There are deep discounters everywhere in almost all industries. I remember a time when almost all hotel rates were based on a 'bed and breakfast' rate. These days almost every hotel charges extra for breakfast.
Remember when the insurance on a car rental was a few dollars per day? These days it can almost double your daily rate. Resort fees? Extra luggage? Any luggage? A drink? Priority seating? Anyone who wishes to survive in business has to cover their operating costs - as a bare minimum - and make a profit. Those costs are enormous. While we all love 'cheaper' and 'free' (I am guilty as charged) the reality is that ultimately there is no free or cheap lunch of any quality anywhere.
Sadly, many discounters veil their true full cost with all the extras. And more sadly, many consumers fall for this stuff. Someone, somewhere must offset the cost of cheap-cheap as it is unsustainable. We have witnessed this with the likes of Purple Bricks, Foxtons, Zillow Offers and others where the too-good-to-be-true offering is just that: too good to be sustainable. If the fees are super-low, so too is the service. or something else. If the service is not low, soon that entity falters and fails or adjusts to reality. If the promise is unreal, it is unreal.
There are many "discounter brokerages" in the US, contrary to the false narratives of late. They all have one thing in common: those that are profitable and sustainable have to cut SOMETHING - or several things - to be so. Many have to do enormous volume, which could imply they treat their clientele as a commodity. That is reality
