> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.pretoke.xyz/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.pretoke.xyz/using-the-platform/placing-a-trade.md).

# Placing a Trade

## Choose your side

On any market, pick:

* **YES** or **NO** — which outcome you're betting on.
* **Buy** or **Sell** — buy to open/increase a position, sell to close/reduce one you already hold.

## Choose your order type

The platform offers two ways to trade:

### Market order (recommended for most people)

You specify how many shares you want, and the platform fills your order immediately at the best available price, automatically picking (or splitting between) the order book and the automated market maker to get you the best overall price. This is the simplest option — you just tell it "buy 100 YES shares" and it happens right away.

### Limit order

You specify both a **price** and a **quantity**. Your order only fills at your specified price or better, and if the market isn't there yet, your order waits on the order book until someone else trades against it (or until you cancel it).

Limit orders support two behaviors:

* **GTC (Good-Til-Cancelled)** — stays open, resting on the order book, until it fills or you cancel it.
* **FOK (Fill-Or-Kill)** — must fill completely and immediately, or it's cancelled outright with nothing filled. Useful when you don't want a partial fill sitting around.

Limit order prices must be between $0.01 and $0.99.

## Confirming a trade

Before you confirm, the platform shows you:

* The estimated price and total cost (for a market order) or the exact price and cost (for a limit order).
* Any trading fee included in that cost.

Once confirmed, the trade executes and your **balance**, **positions**, and the **order book** update in real time.

## What happens after you trade?

Your trade is recorded and its position is instantly reflected in your portfolio. In parallel, the platform settles the underlying outcome-token position on the TON blockchain (splitting collateral into outcome tokens, or merging them back, depending on what you did) — this happens automatically in the background and typically completes within seconds to a couple of minutes. You never have to wait for on-chain settlement to see your trade reflected in the app.

If you're curious how this actually works, see [How Trades Settle On-Chain](/how-it-works/settlement-explained.md).

## Cancelling an order

Any limit order that hasn't fully filled yet can be cancelled from your open orders list — the locked collateral for the unfilled portion is released back to your available balance immediately.

Next: [Managing Your Portfolio](/using-the-platform/managing-your-portfolio.md).


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