Order Types
A market order fills now at the best available price; a limit order only fills at your chosen price or better but may never fill.
Quick answer
A market order prioritizes speed: it fills immediately at whatever price is available, which can mean slippage in thin markets. A limit order prioritizes price: it fills only at your target or better, but might never fill.
What it means
Market orders take liquidity now. Limit orders sit until price reaches your level. Stop orders trigger a market or limit order once a price is crossed, and are often used to cut losses or lock in gains.
Why it matters
Choosing the wrong order type is a common beginner mistake. Chasing a fast mover with a market order can fill far from the price you saw; a limit order in a runaway market may leave you on the sidelines. The scenario challenge below builds this judgment.
What happens if you ignore this
Pick the wrong order type and you either overpay or miss out. A market order into a fast, thin mover can fill far above the price you saw; a limit order set too far away can leave you watching a token run without you. The order type is a choice between certainty of price and certainty of fill.
Common mistakes
Using a market order in a thin, fast market and getting a poor fill, or setting a limit so far away it never triggers.
Story
A token is spiking and Nadia doesn't want to miss it, so she slams a market buy at what looks like $0.010.
She expects to get in near $0.010.
By the time her order clears the thin order flow, it fills at $0.013 — 30% higher. A patient limit at $0.011 would have filled seconds later on the pullback.
Market orders trade price for speed. When something is moving fast in a thin market, a limit order protects the price you actually pay.
Beginner tips
- Use a market order when getting filled matters more than the exact price.
- Use a limit order when the price you pay matters more than speed.
- In fast, thin markets, a market order can fill well away from the last price you saw.
Common mistakes
- Market-buying a thin token and eating large slippage.
- Placing a limit order and forgetting it may never fill.