Frequently Asked Questions

We Seed is a totally free site dedicated to helping real people get into the stock market. You know more than you think about the market—every decision you make reflects knowledge of the economy, whether you know it or not. The car you drive, the clothes you buy, the chips you snack on are all tied to the stock market. We Seed is just here to help you take this real-world knowledge and put it to work making investment decisions. What better way to learn about stocks than by taking a closer look at what you already buy and use? For more, see Our Mission.

But you do! And that's the point.When you're looking to buy a car or pick out a new computer, you do a little research, ask your friends, and see what the buzz about the product is. It's the same with stocks: you should use your experience as a customer and a consumer. If a company makes a bad product and has poor customer service, you aren't likely to buy anything from them, are you? If you wouldn't buy their products and you know your friends feel similarly, it would be safe to bet that company might not be the best investment, and of course vice versa. We Seed is here to help you figure it all out, but you're using your smarts to get the real work done. 

You participate in the market every day, just by living your life. The idea behind investing in what you know is that you can apply what you've learned by being a consumer to publicly traded companies. You don't have to go to a broker-this is true do-it-yourself finance. Just take what you already know and use it to start cruising the market. And with the WeSeed community helping, you'll learn which of the companies you use the most are worth buying.

Yes, We Seed is totally free.

No, you invest money we give you, called We Seed cash so that you can practice and improve without having to worry about losing your hard-earned money. Everyone starts with $10,000, but later on you can always add more if you need. For help with that, check out "How do I add funds to my account?" 

You can use any brokerage firm or online brokerage to start putting your new skills to work.

No catch, we're really just here to help. And before you ask, we're not associated with any publically traded company, and we're not doing market research or selling your email address or personal information to anyone. We Seed wants to watch you succeed, so don't doubt that you're safe with us.  

Other people who want to use what they know to learn more about investing. By sharing our knowledge, we can all benefit and sharpen our investing skills. That’s why we encourage you to invite others, no matter where they live or what they do. Everyone has something to contribute, and the more we work together, the more we all learn!

Our financial guys crunch the numbers of every stock out there and analyze each stock’s price. If a stock is fairly priced, it gets a Green rating. A stock price that’s a little ways from its ideal price gets a Yellow rating, while a stock that really needs some research before considering a purchase gets a Red rating. That doesn’t mean don’t buy it, but it does mean you should be cautious before diving in.

Just like money in the real world, your account with We Seed accrues interest. Keep in mind: It may be tempting to just let it sit there and earn interest and keep growing, but that doesn't help you learn how to play the stock market.

Well, there are two things that could be going on. First, you may not have enough We Seed cash left in your account to pay for the shares that you're trying to buy.  If that's the case, you can add more funds to your account or try buying fewer shares.   

You also may have placed your trade after market hours (The market is open 9:30 am to 4 pm Eastern Standard Time on weekdays).  We Seed is tied to the real stock market, so your trades won't go through until it's open again, just like in real life.

We Seed is tied into the real stock market, so your trades won't go through when the market is closed (just like in real life). Market hours are from 9:30 am to 4 pm (Eastern) most weekdays. Your trade will be executed first thing on the next business day. 

We've all done it. Try to log in, click on the "forgot password?" button. We'll send you a new password pronto. Use it to log in and then go to Edit Profile on the Portfolio page to change your password to whatever you want. Just don't forget it this time!

Just click on the feedback link in the lower left-hand corner of any page and tell us about the issue. The We Seed team will address the issues and will get back to you as fast as possible with a solution, usually within two business days. 

We'd love to hear it! Send it our way through the feedback link in the lower left-hand corner of any page.

Well, first take a deep breath and remember that you weren’t using real cash, so everything’s okay.  Then try to figure out why. Did something happen to the market as a whole, or was it a specific company or industry that had an issue? Check the news and member buzz on the stocks that lost value, see what you can find, and try again. Remember there’s no penalty if the market bangs you up a little bit, as long as you keep learning.

You can always just jump in! Since We Seed is free and perfectly safe, there’s nothing to be worried about. 

If you'd like a little more guidance, though, you could also head over to our "Learn" section if you want to wait until you know a little more about the basics before you get your feet wet.

