How to Buy Barclays PLC (BARC.LON) Stock for Beginners in 2025

Use our step-by-step guide to learn how to buy BARC.LON stock, make an investment for the first time, and compare the best Barclays PLC trading platforms for beginners.
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Updated on Aug 9, 2024
Reading time 2 minutes

With technology today, you can buy BARC.LON stocks from the comfort of your home. Barclays (BCS) stocks are available through many online brokers, and it usually takes just a few minutes to buy shares in BARC.LON when following our step-by-step guide.

In order to make an investment in Barclays PLC for the first time, you need to consider several important factors: is now the right time for me? how much should I invest? which trading platform is best for me? Furthermore, you’ll want the lowest fees, a user-friendly interface, and access to a wide range of other stocks.

That’s why we’ve compared the best places to buy Barclays PLC stocks. Our broker comparison below helps you make an informed decision on the best way to invest in Barclays PLC.

Let’s begin with where to get started, before moving onto setting up an account, and then placing your first Barclays PLC trade.

Where to buy Barclays PLC stock?

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Based on our research, the best stock trading app to buy Barclays PLC stock is eToro .

We’ve ranked the top five brokers where you can buy Barclays PLC shares according to how easy they are to use, how low their fees are, their safety and security rating, and average customer reviews.

We found 4 online brokers for users based in

eToro review
4.6
eToro
Min. Deposit $100
Fees 1%
No. assets 3600+
Demo account Yes

eToro review

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Plus500 review
4.5
Plus500
Min. Deposit $100
Fees From 2%
No. assets 2800+
Demo account Yes

Plus500 review

This information is NOT relevant to EU residents who are to be serviced by EU subsidiaries of the Plus500 Group, such as Plus500CY Ltd, authorized by CySEC (Reg. 250/14). Different regulatory requirements apply in Europe, such as leverage limitations and bonus restrictions.

Public.com review
4.4
Public
Min. Deposit $20
Fees 1-2%
No. assets 9000+
Demo account No

Public.com review

Cryptocurrency execution and custody services are provided by Apex Crypto LLC (NMLS ID 1828849) through a software licensing agreement between Apex Crypto LLC and Public Crypto LLC. Crypto trading on Public platforms is served by Public Crypto LLC and offered through APEX Crypto. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved before trading.

Read more about how we test, rank & review platforms.

How to buy stock in Barclays PLC in 3 steps

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Buying Barclays PLC stock is quick, all you need is an internet connection, a copy of your photo ID, and the amount you wish to invest. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1. Sign up to an online broker

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Our rankings suggest that eToro is the best stock trading platform for beginners.

When you sign up, you’re prompted to fill in your details to create an account, as you would with any online account creation process.

After that, you need to send a copy of your ID to verify the account before you can use it. This is because stock brokerages are required by law to comply with financial regulations, and these demand each customer confirm their identity before they can buy and sell shares on the stock market.

eToro review
4.6
eToro
Min. Deposit $100
Fees 1%
No. assets 3600+
Demo account Yes

eToro review

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Step 2. Make a deposit

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You can’t invest in Barclays PLC stock without any money in the account, so next you have to fund your trading account.

Head to the ‘bank’ or ‘account’ section of your dashboard and select the ‘deposit’ option. Transfer money to your new account via a debit or credit card, bank transfer, or an alternative payment method, like PayPal.

You can add as much as you like as long as you meet the minimum deposit threshold, which might be as low as $10, but is usually around $50-100 depending on your country of residence.

Top tip: consider how much you want to actually invest and over what period. You might need to deposit $200 or so in order to afford the shares, or $1,200 if you’re investing $100 per month for 12 months, for example. 

Step 3. Buy Barclays PLC stocks

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With funds now in your account, it’s time to make your first investment, aka place your first trade.

Search for Barclays PLC using the ticker symbol, BARC.LON. Click the ‘trade’ button and enter the details of your investment, such as how many shares you want to buy or how much you want to spend.

Having entered the amount, you’ll see all the details of the trade to confirm its what you expected. Once ready, hit the ‘trade now’ button to invest in Barclays PLC, completing your purchase.

It’s as easy as that! You can buy Barclays PLC shares in just 10-15 minutes and now you’re a Barclays PLC shareholder.

Top tip: remember though, the process is easy, but making money can be much harder. You still need to do lots of fundamental research, create a budget, and design a strategy that’s suitable for you. 

