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If you want to learn how to buy Alibaba Group Holding stock, you’re in the right place. This article takes our guide on how to buy stocks and tailors it specifically to Alibaba Group Holding stock.
Here are the steps to take, in order from first to last:
Set up a Brokerage Account To Buy Alibaba Group Holding Stock
The term “broker” or “brokerage account” can be confusing to understand at first for many people.
We’re going to keep it simple and help explain it by using an analogy.
When you have money, there are different types of accounts where you can put your money.
If you want to put your money in an account where you can easily access it and write checks or withdraw cash from an ATM, then you typically set up a bank account.
If, on the other hand, you want to put your money in an account that allows you to buy stocks like Alibaba Group Holding, then you need a brokerage account. It might seem like a foreign term if you’re a beginner, but it’s just the terminology used to describe an account that can buy and sell shares of stock.
There are many brokerage accounts out there that are free to set up. You can choose one from our list of the best stock trading platforms.
We like Tradier. They’re a brokerage that makes it simple to buy Alibaba Group Holding stock online. We’ll feature Tradier in our tutorial in this guide.
Setting up a brokerage account involves more than just a click or two. It may take some time to go through all the forms, but at least it’s just a one-time deal to complete them.
Put Money in Your New Brokerage Account
After you set up the brokerage account, it’s time to put money in it. You can’t buy Alibaba Group Holding stock if you don’t have money in the account.
Most brokerages will clarify how to put money in the account right after you open it. Most times, it involves connecting your bank account with your brokerage account to transfer money between them electronically.
It’s worth noting that typically when you make your first deposit into a new brokerage account, it takes about a week for them to let you use that money. So don’t expect that you’ll be able to instantly buy Alibaba Group Holding stock shares after making the deposit.
Buy Alibaba Group Holding Stock Using Your Brokerage Account
You’re ready to buy Alibaba Group Holding stock now that your brokerage account has money. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to buy shares of Alibaba Group Holding stock using screenshots from the Tradier brokerage account.
First, you need to pull up a ticker symbol for the underlying stock. In Tradier’s platform (which they call Dash), that is done through the Dashboard page as shown here:
The Ticker Symbol for Alibaba Group Holding is BABA
Then type in the ticker symbol of the stock you want to buy. For Alibaba Group Holding, the ticker symbol is BABA.
In Tradier, after you type in BABA, it brings up a page that looks like this:
As you can see, it shows all the core information about BABA stock there, including the current price.
From here, to buy shares of stock for Alibaba Group Holding, you need to click the green button at the top that says “Trade.”
Doing that takes you to a page that looks like this:
That is where you can enter the details for your Alibaba Group Holding stock trade. These fields are already auto-populated:
- BABA (in the Symbol field)
- Equity (refers to stocks, as opposed to options or other assets)
- Buy (as opposed to Sell)
The remaining fields need some explanation:
Quantity
There is an empty Quantity field. That’s where you enter the number of shares of Alibaba Group Holding stock you want to buy.
You can see at the top right of the above screenshot that the prevailing price of BABA stock was $117.01. So, each share you buy will cost approximately the amount shown there.
Order Type
The two usual choices here are either Market or Limit.
To explain those, we need to talk about the mechanics of prices in the stock market. For any given asset, there are buyers and sellers.
When someone wants to buy a stock, the price they are willing to pay is referred to as a bid. When someone wants to sell, it’s an offer (or ask).
A transaction occurs when the bid criterion for a buyer matches the ask criterion for a seller.
You can see the highest bid and the lowest ask price for a stock at any given time. These are respectively referred to as “the bid” and “the ask.”
You’ll typically see some distance between the bid and the ask. If the bid and the ask were the same, that would have already resulted in a transaction. Any open orders will not have overlapping bid and ask prices.
If you look again at the screenshot above, you’ll see the bid and the ask indicated there for Alibaba Group Holding stock. It shows a bid of $116.97 and an ask of $117.00.
