# Placing orders

> How to buy and sell YES and NO shares, choose between market and limit orders, and cancel open orders.

## How shares work

Every market has two outcomes: **YES** and **NO**. You trade shares of an outcome.

- A share is priced in cents, from 1¢ to 99¢. The price is roughly the market's estimate of the chance that the outcome happens. A YES share at 63¢ means the market sees about a 63% chance.
- If your outcome wins, each share pays **$1**. If it loses, the share pays nothing.
- You can sell shares before the market ends. The price you get depends on what other traders are bidding at that moment.

## Buy or sell from the trade panel

1. Open a market and pick **YES** or **NO**.
2. Choose **Buy** or **Sell**.
3. Choose **Market** or **Limit** (see below).
4. Enter an amount in dollars or a number of shares.
5. Review the ticket and confirm.

To close a position you hold, switch to **Sell** in the trade panel. You can also press **Sell** on the position in your [portfolio](/portfolio/).

The panel opens on **Market** by default. It remembers the order type you used last.

## Market and limit orders

| Order type | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Market** | Fills right away at the best prices available. |
| **Limit** | Sets your own price. It fills only when the market reaches that price, and waits as an open order until then. |

For a limit order, the price must be between **1¢ and 99.9¢**.

A market order can fill at several prices if you buy more than the best offer holds. The **Max slippage** setting limits how far from the best price you are willing to go.

Some markets do not offer limit orders. In that case the **Limit** option is disabled.

## Minimum order size

Venues set minimum order sizes. Currently, Polymarket requires at least $1.00 per order, and many Polymarket markets also require a minimum number of shares. If your order is too small, the ticket tells you the minimum and blocks the order until you adjust it.

## Fees on the ticket

The ticket shows the Doxa platform fee and, where the venue charges one, the venue fee **before you confirm**. The review window shows the total cost of a buy or the estimated proceeds of a sell. Fees are included in those totals.

## High slippage warning

If an order is large compared with what is on offer, it could fill well away from the best price. When that happens, Doxa shows a **High Slippage** window before the order goes out. It shows:

- The average price you would get, next to the best price.
- How much worse the average is than the best price.
- If the book is too thin, the share of the order that can actually fill.

You can then:

- **Confirm anyway** to place the order as it is.
- **Cancel** to go back and change it.
- **Switch to limit at best price** (or **Set limit to best price** if you are already on a limit order) to wait for a better price.

The figures are estimates. Prices can move before your order reaches the venue.

## Order lifecycle

After you confirm, your order moves through these states. You see them in **My Orders** while the order is working, and in **Trade History** once it is finished.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Submitting] --> B[Open]
    B --> C[Partial]
    B --> D[Settling / Confirming]
    C --> D
    D --> E[Filled]
    B --> F[Cancelled]
    C --> F
    B --> G[Expired]
    A --> H[Failed]
```

- **Submitting…** — your order is on its way to the venue.
- **Open** — a limit order is resting and waiting for its price.
- **Partial** — part of the order has filled. The percentage shows how much.
- **Settling…** and **Confirming…** — a fill has happened and is being finalised. These usually clear quickly.
- **Filled** — the whole order is done.
- **Cancelled**, **Expired** or **Failed** — the order ended without filling in full.

Market orders normally fill at once, or not at all. Limit orders can stay open for a long time. Currently Doxa does not put its own expiry date on limit orders, but an order cannot fill after its market closes.

## Cancel an open order

1. Go to **My Orders** in your [portfolio](/portfolio/).
2. Press **Request cancel** on the order. You can also press **Request cancel all**.

The button says "request" because the venue may fill your order before it processes the cancel. If that happens, the order is filled and not cancelled. While a cancel is being retried the row shows **Retrying cancel…**.

You cannot cancel an order that still shows **Submitting…**. Wait a moment and try again.

## Trading limits

These limits apply to your account. They are current values and may change.

- **Open orders:** currently up to 50 at a time.
- **Daily buying:** currently up to $100,000 of buy orders per day (the day is counted in UTC).

If you reach a limit, the order is refused with a message and nothing is spent.

## Related pages

- [Fast markets](/trading/fast-markets/)
- [Portfolio](/portfolio/)
- [Settlement and payouts](/settlement-and-payouts/)