Free 24″ Dell Monitor with $5,000 Funding – OptionsHouse
Discount stock brokerage OptionsHouse has a new promotion offering a free Dell 24″ monitor if you open a new account with as little as $5,000. This is actually a good deal when you work out the details (below), and in addition this is a pretty solid broker that charges $3.95 per trade and no minimum balances that I’ve mentioned in the past. They treat their existing customers well, for example I am grandfathered in at $2.95 a trade.
First, consider that a online savings account earning 1% interest on $5,000 for six months would only get you $25. With this deal, you are getting a Dell Model ST2420L LED Monitor with 1920×1080 resolution that goes for $219 on their website. If you value the monitor at only $150 that is still about 6 times as much interest. Even if you sell the new monitor easily for $100 cash, and you’ll still be getting the equivalent of 4% annual interest. Just don’t go off and buy penny stocks…
If you deposit significantly more cash, $100k or $250k, you can get a bigger monitor, but the basic $5k tier seems to offer the best overall value. You must maintain your original funding amount for 180 days. New account holders only, and IRAs don’t count. Promotion expires July 31, 2011.
1) The free Dell monitor promotion applies only to newly funded OptionsHouse customers who initially fund their account within 60 days of completing the application. To be eligible for the 24″ monitor, you must fund with $5,000 to $99,999 for a cash or margin account and use promo code DELL24
By Jonathan Ping | Deals & Offers | 4/21/11, 5:13am
April 21st, 2011 at 5:21 am
What are the tax implications?
April 21st, 2011 at 5:25 am
@Jeff – That’s a good question that I was just considering myself. Worst case, they will send you a 1099 for the full retail value of the monitor which is $220. However, in my experience, brokers never put their promotions on a 1099, while banks usually do. I have done several of these types of promos. I would do this one too, if I wasn’t already a customer.
If I recall, I signed up for OH under a $100 promo in 2009 or 2010 and never got a 1099-INT for it, so that reinforces my hunch. *But* I don’t want people to get mad at me for saying this is 100% for sure if they somehow decide to change the previous pattern. Hope that makes sense.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:16 am
“OptionsHouse reserves the right to debit any account that has received a DELL monitor and has either closed their account or withdrawn assets below the minimum qualifying funding level within 180 days of original funding date.” Sounds like the holding period in your calculation should be 180 days, not 60, but it still sounds like a good deal.
April 21st, 2011 at 7:19 am
Doh! Of course you correctly stated the 180 days on your post. Sorry!
April 21st, 2011 at 8:02 am
How much to close the account? Looks like none..if you kept the account liquid..yes ?
April 21st, 2011 at 8:50 am
Looks like there’s not need to execute any trades. Very nice!
April 21st, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Just FYI, from the small print at OptionsHouse: Accounts receiving a DELL 24″ Monitor and failing to meet the 180-day funding requirement may be debited $349.99.
April 21st, 2011 at 1:23 pm
The $349.99 (and not $220) will probably also be it’s “full retail value”, if they decide to send out an 1099. Still a pretty good deal, just just FYI.
April 21st, 2011 at 4:13 pm
1099 = Y = bad deal
1099 = N = good deal
too bad we don’t know up front
I used to do all of these deals but I’ve learned that only the credit card promos are 100% guaranteed to never result in a 1099. Brokers and banks are hit or miss (banks usually send a 1099 , brokers sometimes do).
April 21st, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I’ve never had a brokerage account, but I am intrigued by this. Are there conservative options are available (i.e., money market funds)?
April 21st, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Can I transfer my brokerage account there that already has over 5k to get the deal? I was looking to transfer anyway..
April 21st, 2011 at 10:08 pm
I am hoping that there is a money market fund option. I would just leave the 5k in there for 6 months.
April 22nd, 2011 at 5:21 am
fyi people responding on alternative website saying you do not get a 1099. Somebody from optionshouse has posted on there too.
btw Jonathan, don’t you think it’s time to set a 2011 goal for the front page?
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:31 am
Read the reviews, there is a reason they are doing this promotion.
April 22nd, 2011 at 11:23 am
Please only take this offer, if you know what you are doing. If you don’t know what you are doing, OptionsHouse will turn you into a day trading junkie, who will loose everything. Then its a bad deal. I am just saying this, because to me OptionsHouse seems to be setup to seduce you into day trading.
April 22nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm
I’ve submitted my application and will fund it shortly. I am certain as to which stock I am going to purchase as well.
If you’d like an update on this promo, please email.
Fingers crossed that this works or I’ve just purchased a very expensive monitor!
