How do I buy stock in an IPO I'm interested in before it hits the market?

1. 83

   Max Daltonposted 12 years ago

   How do I buy stock in an IPO I'm interested in before it hits the market?
   
   I always see companies I'd love to own stock in, but often have to wait a few days, months or years for an opportunity to buy shares at what I think is a reasonable price. I'm just your average investor, but I honestly haven't the slightest clue how to go about this, or even if this is an option available to me.

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2. 55

   ramkimeenaposted 12 years ago

   Through private placing, employee stock option, from the employees and from the private equity funds that offload the shares of the company before its ipo hits  the market. But I will not recommend these methods unless the company is a gold mine. Better acquire the shares of the company like Intel or State Bank of India in a bear market and wait patiently to make a killing when the share price rises.

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3. 42

   Hypersapienposted 12 years ago

   It's just about impossible for the average joe to get in at the IPO price.  That's reserved for the large instituional clients of the investment bankers and brokerage houses.  You're just going to have to jump in at some point afterwards if you really want the stock and hope you haven't bought in too high.  Of course, you could also trade the options, which would let you control a lot more stock that you could actually buy; however, although options can be quite lucrative they are also risky, so you should know what you're geting into.  (On a side note, I have a hub about option trading if you want more info.)

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4. 85

   BraidedZeroposted 11 years ago

   I don't know if this question still needs answering since it has been open for 2 months, but you should check out SharesPost.com. I haven't fully used the website yet but from what I'm gathering it is a place where companies sell stocks for their companies before moving to the NY Stock Exchange. This is where Facebook stock could first be purchased. I hope this helps.

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5. 40

   clemchambersposted 11 years ago

   You can’t. Only rich folk get a look in and recently that’s been a good thing, because they have been fried. In the old days IPOs were cheap, it was the way stock got listed on the exchange. The idea was to sell stock cheap to get the ball rolling. Obviously everyone wanted a piece of that pie and IPOs got a reputation of being free money. However people forgot it was free money because the IPO price was low and the keenness to “get in on the ground floor” stuck. Now IPOs are getting in on the roof. Did you really want to get a piece of Zynga, Facebook and Groupon??? Until the day they start placing IPOs at bargain basement prices again, forget about them. Yes it's unfair you don’t get a chance but do you really want a seat at the Russian roulette where there are four bullets in the chamber?

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