Here’s your first tip: it’s always smart to diversify. You don’t necessarily want to put all of your money in one stock. One last bit of advice: always do your homework and research every company before you decide to buy it, even if it is just pretend. It’s a good habit that will pay off when you invest for real.

On your Portfolio page, on the right side is a button that says “Manage Funds.” You can add more We Seed cash at any time ($10,000 at a time, with a limit of $1 million), so don't worry.  Ta-da!

If you head to your Portfolio page, on the right side is a button that says “Manage Funds.” You will be able to add $10,000 at a time, with a limit of $1 million.  Ta-da!

On the Share page, there is a link on the left to "Find a Friend". 

First, find the person you want to follow (head over to “How do I find my friends on We Seed?” for some hints) and then click the green “Follow” button next to their name.

You can check out the "Shop for Companies" page or you can just search for a company by stock ticker, name, or product they produce. For example, typing Pepsi, PEP or Gatorade brings up PepsiCo Inc.

Or you can use our mini-markets on our "Shop for Companies" page. Click on a market or industry that you're interested in or passionate about and see what companies are there! For more on our mini-markets, check out "What are mini-markets?" 

Part of the goal here at We Seed was to make the stock market simple and easy to digest, so we broke down the massive number of publically traded companies into bite-sized chunks. Are you a parent? Check out the kids or parents mini-markets. Into video games, green energy, or educational tools? We got you covered. Just check out the "Shop for Companies" page.
You can think of the mini-markets as industries - groups of companies that are all related somehow.  You can even find companies based on where you live or work.

Send us an email through the We Seed feedback link on the bottom-left corner of any page.  Just reach out and we'll do everything we can to help!

Well…there’s no one answer to that question. Lots of people are scared of the stock market, and everyone uses the site a little differently. But if you want to brush up on your vocab and get a handle on the basics, start with our Learn section and see where it takes you.

A group is a collection of We Seed users getting together to see what they can do. You can chat with other group members, see how their portfolios are doing, and work together. Work together for what, you ask? Well, the performance of ALL of the group member’s portfolios gets added up and the top-performing group could get a chance to not only get called out for being awesome…but also get bragging rights! And maybe prizes. For more info on groups, go to “How do you join a group?” 

There are two different kinds of groups on We Seed: open and moderated. In an open group, people are free to come and go as they chose. In a moderated group you can apply to join the group, but one of the group’s administrators will have to approve you.

Well, a team is a lot like a group (See “What is a group?”), but instead of adding up everyone’s portfolios together, people in a team have to work together to make stock picks and generate cash in one big portfolio, making decisions as a unit.  If you want a little more, there’s help at “How do you join a team?" 

There are two different kinds of teams on We Seed: open and moderated. In an open team, people are free to come and go as they chose. In a moderated team you can apply to join the group, but one of the group’s administrators will have to approve you.

Well, first you have to find a group in order to join it. You can do that one of three ways. Someone may invite you to join a group, which will come to you by way of a message in the mail center on the Share page. You can either check out the groups that your friends belong to (to find a user on We Seed see “How do I find my friends on We Seed?”) by looking at their portfolio and clicking on the “groups” button below their picture. You can also find groups on the Share page. Look at the left-hand tool bar and click on “Groups” or “Create a Group,” and you’re set!

Joining a team is a lot like joining a group. You can either be invited to join and get a message in your mail center inbox, find a team by finding a friend that belongs to it (See “How do I find my friends on We Seed?”) and clicking on the “groups” button under their photo, or you can find or create a group on the left-hand side of the Share page.

For any group you’re part of, you can invite people to join it using a link on the left-hand side of the group page that says “Invite Members.” Keep in mind, though, that there are two different kinds of groups and your invitee may not be able to join immediately (for more on the different types of groups check out “What is a group?”)

For a team, you have to be an administrator for that team to invite members. If you are, there is a section on the left-hand toolbar that includes the link to “Invite Members,” just like for groups.

That’s fine. Everybody has to start somewhere! There’s a couple of easy places for you to get started:

First is our learn section. Here you can find some definitions, explanations of all the concepts that you see all over the site (and on stock market TV shows). There are some quizzes, but don’t worry. No one’s going to take your car keys away if you don’t pass the first time.

