The Lemon Fool

UncleEbenezer wrote:Back on topic, if I may be so bold.

Another crowdfunding option I'm now pondering is Green Lithium. Heavy industry in Blighty, producing battery-grade lithium, by a process they claim is much greener than industry norms.

Harumph.

I've been in two minds about that one. I was minded to have a very small flutter at the last minute (i.e. today) just to follow their story as it develops. It's not the right timing for a more substantial investment, and they certainly don't need my money.

So I selected "invest" on seedrs. And noticed the smallprint. There's now a 2% upfront fee, which is in addition to what they charge the investee, and 7% of any profit I might happen to make on the investment.

When I first invested through seedrs there was no up-front fee, just the 7%. And of course its corollary, no fee at all if you don't make a profit. I was happy with that, and have of course accepted the deduction of that 7% on investments I've exited with a profit. Then came 1%, which caught me out first time I hit it. The fact it was unannounced[1] and caught me by stealth p***ed me off and made me more reluctant to spend through the platform.

Now it's gone up, again by stealth, to 2%, I'm out. Unless I see a very strong case to make an exception (one of my existing investments might just persuade me).

Grrrr ....

[1] Unless perhaps in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard".

I was toying with investing in MPS on Crowdcube, so this prompted me to have a look at Crowdcube's rates.

2.5% up front fee. 5% of any "dividends, proceeds of sale and other cash returns". They seem to have even less faith in their companies winning through than Seedrs.