Compare the best platforms to buy Barclays PLC stock

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We found 4 online brokers for users based in

1. eToro. Best for beginners, copy-trading & demo-account

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4.5
Ratings

$100

Min. deposit

0% commission

Fees

3,600

No. assets

Yes

Demo account

Overview

We love eToro because it’s an easy place to trade the currency markets. Forex can be intimidating, but eToro strips back the complexity to give you a platform where you can trade 50+ currencies at competitive prices and with up to 30x leverage*.

*CFDs trading is restricted for US users.

As well as being a broker that offers lots of investor protection, eToro offers a very social trading experience. You can easily see how all the major and minor forex pairs are performing every day, track how investors feel about every one of those currencies, and copy other people’s trade suggestions from your desktop or the eToro app.

The fees: eToro charges a fee on currency trades through the spread. Spreads are variable depending on the currency and start from 1 pip for EUR/USD trades, 1.5 pips for EUR/GBP, and 2 pips for GBP/USD. Overnight and weekend fees apply.

Highlights

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

2. Plus500. Best for international trading*

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4.5
Ratings

$100

Min. deposit

From 0.8%

Fees

2,800

No. assets

Yes

Demo account

Overview

We love Plus500 because it is one of the industry’s most transparent and reliable brokers. Its fees are clear and you’ll know exactly what you will be paying before you trade. Its technology driven platform gives access to futures for the two biggest cryptos, Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Plus500 has something for all types of crypto trader, no matter what level of experience. Its low margin requirements of $20 for Ether and $100 for Bitcoin make it a top choice for day traders. At the same time, its trading academy is packed with educational content, perfect for beginners just starting. 

For accurate instrument availability, visit plus500.com.

The fees: Plus500 charges a commission of $0.49 per Micro contract and $0.89 per Standard contract (per side). There is an Auto-Liquidation fee of $10 per contract. Other exchange fees may be applicable and can be found on the CME group website. 

*Based on a comparison of 60+ leading brokers and trading platforms.

Highlights

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

This information is NOT relevant to EU residents who are to be serviced by EU subsidiaries of the Plus500 Group, such as Plus500CY Ltd, authorized by CySEC (Reg. 250/14). Different regulatory requirements apply in Europe, such as leverage limitations and bonus restrictions.

3. Public. Best for AI analysis

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public.com logo
4
Ratings

$20

Min. deposit

Spreads

Fees

9,000

No. assets

No

Demo account

Overview

We love Public because it makes use of cutting-edge AI technology to enhance your trading and investing experience. Public’s AI-powered feature, Public Alpha offers personalized insights and recommendations through its natural language interface in real time. 

Public’s AI technology helps you make more informed decisions by analyzing massive amounts of data and providing actionable insights. These AI-driven insights are easily accessible and give users access to the latest advancements in crypto analysis and trading. 

Not only do can you use AI to help your crypto investments, Public is one of the lowest cost brokerage firms out there. You can invest in a selection of cryptocurrencies without breaking the bank or having to invest large sums. Public charges 1.25% of your order amount, which is considerably cheaper when compared to similar platforms. 

The fees: There are no fees for investing in stocks during regular trading hours in the US – 9.30am-4pm EST. There is a $2.99 fee for trades outside of regular hours. Alternative investments, including cryptocurrency, are charged a 1.25% fee per transaction.

Highlights

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

Cryptocurrency execution and custody services are provided by Apex Crypto LLC (NMLS ID 1828849) through a software licensing agreement between Apex Crypto LLC and Public Crypto LLC. Crypto trading on Public platforms is served by Public Crypto LLC and offered through APEX Crypto. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved before trading.

What are the fees for investing in Barclays PLC stock?

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It depends on the stock broker. Some platforms charge a flat fee per trade, others charge a commission as a percentage of the total trade value each time you buy Barclays PLC stocks. These can range anywhere from $0.10 per trade, right up to 3% of the total amount you’re investing.

Consider that there may be other costs to trading too. Other fees can include deposit and withdrawal fees, or inactivity fees if you don’t use your account for three months or more. 

These are the trading platforms that charge the lowest fees for buying stocks in Barclays PLC.

