Direct Stock Plans

• When you are interested in buying stocks without the aid of a stockbroker, one option that you can consider is a direct stock plan. A direct stock plan is a type of plan that is offered by some companies which will allow you to buy stock directly from the company that issues it. Instead of going into the secondary market, which is what brokers do, you can buy it straight from the source. To be eligible for this type of plan, you may have to already own at least one share of stock. This means that you might have to open an account with a broker and buy a share before this option becomes available.
  
  

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

• Another option to consider when you want to buy stock directly from a company is to use a dividend reinvestment plan. A dividend reinvestment plan is an option that allows you to automatically invest in the dividends that are issued by a company back into stock in that company. You might have to buy a stock through another source before you are eligible to participate in this plan. By using this strategy, you can continually grow your investment in the company by automatically reinvesting your dividends.
  
  

Transaction Fees

• One of the primary reasons that many people want to avoid brokers a so that they can avoid commissions. When you trade with a broker, you have to pay him a commission for each transaction that you make. By investing directly into the company, you can avoid the commissions. Although, with this type of program, you might have to pay a fee to use it. This means that you need to determine if the fee is cheaper than the commission before pursuing this option.
  
  

Small Investment

• This strategy is known as dripping by many in the market. This is because you regularly drip a small amount of money into a stock. For investors who have a smaller amount of money to invest, this can be a major benefit. Instead of having to invest thousands of dollars of the time, you can generally invest any amount. This allows you to get started at any time, even if you do not have much money saved up for investing.
  
  

Online Discount Brokers

• Another option to consider is using an online discount broker. While you will still technically be using a broker to buy stocks, using an online discount broker provides minimal interference from an actual broker. With an online discount broker, you can fund your account and then make all of the stock investment decisions on your own. Buying stocks comes with small transaction fees.