April 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 pm
I opened an IRA with them, don’t really need a monitor, not worth the hassle, @Johannes, I don’t know why this account would turn one into a day trading junkie, how is this account any different then other brokerage accounts? It has options in the name, but one can only trade stocks if they choose, I had free trades with Wells Fargo, did nothing to change my trading style, I don’t get it, it’s a decent brokerage, if you need a monitor go for it.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:16 am
I would like to do this deal. Can I transfer all my stocks from Zecco account to this account and still get the monitor? If so, how would I do it? I don’t like Zecco anymore…
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:04 pm
@Nicky and all
I got the impression that options house will seduce people to day trading when I took a tour off their website and they advertise their trading platform saying: “Our Award-winning Platform Now With
More Control, Speed and Trading Power”. The advertised qualities of the platform are not helpful for investing, but they are helpful for gambling. For successful investing read “my money blog” and “personal finance for dummies” and open a Portfolio at Vanguard. If you want to gamble, go to a casino or day trader.
As you can see, my point is not so much about the offer (which is good, when you need a monitor” but about day trading.
April 25th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
180 days funding requirement…what does it actually mean? Does it mean I need to have a minimum amount in my account at all times? what if my stock tanks and I lose the initial contribution I.e 5000
May 4th, 2011 at 10:12 am
Well, I took the plunge, and the monitor just came today after funds left my bank account on April 27th, so one week to fulfillment. Thanks for the tip.
May 4th, 2011 at 11:05 am
Is it normal for them to request a copy of your social security card?
May 4th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
I also opened an account with them to take advantage of the offer and so far I am not a very happy customer. I’ve had bad experience with them twice already in this one week.
First, I was hit with excessive transaction fee by my bank. I set up my savings account as a funding source and had three ACH withdrawals coming from OptionsHouse, two small ones to match verification deposits and one to actually fund the account. This put me over the monthly limit for savings account. They did not mention it and I did not expect the two small withdrawals. When I called them about this, they did not want to reimburse the $10 bank fee, but gave me 5 free trades good for 3 months which is a questionable trade-off.
Next day I first called them to make sure I already have the free trades and after a positive answer put on my first trade… and was charged a commission. Called them again, they admitted the screw-up saying that “free trades were not yet approved by the manager at that time, but they are going forward”. This time they did not want to take any responsibility for their fault and did not reimburse the commission.
I can agree that first problem could be viewed as partially my fault, then second situation and how they handled it is my big disappointment.
May 6th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Thanks Jonathan!
I’ve received my monitor. Few notes on the process. There are certain stipulations so be sure to read the fine print and follow instructions (i.e. only certain types of accounts are eligible and be sure to use the coupon code)
It’s kind of a sloppy process. Spoke to a few representatives from OptionsHouse and always received different responses on how and when the monitor would be delivered.
I funded my account and the funds were available 5/3 and was informed the monitor is usually ordered within 1 day of the funds clearing with the recipient getting a phone call with the tracking number. I received my monitor yesterday (5/5 – 2 days after the funds were available) from FedEx with no confirmation from OptionsHouse or FedEx. Luckily my neighbor saw it and picked it up for me for safekeeping.
It seems OptionsHouse isn’t involved in the process which is unfortunate given they should probably track their promotions. Asides from that, good experience. Account was funded with no issues, site seems very comprehensive, and though a little confusing, monitor was received with no major issues.
May 25th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Thanks for the tip Jonathan.
However, my experience has been fairly crappy with OptionsHouse. I applied for the account and they required my Social Security card. I have had multiple online brokerage accounts, bank accounts, etc over the years and nobody has requested anything like that.
The customer service is crappy. They take days to respond to any question on email.
I had recently moved to a new address which they claim they cannot verify and asked me for documents to show proof of residence. They accept very specific documents for proof of residence and are very inflexible in this. I don’t have time to run around dig through my papers to find them a social security card and the other documents they want for proof of residence.
I am going to withdraw my application.
January 31st, 2012 at 9:01 am
Did anyone get a 1099 from optionshouse?
February 20th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
I applied for optionshouse and I am appalled that they are asking for a myriad of documents such as social security card. My parents have my social security card and I do not want to bug them for it and make them think I am becoming some sort of stock trader gambler addict.
What bothers me most is that they reel you in with seemingly easy application but then throw all these requirements out there AFTER i have already provided much sensitive information to them, such as my ssn.
April 19th, 2013 at 3:27 pm
I was searching the web to see if anyone has similar experience with optionshouse asking for a copy of social security card. It is good to know that I’m not the only one who feels it is strange that they are asking for this in addition to the driver’s lic. Driver’s License, ok. But a copy of the ssn is should not be ok and perhaps the govt (FDIC) should look into this as they claim that it is a govt requirement, that they are highly regulated.
I am not sure whether or not to proceed with my application with them; but more likely, I am leaning toward not continuing because, as I have seen here and elsewhere on the internet, other brokerage firms are not demanding a copy of your social security card on top of your driver’s license.