My two brothers and I each have 15-ish shares of Disney stock. We're trying to sell them as cheaply as possible. I've heard that we'd first want to get them all into one person's name and go from there. Any ideas from the group??
Thanks to both of you for all the info. MVD, can you give me a ballpark estimate of the cost to sell it through a friend vs. sell it through eTrade vs. sell it through Disney?
A nobody
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Putting them all in one name will create problems for you, mostly it will create a tax problems for you, and there may be a major time delay in getting them into one name
The fastest and easiest way may be for you and your brothers to take the shares physically to a local brokerage firm (a discount firm will do) (a major bank will also do) and have them deposit them into a new account set up as a joint account under all three names.(one account with the 3 names) The broker can have 3 letters made up you, authorizing the firm to accept the shares as registered into the single joint account. The shares can be signed a deposited, one checked for validity, the firm can immediately sell them, a check will be issued in the name of the three of you on the settlement date of the trade. (three business days after the day of trade)
Or each of you can take the physical shares to a brokerage firm or a major bank and then can open an account for each and sell the shares. This may be easy on you since each has their own responsibility for selling at their own pace.
You will have to bring along with the physical certificates, proof of ownership and a photo id.
The cost of selling these shares should not be a consideration for you, since there will be no major difference between firms. Yes, you can nickel and dime this, but in long run there not a major amount of money involved.
The Old Guy
If you are holding the certificates, you can not sell them through Disney
If you sell though E-Trade, all three of you would need to sell the stock, send the certificates to E-trade, along with proof of ownership, wait until the certificates are verified, then they can be sold.
Not sure what you mean by selling through a friend, but if they're with a regular B/D it will cost the same as through E-Trade and you will have to do the same. send in the certificates, the firm will verify and then you can sell
Don't forget you must sign the certificates (lower left), or have the B/D send you a stock power for signatures.
I agree with "Nobody" take them to a local B/D or a large bank
The a single trade could cost you $15-$18, at the B/D or Bank, maybe E-Trade will be $7, but the difference in price is not worth worrying about or jumping through hoops.
Anonymous
The cheapest, fastest way is to find a broker that will do you a favor...
That is...someones father, brother, sister...cousin...neighbor.
It is exceedingly difficult to get any financial institution to do business with you these days without going through the whole nine yards. This means setting up an account, transferring assets, and then selling.
I disagree about the consolidation. That won't save you any money in the long run (unless a broker offers you a legit favor as a "family friend.")
You could sell your shares through a discount broker like etrade or through Disney's DRP plan -- but both with involve the whole nine yards.
Anonymous
It would be ridiculously time consuming to change registration on the shares to one person. That is not something you should do.
If you have a Scottrade office in your city (look online for locations) then I would stop in there. Or, if you have any kind of an account (IRA, 401k, etc.) with Fidelity or Charles Schwab, they have offices too.
With any of these companies, you can open a brokerage account ($500 minimum which is right around where you are), sell the shares for a very small commission, then close the account. Sounds like a lot of trouble but believe me it is easier than changing registrations on the shares.
Jack M
Disney is a good company.. I wouldn't advise selling them :D.
But seriously... if you own the shares, then they're probably already in a brokerage account. Go to whatever broker they're with and sell them.
If, on the odd chance, they were bought straight from Disney... go to Disney and sell them.