I don’t really like to get involved in twitter feuds but I think we can help shed some light on questions being asked in the community and hopefully help some new data driven businesses understand some hurdles to entry.
We are a data driven company and always aim to be fully transparent.
On Data pricing:
When you are using data on a professional level (ie to distribute) there are a bunch of hurdles you have to go through. If we’re talking about just SPX options data is coming from OPRA and Index data like spot prices comes from CBOE. Both of these platforms have individual pricing plans.
So if you were to get the data needed to visually display Gamma or any derived greek you would have the following fees:
* Redistribution License: $1,500 per month
* Per User costs: $1.25/NonPro User per month & $31.50/Pro User per month
* Category 2 Non-Display License: $2,000 per month
So just at a base level for OPRA you are looking at 3,500/mo + $1.25 per user(in this case they classify a user as anyone who is able to see this data at all, AND they require each person seeing the data to actually sign documentation so your company stays within compliance)
BUT, you need the SPX spot price to actually use this data effectively, this has to be purchased from CBOE directly. So if you ONLY wanted to get the index data from CBOE you have to pay $1,500/mo with an additional $3 per user/mo.
So for data alone at this point you are looking at $5000/ mo + $4.25/per user
The kicker is that CBOE and OPRA don’t format data the same so you need to get this information through a third party data provider, we use polygon. Polygon charges their own fees which for us total over $5000/ mo (our CBOE index fee is still processing so it isn’t displayed here).
This means that just to get the data to actually run Gamma exposure, not to mention the Unusual Options modules, the web based time and sales (again the only one I know if currently that is web based), you are looking at a data and provider cost of roughly 10k/mo + 4.25 per user. We are currently at just under 700 users so we can say our user fee is roughly 3k as of now.
So you have a 13,000/month data fee, then once you start to factor in server cost, hosting, business fees, dev costs, Cloudflare, AWS etc you can see that everything adds up pretty quickly and the price continues to increase as you add more users.
On affiliates and payment:
Currently affiliates make 25% recurring on anyone that signs up using their link. I feel like this is pretty standard for a tech startup looking for new users. We never tell anyone what to post, when to post, how to post etc. We have never asked anyone to directly promote the APEX AI module and in all honesty we feel like without understanding the information from the other exposures you dont get the full picture. We have said this over and over again that Traderlink is a tool to help you find confluence and trade ideas, we have advised against making the platform your entire “strategy”.
On exposures and data usage:
Gamma, vanna, charm etc have all existed for a while. We have never claimed to be the creators of this because frankly that would be stupid. However, not all output data is created equally. Let’s assume that the raw data for all calculations is coming from the same place (OPRA), the math you need to utilize can change from model to model. This math that you run is totally up to the person displaying the data, which means the outputs across the board can vary. The models and order of operations here is what each unique vendor could describe as “proprietary” however i think a better wording would be “recipe”.
It’s like giving two people flour, water, salt and yeast and asking them to make you a loaf of bread. Even though they have the same ingredients and idea of where they want to end up, the outcome will likely not be the exact same.
On the actual price of the product:
Not exactly sure how we ended up here. There are always going to be companies selling data in some way shape or form. If you are going to accurately say “X is way overpriced compared to Y” I think its only reasonable to look at the entire offering of both providers. For years people were paying DAS Trader $199/mo just to get access to a good time and sales system. Several companies out there just sell options flow and that can be $50-$120/mo and then some. Our goal is and has always been to build the most robust information system for retail traders. We provide our customer base with all of the exposures, access to unusual options, footprint charts, darkpool and large market logging, web based time and sales as well as a community with an educational focus for $99/mo. And let me tell you, they all fucking love it.
Legal Disclaimer: Traderlink LLC (Traderlink) is not an accredited investment counselor nor holds any such licensing with federal or state oversight bodies. Traderlink does not oversee or manage client investments in any manner. The data provided and views shared on this platform do not constitute investment guidance. The ideas put forward on this platform and related services are exclusively those of Traderlink and are purely for educational objectives. We recommend all platform users to understand the risks associated with trading stocks and options. We prompt every visitor to the platform to conduct their own research and to engage with their personal financial advisor(s) before undertaking any investment activities, and to ensure they are fully aware of the potential risks involved. Any investment decision leading to losses or gains made on the basis of any information on this platform or related services does not hold Traderlink responsible. Traderlink is purely a data-provider and does not offer stock picks alert service.