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The dog-eat-dog competition that has characterized the online brokerage marketplace recently has generally been good for investors.

Many online brokers have dropped their commissions to rock-bottom levels.

And they’ve ramped up their services and research tools dramatically. (See also: Your Online Broker: Are You Getting the Service You Deserve? and Can Your Online Broker Do This?)

But like any stockbrokers, online brokers are still in business to make money.

And if you aren’t careful, you could end up paying far more for the services your online broker offers than you think.

Here are the five secrets your online broker doesn’t want you to know…

Next: Secret #1