Anyone who has watched any late night TV recently cannot have failed to have noticed the many comercials trying to sell you on a series of trading seminars which promise will change your life and make you rich.

There are several questions that need to answered for anyone who is even remotely thinking of attending one of these seminars, in this article I’m going to attempt to at least point out a few of the pitfalls and help guide you to making a more informed buying decision.

It was the market melt down during 2000-2003 which has fuelled the huge growth in the trading seminar business. Many people now realize that making money trading is not so easy and requires a good education if you are going to survive all market conditions. This is a better option that just trusting what a fund manager may advise you who may be more concerned about his commission than your retirement.

There are a lot of companies that advertize on late night TV but the ones that come to mind the most are Optionetics, Investools, Better Trades and Star Trader. I live in a city where these companies visit on a regular basis so I’ve attended all of their free warm up seminars. I’ve also bought a number of seminars from these companies.

The infomercial only has one purpose and that is to get you to the free warm up seminar, usually at a local hotel. I call it a warm up seminar because this is where the sales pitch will get you even more excited about becoming a trader and making money. They usually last from 45 minutues to about 2 1/2 hours. The one I attended for Investools was about 3 hours and actually provided some good information.

At the free seminar you will be encouraged to sign up on the spot using your credit card, this is usually after you are offered a large discount over the retail price for being a “discision maker”. Most come with a set of DVD’s and manual allowing you to study before the live seminar.

The following points should be born in mind before signing up for a seminar:

1. Make sure that there is a good refund policy that comes with the package. You should get at least 2 weeks to evaluate the training material that you are given. In addition check what the policy is regards to attending the seminar and then asking for a refund. Sometimes you can only stay until noon on the 1st day, or only the 1st day, before you must ask for a refund if not satisfied. If you wait too long you may lose your right to a refund.

2. Ask if you can also bring a family member or business partner, usually the answer is yes. Take advantage of this offer, it is better to have a 2nd person evaluate the seminar if you are at all hesitant about whether it is right for you.

3. Check that you are paying the lowest price possible for the seminar. You don’t want to end up in the seminar and find that the person next to paid a lot less for the same seat, just like on airlines!

4. Be very sure that the seminar you have signed up for is going to cover what you want to learn. Sometimes the agender is vague and the speaker goes off on their own favourite topics. If you want specific training on stocks, options or Forex make sure that they will be covered in detail in the seminar.

Here is the bottom line about these beginner trading seminars. They are not going to teach you everything you need to know to be a successful trader in 2-3 days, there’s simply too much you need to learn. They all have follow on intermediate and advanced courses like Options, Advanced Options, Technical Analysis, Advanced Strategies, and so the list goes on. Expect the selling process for these follow on seminars to begin during the expensive seminar that you just paid for!.

During your beginner seminar expect the presenters to consistently tell you that you have just begun your educational journey and that if you really want to make the big money you need much more education. I know it sucks but it’s not illegal, it’s how corpoate America works!.

If you buy any follow on seminars they are very unlikley to come with an extended refund period other than the minimum 3 days cooling off period set by some states. This is an important point to consider if you are buying a number of seminars that will run over a number of years.