PolymarketDocumentation/docs/market-makers/trading.md

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Trading

Order entry, management, and best practices for market makers

Market makers interact with Polymarket through the CLOB API — posting two-sided quotes, managing inventory across markets, and rebalancing positions. The SDK clients handle order signing and submission, so you can focus on strategy.

This page covers MM-specific workflows and best practices. For full order mechanics, see [Create Orders](/trading/orders/create) and [Cancel Orders](/trading/orders/cancel).

---

Two-Sided Quoting

The core market making workflow is posting a bid and ask around your fair value. Use createAndPostOrder to place each side:

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} import { ClobClient, Side, OrderType } from "@polymarket/clob-client";

const client = new ClobClient( "https://clob.polymarket.com", 137, wallet, credentials, signatureType, funder, );

// Bid at 0.48 const bid = await client.createAndPostOrder({ tokenID: "3409705850427531082723332342151729...", side: Side.BUY, price: 0.48, size: 1000, orderType: OrderType.GTC, });

// Ask at 0.52 const ask = await client.createAndPostOrder({ tokenID: "3409705850427531082723332342151729...", side: Side.SELL, price: 0.52, size: 1000, orderType: OrderType.GTC, });

```python Python theme={null}
from py_clob_client.clob_types import OrderArgs, OrderType
from py_clob_client.order_builder.constants import BUY, SELL

token_id = "3409705850427531082723332342151729..."

# Bid at 0.48
bid = client.create_and_post_order(
    OrderArgs(token_id=token_id, side=BUY, price=0.48, size=1000),
    order_type=OrderType.GTC,
)

# Ask at 0.52
ask = client.create_and_post_order(
    OrderArgs(token_id=token_id, side=SELL, price=0.52, size=1000),
    order_type=OrderType.GTC,
)

use polymarket_client_sdk::clob::types::Side;
use polymarket_client_sdk::types::dec;

let token_id = "3409705850427531082723332342151729...".parse()?;

// Bid at 0.48
let bid = client.limit_order()
    .token_id(token_id).price(dec!(0.48)).size(dec!(1000)).side(Side::Buy)
    .build().await?;
let signed = client.sign(&signer, bid).await?;
client.post_order(signed).await?;

// Ask at 0.52
let ask = client.limit_order()
    .token_id(token_id).price(dec!(0.52)).size(dec!(1000)).side(Side::Sell)
    .build().await?;
let signed = client.sign(&signer, ask).await?;
client.post_order(signed).await?;

Batch Orders

For tighter spreads across multiple levels, use postOrders to submit up to 15 orders in a single request:

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} const orders = await Promise.all([ client.createOrder({ tokenID, side: Side.BUY, price: 0.48, size: 500 }), client.createOrder({ tokenID, side: Side.BUY, price: 0.47, size: 500 }), client.createOrder({ tokenID, side: Side.SELL, price: 0.52, size: 500 }), client.createOrder({ tokenID, side: Side.SELL, price: 0.53, size: 500 }), ]);

const response = await client.postOrders( orders.map((order) => ({ order, orderType: OrderType.GTC })), );

```python Python theme={null}
from py_clob_client.clob_types import OrderArgs, OrderType, PostOrdersArgs
from py_clob_client.order_builder.constants import BUY, SELL

response = client.post_orders([
    PostOrdersArgs(
        order=client.create_order(OrderArgs(
            price=0.48, size=500, side=BUY, token_id=token_id,
        )),
        order_type=OrderType.GTC,
    ),
    PostOrdersArgs(
        order=client.create_order(OrderArgs(
            price=0.47, size=500, side=BUY, token_id=token_id,
        )),
        order_type=OrderType.GTC,
    ),
    PostOrdersArgs(
        order=client.create_order(OrderArgs(
            price=0.52, size=500, side=SELL, token_id=token_id,
        )),
        order_type=OrderType.GTC,
    ),
    PostOrdersArgs(
        order=client.create_order(OrderArgs(
            price=0.53, size=500, side=SELL, token_id=token_id,
        )),
        order_type=OrderType.GTC,
    ),
])

let mut signed_orders = Vec::new();
for (price, side) in [
    (dec!(0.48), Side::Buy), (dec!(0.47), Side::Buy),
    (dec!(0.52), Side::Sell), (dec!(0.53), Side::Sell),
] {
    let order = client.limit_order()
        .token_id(token_id).price(price).size(dec!(500)).side(side)
        .build().await?;
    signed_orders.push(client.sign(&signer, order).await?);
}
let response = client.post_orders(signed_orders).await?;

Batching reduces latency by submitting multiple quotes in a single request. Always prefer `postOrders()` over multiple individual `createAndPostOrder()` calls.

