Frequently Asked Questions

WeSeed 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. WeSeed 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. WeSeed 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, WeSeed is totally free.

No, you invest money we give you, called WeSeed cash so that you can practice and improve without having to worry about losing your hard-earned money. When you sign up you can tell us how much you'd like to start off with, 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 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. WeSeed 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 Netflix users rate movies, members of the WeSeed community who own a stock will rate it on a four-star system. There’s also a place for users to comment on stocks and interact with other members of the WeSeed community in the Buzz section.

Just like money in the real world, your account with WeSeed 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 WeSeed 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).  WeSeed is tied to the real stock market, so your trades won't go through until it's open again, just like in real life.

WeSeed 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. Just enter your email address and click on the "Forgot Password?" button. We'll send you a new password pronto. Use it to log in and then go to your 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 right-hand corner of any page and tell us about the issue. The WeSeed 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 right-hand corner of any page or email us at WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com.

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 WeSeed 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.

If you head to your portfolio page, about halfway down the left hand toolbar is a button that says “Add/Reset funds.” You can add more WeSeed cash at any time, so don't worry.  Ta-da!

If you head to your portfolio page, about halfway down the left hand toolbar is a button that says “Add/Reset funds.” Ta-da!

On your portfolio page, in the gray “Your Members List” box is a link to “View all WeSeed Members.” Click on this and you can search for your friends by screen name or email address.

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

There are two ways to do this: First, you can just search for that 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 up at the top of any page on WeSeed. 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 WeSeed 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 scroll through the mini-markets using the green arrows on either side and get going.
You can think of the mini-markets as industries - groups of companies that are all related somehow.  You can even leave your opinion or ideas about the companies on the mini-market pages.  

You can reach us a whole bunch of ways. Send us an email through the WeSeed feedback link on the upper-right corner of any page, or to WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. 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 WeSeed 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 three different kinds of groups on WeSeed: open, moderated, and closed. In an open group, people are free to come and go as they chose. In a closed group, you must have an invitation to join; a moderated group is in between the two: 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. If you want a little more, there’s help at “How do you join a team?" 

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 your portfolio page. You can either check out the groups that your friends belong to (to find a user on WeSeed see “How do I find my friends on WeSeed?”) by looking at their portfolio and clicking on the “groups” button below their picture. You can also find groups on the WeSocial 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 WeSeed?”) and clicking on the “groups” button under their photo, or you can find or create a group on the left-hand side of the WeSocial 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 three 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.

Networks are automatic, so you can’t invite people to join them. If you think someone should be a part of a network that they’re not, you can always message them in the Mail Center on your portfolio page. 

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?"

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 WeSeed?” and “How do I follow someone’s portfolio?” 

At the top right or the very bottom of any page is a link that says “my account.” If you click here, you can change your screen name, password, where you live, what you do for a living, and how many emails you’d like to get from the site, as well as add an icon to represent you on the site. 

For right now, deleting your account on WeSeed is a manual process that we have to do behind the scenes. If you send us feedback or an email at WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com letting us know you’d like to delete your account, we’ll make sure everything gets taken care of. 

At the moment, we have to change your email address on our end, so if you send us feedback or email WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com we’ll handle everything for you…so sit back. Relax. We can’t bring you a drink, but we would if we could. 

The entire team over here at WeSeed 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 email us at WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com 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 WeSeed 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. WeSeed is built so that anyone, at any level of investing experience and any age, can use it. If you are a teacher, please email us at WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com. We’ve got some special supplies and features for classrooms and would love to help!

Check out the WeSeed blog and our Twitter and Facebook pages if you need more info or a little help. We’re always around, so just say hi! 

Well, that could be for a few reasons. Right now, WeSeed 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. We’re working on these right now to figure out the right way to incorporate things like the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nintendo.
• 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. 

If you feel like you’re getting overloaded, you can tell us how often you’d like to hear from us by clicking on the “my account” button in the upper right or down at the bottom of any page and editing your email settings. 

Edit your account by clicking on the "my account" button in the upper right or at the bottom of any page.  Just remember to keep your password private.

Well, make sure you really want to change it, first.  Remember, your screen name is the way that people know you on WeSeed, so if you change it they may not recognize you any more.  If you're still sure you want to do it, click the "my account" link at the upper right or down at the bottom of any page.

If you’re on your portfolio page, there are two links to the right of your profile picture that say “Invite a friend” and “Send shares to friends.” If you invite a friend, they’ll get an email welcoming them to the site and helping guide them through the sign up process. You can also send you friend WeShares, and perhaps (even more fun), you can post your shares to Twitter to show your friends what you’re up to (and how smart you are). 

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:

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

And since we know that's more complicated than most people would like to even think about without a cup of coffee, feel free to drop us an email at WeSeedCommunity@WeSeed.com for a little help.