That means the highest bidder out there is willing to pay $116.97 And the lowest seller out there is willing to sell for $117.00.
Now let’s look at the two order types: market and limit.
If you submit an order to buy Alibaba Group Holding stock using a market order, it will match you up with the nearest seller. You don’t indicate a numeric price since “market” means you’ll pay the market price for Alibaba Group Holding stock. In this case, you would likely pay $117.00 for your shares.
If you buy Alibaba Group Holding stock using a limit order, you indicate the exact price you are willing to pay. Your order will only get filled if you get that price or lower.
There are tradeoffs with each order type.
With a market order, you ensure you get into Alibaba Group Holding stock position quickly, but you might make a sacrifice on the price since you’re automatically paying the ask price.
With a limit order, you can try to get a lower price (maybe a price between the bid and ask), but you risk missing the buying opportunity if your order isn’t filled. So limit orders offer less certainty of fulfillment than market orders do.
There is no perfect order type for your Alibaba Group Holding stock purchase. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself which tradeoffs you prefer.
Time In Force
That is the last field on the Tradier order entry page. You have two choices here:
- Day – Your order will only be active until the current day’s trading session ends.
- GTC – This stands for Good Til Canceled, which means your order will be active until you cancel it.
Once you’ve entered all your preferences, you can click the purple Submit button to submit your order.
The broker will fill your order immediately if you use a market order. If you use a limit order, it may not be filled right away. That’s where your Time In Force choice makes a difference. It affects how long your Alibaba Group Holding stock order stays open.
Conclusion
Those are the steps to take in order to buy Alibaba Group Holding stock. You need to have a brokerage account ready and open. Then you need to get to the ordering screen, type in the ticker symbol for Alibaba Group Holding (BABA), and make sure the settings are configured to buy the stock at the price you want.
FAQs About Buying Alibaba Group Holding Stock
Here are some FAQs we’ve heard before about buying Alibaba Group Holding stock shares:
What Is Alibaba Group Holding Stock?
Alibaba Group Holding is a public company. That means that there are no individuals who privately own Alibaba Group Holding. So it’s not just some guy or gal who single-handedly owns the entire company.
Most small businesses are private companies, and there is a single owner. But for huge companies, many of them are public companies. And for them, the company is owned by the general public.
For companies like Alibaba Group Holding, anyone can pay to own a piece of the company. A share of stock represents one share of ownership in a public company like Alibaba Group Holding.
So if you buy a share of Alibaba Group Holding stock, you are purchasing one share of an ownership stake in Alibaba Group Holding.
Can I Make Money From Buying Alibaba Group Holding Stock?
It’s certainly possible, although there is no guarantee that you will make money from buying Alibaba Group Holding stock. There is risk involved any time you invest in the stock market.
You can check out our guides on how to make money in the stock market and the best stock picking services in order to improve your odds of profitability.
What Does Alibaba Group Holding Do?
As per Alibaba Group Holding’s website:
“Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers, and other businesses to engage with their users and customers in the People’s Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others. It operates Taobao Marketplace, a social commerce platform; Tmall, a third-party online and mobile commerce platform for brands and retailers; Alimama, a monetization platform; 1688.com and Alibaba.com, which are online wholesale marketplaces; AliExpress, a retail marketplace; Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz that are e-commerce platforms; Freshippo, a self-operated retail chain; and Tmall Global, an import e-commerce platform.”
When Was Alibaba Group Holding Started?
Alibaba Group Holding was incorporated in 1999.
Where Is Alibaba Group Holding Located?
Alibaba Group Holding is headquartered in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China.
What Is The Exchange Where Alibaba Group Holding Stock Is Traded?
Alibaba Group Holding stock is traded on the NYSE exchange.
What Sector Is Alibaba Group Holding In?
Alibaba Group Holding is in the Consumer Cyclical sector.
What Industry Is Alibaba Group Holding In?
Alibaba Group Holding is in the Internet Retail industry.