---

Choosing Order Types

Type	Behavior	When to Use
GTC	Rests on the book until filled or cancelled	Default for passive quoting
GTD	Auto-expires at a specified time	Expire quotes before known events
FOK	Must fill entirely and immediately, or cancel	Aggressive rebalancing — all or nothing
FAK	Fills what's available immediately, cancels rest	Rebalancing where partial fills are OK

GTC and GTD are your primary tools for passive market making — they rest on the book at your specified price. FOK and FAK are for rebalancing inventory against resting liquidity.

Time-Limited Quotes with GTD

Auto-expire quotes before known events like market close or resolution:

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} // Expire in 1 hour const expiringOrder = await client.createOrder({ tokenID, side: Side.BUY, price: 0.5, size: 1000, orderType: OrderType.GTD, expiration: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + 3600, }); ```

import time

# Expire in 1 hour
expiring_order = client.create_order(
    OrderArgs(
        token_id=token_id,
        side=BUY,
        price=0.50,
        size=1000,
        expiration=int(time.time()) + 3600,
    ),
    order_type=OrderType.GTD,
)

use chrono::{TimeDelta, Utc};
use polymarket_client_sdk::clob::types::OrderType;

// Expire in 1 hour
let order = client.limit_order()
    .token_id(token_id)
    .price(dec!(0.50))
    .size(dec!(1000))
    .side(Side::Buy)
    .order_type(OrderType::GTD)
    .expiration(Utc::now() + TimeDelta::hours(1))
    .build().await?;
let signed = client.sign(&signer, order).await?;
client.post_order(signed).await?;

---

Managing Orders

Cancelling

Cancel individual orders, by market, or everything at once:

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} await client.cancelOrder(orderId); // Single order await client.cancelOrders(orderIds); // Multiple orders await client.cancelMarketOrders(conditionId); // All orders in a market await client.cancelAll(); // Everything ```

client.cancel(order_id=order_id)                  # Single order
client.cancel_market_orders(market=condition_id)  # All orders in a market
client.cancel_all()                               # Everything

client.cancel_order(order_id).await?;           // Single order
client.cancel_market_orders(&request).await?;   // All orders in a market
client.cancel_all_orders().await?;              // Everything

See Cancel Orders for full details including onchain cancellation.

Monitoring Open Orders

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} const order = await client.getOrder(orderId);

const orders = await client.getOpenOrders({ market: "0xbd31dc8a...", asset_id: "52114319501245...", });

```python Python theme={null}
from py_clob_client.clob_types import OpenOrderParams

order = client.get_order(order_id)

orders = client.get_orders(
    OpenOrderParams(market="0xbd31dc8a...")
)

use polymarket_client_sdk::clob::types::request::OrdersRequest;

let order = client.order(order_id).await?;

let request = OrdersRequest::builder()
    .market("0xbd31dc8a...".parse()?)
    .build();
let orders = client.orders(&request, None).await?;

---

Tick Sizes

Your order price must conform to the market's tick size, or it will be rejected. Look it up with the SDK before quoting:

```typescript TypeScript theme={null} const tickSize = await client.getTickSize(tokenID); // Returns: "0.1" | "0.01" | "0.001" | "0.0001" ```

tick_size = client.get_tick_size(token_id)
# Returns: "0.1" | "0.01" | "0.001" | "0.0001"

let resp = client.tick_size(token_id).await?;
// resp.minimum_tick_size: TickSize::Tenth | Hundredth | Thousandth | TenThousandth

---

Fees

Most markets charge a small taker fee. Makers are never charged fees. Geopolitical and world events markets are fee-free.

Taker fees fund the Maker Rebates Program, which pays daily USDC rebates to liquidity providers.

Fees apply only to markets deployed on or after the activation date. Pre-existing markets are unaffected. Markets with fees enabled have `feesEnabled` set to `true` on the market object.

See Fees for the full fee schedule, rates by category, and calculation details.

---

Best Practices

Quote Management

• Quote both sides — Post bids and asks to earn maximum liquidity rewards
• Skew on inventory — Adjust quote prices based on your current position to manage exposure
• Cancel stale quotes — Pull orders immediately when market conditions change
• Use GTD for events — Auto-expire quotes before known catalysts to avoid stale exposure

Latency

• Batch orders — Use postOrders() to submit multiple quotes in a single request
• WebSocket for data — Subscribe to real-time feeds instead of polling REST endpoints

Risk Controls

• Size limits — Check token balances before quoting and don't exceed your available inventory
• Price guards — Validate prices against the book midpoint and reject outliers
• Kill switch — Call cancelAll() immediately on errors or position breaches
• Monitor fills — Subscribe to the WebSocket user channel for real-time fill notifications

---

Next Steps

Split, merge, and redeem outcome tokens Earn rewards for providing two-sided liquidity Full order creation reference with all options

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