Asset eToro fees Plus500 fees Public fees
Crypto 1% From 2% 1-2% (spread)
Commodities From 2 pips From 0.04%
Forex From 1 pip
Index prices From 0.75 pts From 0.7%
Stocks 0% commission From 0.08% Spreads
Stock CFDs 0.15%
ETF CFDs 0.15%
View more > eToro > Plus500 > Public >

Are there other ways to invest in Barclays PLC?

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Yes, you can invest in Barclays PLC stock in a few different ways. One option is to buy stock in Barclays PLC directly through an investment platform as laid out above, while another popular choice is to invest in a fund. 

A fund buys stocks in lots of companies on your behalf, to create a diversified portfolio of different assets. Diversified portfolios are typically considered safer than investing in a single stock, because their values fluctuate at different times and their peaks and troughs can balance out.

Many of the best index funds contain Barclays PLC, while another option is to invest in an ETF. ETFs are similar to funds, except rather than someone choosing what to invest in, it buys stocks automatically according to a set of guiding principles. Barclays PLC is a popular choice in many of the top performing ETFs.

A third option is to use a social copy trading platform, like eToro . Find a trader who you like and copy their Barclays PLC trades directly to your own account. 

This can be a good investment strategy for beginners and a way to learn how to buy Barclays PLC shares from someone with more experience.

How to sell Barclays PLC stock

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When you decide the time is right to sell and lock in some profit (or cut your losses), the process is pretty much the same as having purchased the stock. The steps are as follows:

  1. Log into your broker account and navigate to your portfolio. 
  2. From there, find your Barclays PLC stock and you’ll see a ‘sell’ option next to it. 
  3. Click that to set the details of the trade. You don’t have to sell all your stocks at once, you could choose to sell half for example. 
  4. Once you’ve decided accordingly, click the ‘sell’ or ‘close’ button to sell back to cash.

Should I buy Barclays PLC stock now?

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It’s your investing goals and style that define whether now is a good time to buy. The current Barclays PLC stock price plays into it but ultimately it depends on your investment horizons.

  • If you’re a short term trader: the goal is to make money by buying and selling stocks regularly to secure a profit or avoid a loss. That can mean trading hourly, daily, or weekly but the focus is always on the near future. Traders learn how to buy stocks in Barclays PLC based on short term technical analysis and don’t hold shares for a long time, so any time can be a good time to buy Barclays PLC.
  • If you’re a long term investor: you’re more interested in long term price appreciation than whether a stock is up or down on any given day. The important thing is finding a stock with a strong foundation where you think the share price will be up over a period of months or years. If you think Barclays PLC’s fundamentals are solid then the best time to invest in Barclays PLC stock is after a dip or a pullback in price.

Most new traders sit somewhere between these two positions. Many investors don’t want to actively trade Barclays PLC stock all hours of the day, but nor do they want to wait years for a return either.

Top tip: investing small amounts regularly (known as Dollar-Cost-Averaging (DCA)) over a long period of time is proven to be the most successful investing strategy for normal people without trading skills.

Either way, following Barclays PLC price news and analysis will help you decide when to dip your toe into the market.

Fundamental analysis of Barclays PLC shares

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How has Barclays PLC’s share price performed in recent years?

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Overall, BARC.LON is -100.00% over the last week. The BARC.LON share price is -100.00% in 2025 so far.

Is it a good time to buy Barclays shares now?

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Banks tend to be a good guideline for the health of the overall economy and the pandemic is a reminder that this type of investment is always vulnerable to unpredictable market events. With that in mind, Barclays is more resilient now with increased capitalisation compared to the 2008 crisis and the ability to lean on its investment arm to benefit from market volatility

The question marks are more to do with the economic situation as a whole, which means any potential buyer needs to assess how banks may benefit from more certainty in the aftermath of a UK-EU Brexit deal and as the immediate pressures of the pandemic are reduced. Similarly, the decision on restarting the Barclays dividend will most likely be made based on BoE guidance, which makes it another crucial news development to follow.

Those factors will affect Barclays stock in the short to medium term, while longer term investors will want to look for signs of interest rates changes. You can get Barclays stock information, follow all the latest news and read our up to date market analysis below.


Sources & references

James Knight

James Knight

Editor of Education

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James is the Editor of Education for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock market, to cryptocurrency, to macroeconomic markets. His main focus is on improving financial literacy among casual investors. He has been with Invezz since the start of 2021 and has been...