We recently updated the way you buy and sell stocks and ETFs on vanguard.com.
Financial management

Making smart brokerage transactions just got even easier

We recently updated the way you buy and sell stocks and ETFs on vanguard.com.
1:40 minute video, 5 minute read
  •  
June 11, 2021
Financial management
Company news
Vanguard news
Video

Music plays throughout; no voiceover.

Visual: Opening image of a computer monitor on a desk appears. The words “Introducing an enhanced online investing experience from Vanguard®” displays on the monitor screen in gray type on a white background. The word “Vanguard®” appears as a bold red type logo.

The illustrations in this video are hypothetical and do not represent an actual client portfolio.

Visual: Screen transitions to show the newly redesigned ETF- and stock-trading page in full view. The words “Buy and sell ETFs and stocks, commission-free” appear across the top of the screen in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to an animation of a user placing an order to buy shares of the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI). The words “All the same capabilities, with new modern, easy-to-use controls” appear on screen to the left in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to a focused area of the new trade webpage, where the real-time quote for the selected ETF is displayed. The words “Quickly get the latest real-time quotes…” appear on screen to the left in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to the lower area of the real-time quote display, where the information “Your current shares = 5.0000” is present. Animated hand cursor points to current shares data point. The words “and see any currently held shares.” appear on screen to the right in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to the animated hand cursor opening a tooltip for trading guidance about order types. The words “Guidance is there only when you need it, so you can focus on your order” appear to the right in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to modal containing more in-depth guidance. The example provides information and graphics explaining how market orders and limit orders work when trading.

Visual: Transition to the animated hand cursor expanding the “Balances” panel of the webpage revealing additional account balance details. The words “Find what you’re looking for faster. Review current account balances…” appear on screen to the left in red type on a white background.

Visual: Transition to the animated hand cursor clicking the “Holdings” tab within a red navigation bar at the top of the webpage, revealing all of the current investment holdings for the user’s account. The words “…holdings, and open orders without leaving your in-progress order.” appear on screen in red type on a white background that is blurred to block out the image from the webpage. The word “holdings” is in bold red type.

Visual: Transition to the animated hand cursor clicking the “Open Orders” tab in the red navigation bar at the top of the webpage. Screen transitions to show a list of all open orders in the user’s account. The same words that were associated with the holdings tab appear. However bolded red text changes to the word “open orders” for added emphasis to the on-screen words “…holdings, and open orders without leaving your in-progress order.”

Visual: Transition to a new screen showing the new ETF- and stock-trading webpage as it would appear on 3 devices—a desktop computer monitor, a tablet, and a smartphone. The words “Get the same enhanced experience on your desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.” appear at the bottom of the screen in red text on a white background.

Visual: Transition to a white screen with the words “A new ETF and stock brokerage experience that helps you move beyond simply trading to being a smarter investor.” displayed in red type. The words “smarter investor” appear in bold red type to add emphasis.

Visual: Transition to final screen with a large red Vanguard logo and the text “vanguard.com” below it in gray type on a white background.

At Vanguard, our mission is the same for everyone, whether you’re a first-time investor or financial professional. We want to give you the best chance for investing success.

To achieve that goal, we recently updated the way you buy and sell stocks and ETFs on vanguard.com.

If you recently made a trade on our website, you may have noticed the changes. Our new process provides you with streamlined information to help you make smarter investing decisions, no matter how frequently you trade.


Simplifying the process for less-frequent traders

Making trades may be easy for people who do it all the time. But if you (like many Vanguard investors), only buy and sell when you’re rebalancing your portfolio, the process can seem tricky.

ETFs: Funds that trade like stocks

Many investors aren’t clear on the difference between ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and mutual funds. ETFs trade like stocks, which means you can trade them throughout the day.

Unlike mutual funds, you can also purchase ETFs a single share at a time, and the price of 1 ETF share is generally lower than the required minimum investment for a mutual fund. Depending on the ETF, the share price may be under $100 per share.


We asked Vanguard shareholders what questions they had about trading and how we could improve the online experience. Here’s what they said:

Explain order types

Many investors don’t know the difference between a market or limit order—or when to use them. As a result, many people use a market order, which gives you the price that’s immediately available. However, a limit order can also be a good option because it allows you to buy or sell at a specified price or better; if you can’t get that price, the trade won’t execute. Our updates include providing explanations of these different order types in the order field.

Learn about order types
 

Show holdings and open orders

Ever wanted to check your holdings and open orders after you started making a trade? Our new platform integrates this information into the trading process, so it’s easier to find what you’re looking for.
 

Simplify the experience

For starters, we increased font sizes for easier reading. We also created a cleaner, more modern layout—making for a better trading experience on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.


Empowering you to make informed decisions

Education is the cornerstone of our company and brokerage business. It’s why we offer professional advice as well as detailed how-to resources for DIY investors.

At Vanguard, we believe making smart trades means buying and selling because of long-term goals instead of market ups and downs. This often means trading less frequently than market-timers.  

But when you do buy and sell assets, we want the process to be as simple and straightforward as possible.

Get ready to trade


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You must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares through Vanguard Brokerage Services (we offer them commission-free) or through another broker (which may charge commissions). See the Vanguard Brokerage Services commission and fee schedules for full details. Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable directly with the issuing fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. ETFs are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you will pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.