Maker vs Taker Fees: How to Stop Paying the Higher One

Why there are two prices

An order book only works if orders are sitting on it. Exchanges therefore pay for that: they charge less — occasionally nothing, occasionally a rebate — to anyone whose order waits on the book and provides something for others to trade against.

When you buy at the market price, you are consuming one of those resting orders. You took liquidity that someone else supplied, so you pay the higher rate. That is the whole logic.

Which one you are paying now

If you press Buy and the trade fills immediately, you paid the taker fee. This covers every purchase through a simple-mode app, every market order, and any limit order priced so aggressively that it fills on arrival.

For most retail users the answer is that they have only ever paid taker fees, and have been comparing venues on maker rates they never touch.

Moving to the maker side

The mechanism is a limit order placed at a price that will not fill instantly — slightly below the market if buying, slightly above if selling. The order rests, and you earn the maker rate when it fills.

The cost is certainty: it might not fill at all, or not for a while. That trade-off is usually worth it when accumulating and rarely worth it when you need a specific position immediately.

• Use the exchange interface, not the simple-buy app — simple mode has no limit orders.
• Enable post-only if the venue offers it: the order is cancelled rather than filled as a taker.
• Split a large order into resting slices rather than one market order that walks the book.
• Check the fee tier table — some venues charge zero maker at every tier.