What is a market order? Buying or selling at the best price now
By SendPay Business · · 2 min read
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A market order is an instruction to buy or sell straight away at the best price currently available. It almost always fills, but you do not choose the exact price you get.
How a market order fills
- You place a market order to buy.
- The exchange matches it with the cheapest sell orders in the order book.
- If the cheapest order is not big enough, it moves on to the next price.
- Your order fills at the average of those prices.
Market vs limit orders
A market order puts speed first: it fills now at whatever the price is. A limit order puts price first: it only fills at your price or better, and may not fill at all. Market orders often pay the higher taker fee on exchanges that charge makers and takers differently.
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Watch out for big orders and thin markets
In a quiet market, or for a large order, a market order can eat through several price levels and fill well away from the price you saw. This is slippage. Splitting a big order, or using a limit order, can help.
Where SendPay fits
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Questions people ask
What price would a market order get?
See how an order fills level by level and what slippage it causes.
Order book calculator →What did slippage cost me?
Work out slippage and the worst price your tolerance allows.
Slippage calculator →Read next
Spotted a mistake or something out of date? and we'll fix it. How our guides are made
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. Other companies named in this guide are reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.