Gold Trading Costs: You Cannot Compare Only the Spread

First Look at Contract Specifications

Symbols also labeled XAUUSD may use different contract parameters on different accounts. Before comparing, confirm the contract quantity per lot, quote precision, trade volume step, and account currency.

MT4 official help provides an explanation of the 'Contract Specifications' window, which includes fields such as spread, contract quantity, trade volume limits, and overnight fees. Specific parameters are subject to the information provided by the trading server you are connected to and cannot be directly copied from other accounts.

Record Different Fees Separately

The spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price; for commissions, you need to verify whether they are charged one-way or round-trip. When holding overnight, separately check the overnight fees for long and short directions, the billing unit, and the billing date. A lower fee for one item does not mean the overall cost is lower.

Observe Execution Under Consistent Conditions

Record the account type, trading session, order size, requested price, and actual execution price. Compare multiple samples and retain records of abnormal executions. A single quote screenshot, a single execution result, or an advertised minimum spread is not sufficient to explain the long-term average.

Build Your Own Cost Record

You can record in the order of 'date—symbol—account type—lot size—spread—commission—overnight fee—execution deviation'. First verify the unit of each field, then aggregate and compare, avoiding mixing 'points' in quotes with dollar amounts.

This article is for understanding fees and recording methods. Leveraged trading may cause significant losses, and fee comparison does not represent a recommendation for any platform or trading method.