At E*trade, the best price of $6.99 per trade is not much cheaper than the regular price of $12.99, available to any investor no matter how often they trade.

On the other hand, some discount brokers are willing to offer far more substantial cuts in commissions to gain the business of highly valuable customers.

"Whether you prefer to place your orders through one of our experienced registered representatives or online using SiebertNet, we individually negotiate commission arrangements for active investors and those with substantial accounts," Muriel Siebert advertises right on its web site.

Look at the Fine Print Before You Trade Large Blocks

The number of shares you plan to buy can put you into a different commission bracket, too.

Many brokers charge more for trades over 500, 1,000 or 5,000 shares.

Schwab, for example, advertises commissions of $8.95 to $12.95 for online trades (depending on how frequently you trade and how many assets you have with Schwab).

But if that trade is over 1,000 shares, you'll pay 1.5 cents more for each share over 1,000.

That makes a trade of 5,000 shares cost between $68.95 and $72.95, hardly worthy of being called a discounted commission in today's marketplace.

Some notable exceptions include Scottrade, TradeKing, Zecco and TD Ameritrade, all of which have flat-rate pricing regardless of the number of shares purchased.

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