitive and saturated industry.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  I don't get this fascination with their UI. The charts are terrible (other than looking cool) and the current holdings list sucks. It is as if it is written for people allergic to information density.
  - mehlmao 5y ago
    I think a lot of what people are talking about when they say "Robinhood UI" is buying/selling, instant deposits, etc. Purchasing fractional shares on Schwab requires depositing money, waiting for it to clear, and clicking through several different pages. Robinhood making every account a margin account to allow purchases before deposits a gamechanger. That said, I agree that the charts are useless and viewing all of your holdings is a chore.
  - Someone1234 5y ago
Taylor_OD 5y ago
Probably very few. People use it for its ease not its stability or actual trading functionality. They have had massive issues for years with the app crashing during large trading periods and the vast majority of users don't care enough to move. Why would they care about this issue that realistically impacted very few?
doh 5y ago
I would think it's not insignificant amount of money considering that propagation of cost basis is taking over two months and counting. All brokers are saying Robinhood id slammed by people that left and is unable to make it within the standard 14 days. I can't speak for the size or amount of users, but definitely it had an impact.
subsaharancoder 5y ago
Worth mentioning that if you move out all your stocks and funds from RH to another broker, they keep your account open but they deactivate trading and won't allow you to reactivate, the only option is to open a new one. I wonder if they count those "open but deactivated" accounts as part of their MAUs.

by ar_lan 5y ago

missedthecue 5y ago

I don't think there is another broker with zero commission options trading is there? That seems like a big reason for a lot of people

ragnarok451 5y ago
Surprising that everyone else was quick to pick up zero commission trades for equities, but not for options
mandeepj 5y ago
Not sure about others but Ameritrade is charging $.65 per option trade and that's almost nothing - https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page
- missedthecue 5y ago
  That's not per trade, that's per contract.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    Massive difference.
chewmieser 5y ago
I think Fidelity does zero commission options trading.
- bingo_cannon 5y ago
  Fidelity has $0.65 per contract

voidfunc 5y ago

Probably a small but not insignificant loss. I don't think the WSB / Memestock users are the majority of the platform. For a lot of people I know RH still has the best feeling UX and easiest access for simple investing. I think they're fine but if pessimism means the stock takes a haircut or dive when it starts trading I'm going to buy-in. There really is not a similar investing app that appeals to the Gen-Z / Millenial market as well as Robinhood does.

whimsicalism 5y ago
Absolutely this. Too many people overfocus on the $0 trading fees because that is how Robinhood initially differentiated itself, but it is absolutely the experience that is keeping people today. $0 fees have been commonplace for a few years now.

jc713 5y ago

I personally left to Schwab after all of the issues RH had with poor customer service and services going down all the time.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

I would guess they gained more users than they lost. The outrage was real and obviously some users left, but at the end of the day most people will still use whatever platform is easiest and cheapest for them.

nathanvanfleet 5y ago
Wait why are you assuming they gained more than lost? OP also mentioned that other places have $0 trades anyway in terms of the cheapness.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  But they aren't anywhere near as seamless or slick as Robinhood. I exclusively use Charles Schwab but I don't even really think they're competing for the same type of users that much.
- stu2b50 5y ago
  Any news is good news. They gained a surge of users when they had that huge outage when COVID first hit. People overestimate the degree to which anyone cares about the controversy, and underestimate the degree to which it's free advertising.
willio58 5y ago
Agreed. I bet the GME stuff that happened resulted in _a lot_ of free advertising for Robinhood.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Someone1234 5y ago

I moved away but not because of the GME/liquidity issues but rather their handling of 1099 tax information the last two years has been terrible (delayed, altering website to cover up their delays, and corrected both years). It is just unprofessional. Plus they only offer "First In, First Out" stock sales which can have absolutely MASSIVE tax implications. Most real brokers offer FIFO, LIFO, and most importantly specific lots. PS - I do keep a few bucks in RH so I can continue to use their real time graphs/watchlists/options information/etc, since my normal broker's website/app has terrible UI/UX by comparison (and it isn't close). RH is known for bringing free transactions, but maybe they should be known for being the first broker with non-terrible UI.

nefitty 5y ago
I think the UX is what really makes apps like Robinhood stand out. People are used to a certain level of slickness, and a lot of traditional services just haven’t kept up. It reminds me of when I first downloaded the Chime bank app... It was glorious compared to every other bank app/website I had used before. I think focusing on UX really does have a big impact on adoption, as it can differentiate a company in a competitive and saturated industry.
tomc1985 5y ago
I don't get this fascination with their UI. The charts are terrible (other than looking cool) and the current holdings list sucks. It is as if it is written for people allergic to information density.
- mehlmao 5y ago
  I think a lot of what people are talking about when they say "Robinhood UI" is buying/selling, instant deposits, etc. Purchasing fractional shares on Schwab requires depositing money, waiting for it to clear, and clicking through several different pages. Robinhood making every account a margin account to allow purchases before deposits a gamechanger. That said, I agree that the charts are useless and viewing all of your holdings is a chore.
- Someone1234 5y ago

Taylor_OD 5y ago

Probably very few. People use it for its ease not its stability or actual trading functionality. They have had massive issues for years with the app crashing during large trading periods and the vast majority of users don't care enough to move. Why would they care about this issue that realistically impacted very few?

doh 5y ago

I would think it's not insignificant amount of money considering that propagation of cost basis is taking over two months and counting. All brokers are saying Robinhood id slammed by people that left and is unable to make it within the standard 14 days. I can't speak for the size or amount of users, but definitely it had an impact.

subsaharancoder 5y ago

Worth mentioning that if you move out all your stocks and funds from RH to another broker, they keep your account open but they deactivate trading and won't allow you to reactivate, the only option is to open a new one. I wonder if they count those "open but deactivated" accounts as part of their MAUs.