I’ve been trying to figure out my real cost per trade on IC Markets, and honestly it’s confusing. Everyone talks about spreads, but nobody mentions what happens after you factor in rebates.
Let me walk through what I’m trying to understand. On EUR/USD, IC Markets quotes around 0.8 pips average spread. That sounds decent until you realize you’re paying that on every trade. If I do 50 trades a month, that’s a lot of money just disappearing into spreads.
Then I discovered GlobeGain rebates. It’s not huge, but it’s something back. The problem is I don’t know how to calculate whether it actually moves the needle on my profitability.
Here’s my real question: if you’re trading IC Markets actively, how do you actually measure your effective spread after rebates? Do you just subtract the rebate from your spread and call it done, or is there a better way to think about total trading cost? I want to know if I’m fooling myself about profitability or if rebates actually make a meaningful difference.
Calculate your effective cost like this: take your average spread, add any commissions per lot, then subtract your rebate per lot. That’s your true cost.
For EUR/USD at 0.8 pips with a 0.3 pip rebate, your effective spread is 0.5 pips. Do this for each pair you trade regularly and track it over a month. This shows you the real picture of what the broker is costing you.
Most traders ignore one thing: rebates only help if your strategy is already profitable. A 0.3 pip rebate won’t save a strategy that loses money. Focus on execution quality and realistic edge first. Then rebates become actual profit enhancement, not a band aid.
Spread minus rebate equals real cost. Track it weekly.
What I do is pretty simple. I keep a spreadsheet where I log my average spreads for each pair I trade, then I subtract what GlobeGain gives me back. It’s not fancy but it works.
The key thing is consistency. You need at least a month of trading data to see the real picture. Don’t just guess based on a few trades.
Been tracking this for years now. The honest answer is rebates matter more when you’re scalping or day trading because you’re in and out fast, so that 0.3 pip rebate hits every single time.
If you’re a swing trader taking fewer positions, the rebate still helps but it’s not as dramatic. What I found useful was comparing IC Markets to another broker I use. IC Markets with rebates usually beats my other account on most pairs, which tells me the math actually works out.
Rebates help but spreads are still the biggest cost. Most brokers charge similar rebate rates anyway so pick the one with tighter spreads first.