What is my real all-in cost to trade this market?
Your all-in cost is the entry fee, the exit or settlement fee, and the fixed costs of moving money in and out. On a small trade, the fixed costs can outweigh the fee rates.
The calculator subtracts all of them from gross PnL and shows the exit price you need to break even if you close before resolution.
- Best for
- Entry and exit planning before order placement
- Primary output
- Net PnL after all modeled fees
- Use before
- Any trade with tight expected edge
Key points
- Adds entry, exit, transfer and flat costs into one total
- Covers open and close, hold to win and hold to loss
- Shows fee load on entry and the break-even exit price
Method and assumptions
What counts as trading cost in prediction markets
The fee schedule is one layer. A trade also pays to get money onto the venue and back off it: deposits, withdrawals, bridge or network fees and bank charges. They are not on the order ticket, but they come out of realized profit.
When a cost is uncertain, use the higher estimate. A trade that works only with the lowest possible fees does not have an edge.
- Entry fees on the initial buy
- Exit fees when closing the position or collecting settlement proceeds
- Deposit, withdrawal, bridge, or network costs
- Any other flat expense required to complete the workflow
How to use the fee calculator
Pick the scenario that matches your plan. Open + close models both legs of a trade you will sell before resolution. Hold to win and hold to loss model holding to resolution, where the exit is the $1 or $0 payout instead of a sale.
Enter the contracts you are about to buy, not a size you might trade later. Flat costs are spread over the whole order, so the fee load changes with size.
- Choose Open + close or a hold scenario.
- Enter entry price, exit price and contracts for this order.
- Add the venue’s entry and exit fee rates.
- Add deposit, withdrawal and other fixed costs.
Worked fee example
Buy 500 contracts at $0.47 and sell them at $0.58: gross PnL is $55.00. A 0.10% fee on each side costs $0.24 on entry and $0.29 on exit, and a $5 withdrawal brings total costs to $5.53. Net PnL is $49.47, and costs equal 2.35% of the $235 entry.
The break-even exit is $0.481. Selling below it loses money after costs, even though it is above the $0.47 entry. Most of the cost is the flat $5 withdrawal: at 50 contracts, the same trade would keep $0.45 of its $5.50 gross gain.
- Frequent round trips pay fees on both legs every time
- Flat costs weigh most on small orders
- Compare the break-even exit with where you expect to sell
Fee modeling mistakes
Presets are a starting point. Check them against the exact market and order type you trade, because fee schedules can differ between them and change over time.
Do not leave transfers out because the venue does not charge them. They still come out of the money you take home.
- Ignoring fixed costs because they look small in isolation
- Using theoretical position size instead of executable order size
- Forgetting that both the open and close leg can have friction
- Comparing venues without normalizing their full cost path
Frequently asked questions
Why does the fee calculator include withdrawal and other flat costs?
Because profit is what reaches your account after the whole workflow. On the default 500-contract trade, the $5 withdrawal is about 90% of all costs.
Should I use round-trip mode even if I might hold to settlement?
Use the scenario that matches your plan. If you expect to sell before resolution, use Open + close. If you will hold, use Hold to win or Hold to loss.
Does this tool model slippage too?
No. It models explicit fees and fixed costs. For fill quality, use the slippage impact calculator, which adds entry and exit slippage on top of fees.
Why can a small fee rate still matter so much?
It applies to both the entry and the exit notional, and you pay it again on every round trip. The thinner your expected edge, the larger the share it takes.