How to sell shares on Polymarket

Quick steps

1. Open the position. Go to your portfolio or the market page and find the outcome you hold.
2. Switch to Sell. In the order panel, choose Sell on the outcome you own, for example Sell YES.
3. Choose market or limit. A market order sells straight away at the best bids. A limit order lets you set a minimum price and waits for a buyer.
4. Enter the number of shares. You can sell all or only part of your position.
5. Check the estimate and confirm. Look at the average price and the amount you will receive before confirming. Your cash balance updates when the order fills.

Why sell before resolution?

You never have to wait for a market to settle. Shares are tradable until the market closes, so you can sell to lock in a profit after the price has moved your way, cut a loss when your view changes, or free up money for something else. Your result is simply sale price minus purchase price, minus any fees. Holding to the end is a separate decision, and often a reasonable one, but it means accepting the full $1-or-$0 outcome.

Market sell vs limit sell

A limit order priced at or below the current best bid fills immediately, so it counts as a taker order and pays the fee. To be a maker, your sell price must sit above the best bid and wait. See limit orders and maker rebates.

Why you get less than the price on the chart

The headline price on a market is usually the midpoint between the best bid and best ask, or the last trade. When you sell, you sell to buyers, so you get the bid, which is lower. Three things widen the gap:

• Spread: in thin markets the bid can be several cents below the midpoint.
• Depth: if the best bid is only for 200 shares and you sell 1,000, the rest fills at lower bids. This is slippage.
• Fees: taker sells pay the same formula as taker buys, shares × feeRate × price × (1 − price). Geopolitics markets are fee-free. Check the fee calculator.

Before a large sale, look at the order book rather than the chart, and split the sale into a few limit orders if the book is thin.

Partial sells

You can sell any number of shares, not just the whole position. Selling part locks in some profit or reduces risk while keeping exposure to the outcome. Your remaining shares keep the same average cost in your records.

A worked example

You bought 200 YES shares at 30¢ ($60). The market moves to a 52¢ midpoint, with the best bid at 51¢ for 120 shares and 50¢ for 300 more. A market sell of all 200 shares fills 120 at 51¢ and 80 at 50¢: $101.20 before fees. In a 0.04 category the taker fee is about $2.00, so you receive roughly $99.20, a profit of about $39. A limit sell at 53¢ would pay no fee, but only fills if a buyer comes to you, and may never fill if the price falls. Use the profit calculator to run your own numbers.

After resolution: redeem, don't sell

Once a market resolves, the order book closes. Winning shares are redeemed for $1 each in pUSD and losing shares are worth nothing. There is no deadline for redeeming. If a binary market resolves 50-50, each side redeems for half. Redeemed money becomes cash balance that you can trade or withdraw. Resolution can take time, especially if the outcome is disputed; see how markets resolve.

Frequently asked questions