You can also start with actually buying something, using our mini-markets or searching for a company or product that you really enjoy.  Don’t be afraid to dive in! For more on mini-markets, check out “What are mini-markets?"  Check out our Shop for Companies page to start buying.

Find a couple of people to follow and watch what they’ve been doing around the site. It’s easy to get involved, and even easier to learn from what other people are saying and doing.  If you need a little help finding and following people, wander on over to “How do I find my friends on We Seed?” and “How do I follow someone’s portfolio?” 

At the top of your Portfolio page is a link that reads “Edit Profile.” If you click here, you can change your password, where you live, what you do for a living, as well as add an icon to represent you on the site. 

We are sad to see you go, but you can deactivate your account by clicking on the Edit Profile link on your Portfolio page. 

The entire team over here at We Seed HQ really relies on the sharp eyes of our users to help us out with stuff like this. If you do see offensive comments or status updates, please let us know! You can send us feedback (link on the bottom right of every page) to let us know what’s going on. Don’t forget to tell us who was leaving the bad comments and where they were left.

Of course! You’re allowed to have up to five different portfolios on We Seed for a couple of different reasons: if you want to let a family member use the same account as you and run their own portfolio, or if you want a few different portfolios that each concentrate on a different industry, or if you want to keep an eye on some stocks without actually spending some of your hard-earned WeSeed cash. So go crazy, see what else you can do with multiple portfolios at your fingertips!

Sure is...unless it becomes addictive, which it might. We Seed is built so that anyone, at any level of investing experience and any age, can use it. If you are a teacher, please go to our "for Educators" page. We’ve got some special supplies and features for classrooms and would love to help!

Well, that could be for a few reasons. We Seed only includes companies that are publically traded in the United States on one of the major markets: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations…now you know why they use the acronym), and AMEX (NYSE AlterNet US aka American Stock Exchange). That was a mouthful. The stock you’re looking for could be missing because it's:

• Only listed on foreign market.
• Only available through the OTCBB (Over the Counter Bulletin Board) or Pink Sheets. These stocks are not listed on the major exchanges because the companies do not want to list all of the details that those major exchanges require (stuff like market capitalization) or because they are very thinly traded. Either way, they’re not something you’re likely to invest in on your own. 
• An ETF, REIT, or other type of fund or trust. Most funds and trusts are made up of a lot of different businesses and activities. Right now, WeSeed doesn’t include a lot of funds and trusts because they’re so big and hard to track for beginning investors.

We're always working to improve our database and our search, so if you've got a suggestion or spot a company that's missing, never hesitate to drop us some feedback.

We’re always working to improve our database and our search, so if you’ve got some feedback or suggestions, never hesitate to send it. 

Anywhere you want! Did you have a bad customer service experience at a restaurant today? Did you just discover a product that you absolutely love?  Head on over to any company page or mini-market and you can leave your stories, observations, and ideas on that company, the industry as a whole, and what it all means. 

Edit your account by clicking on the "Edit Portfolio" link on the Portfolio page.  Just remember to keep your password private.

Make your way to the Share page and look at the left-hand toolbar.  If you invite a friend, they’ll get an email welcoming them to the site and helping guide them through the sign up process.

So this is the part of the stock market we just can’t put into plain English: the numbers.  Here’s a breakdown of how your portfolio values (visible on the right hand portfolio toolbar) are calculated:

• Overall Gain/Loss: The amount of value (money) your shares have gained or lost since you bought your first shares.
• Current Portfolio Value: How much your shares and your left over We Seed case are worth combined. (This is equal to Value of shares + Value of We Seed cash.)
• Today's Gain/Loss: How much value (money) your shares have gained or lost for the day.
• Shares Owned: The number of shares you currently own.
• Trades Overall: The total number of trades you have executed since you've joined We Seed.
• We Seed Cash Available: The amount of We Seed cash you have available to you, what you haven't spent on shares. (This is equal to your Initial Cash - Actual Investment.)
• Current Portfolio Value - Overall gain/loss = Initial We Seed Cash Amount + We Seed Cash Available.

And since we know that's more complicated than most people would like to even think about without a cup of coffee, we thank you for your patience.