Based on 26 public wallets checked on polyfees by 13 October 2026 and on Polymarket’s fee formula, checked on 11 October 2026.
The short answer
Buying favourites at 90¢ and up costs little in fees: on sports, a $100 instant buy at 90¢ pays $0.50, and at 97¢ $0.15. The fee is not the main cost of this style. The main cost is the rare loss: at 90¢ one losing bet takes as much as nine winning ones bring. In 26 wallets that put half or more of their money in at 85¢ and up, fees were about 0.12% of the money bet, and the typical wallet ended the month about 1% ahead of the money it bet.
To see your own fees and your month after fees, type your Polymarket @name or paste your address into the free check above.
The fee near $1
Fee = shares × rate × price × (1 − price). Near $1 the last part, (1 − price), is small, so the fee is small:
| Price | Fee on $100, sports | Win if right | Lose if wrong | Break-even win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85¢ | $0.75 | +$16.90 | −$100.75 | 85.64% |
| 90¢ | $0.50 | +$10.61 | −$100.50 | 90.45% |
| 95¢ | $0.25 | +$5.01 | −$100.25 | 95.24% |
| 97¢ | $0.15 | +$2.94 | −$100.15 | 97.15% |
“Win if right” is the $1 payout per share minus the $100 and the fee. Other prices and market types: fee calculator.
What the numbers say about this style
- Being right most of the time is the price of entry, not the edge. At 90¢ you need to win 90.45% of such bets just to break even on sports. Bitquery looked at 273 U.S. primary elections in 2026: favourites priced 90¢ and up won 177 of 182, and a $1 bet on every favourite would have come back as about $0.96 (Bitquery).
- One loss undoes many wins. At 90¢, a loss of about $100 equals nine wins of about $10.61; at 97¢, about 34 wins of $2.94.
- The fee is small, so the gain from avoiding it is small too. A limit order that waits for its price pays nothing, but at 95¢ it saves $0.25 on $100.
What we saw in 26 wallets
We looked at 26 public wallets checked on polyfees by 13 October 2026 that put half or more of their money in at 85¢ and up, each over the 30 days before its check. Leaderboard wallets are left out.
- Fees were about 0.12% of the money bet for the typical wallet, from 0.02% to 0.35% for the middle half — the lowest of any style we track.
- The typical wallet bet $83,610 in 30 days, about $112 a bet, and paid $57.14 in fees; Polymarket paid back $14.16.
- 19 of 26 were ahead on their Polymarket profile, which is before fees, and 18 after fees. The typical result was about 1% of the money bet.
26 wallets are a sample, not everyone. Other styles: 5-minute crypto, betting during the game, limit order traders.
All styles side by side: Polymarket trader types and their fees.
The other end of the price range: buying long shots at 20¢ or less.
Questions
Is the Polymarket fee high on 90¢ bets?
No. On sports, a $100 instant buy at 90¢ pays $0.50 and at 97¢ $0.15. The fee is largest at middle prices.
Can you make money buying favourites on Polymarket?
We don’t give betting advice. The numbers: at 90¢ you need to win more than 90.45% of such bets on sports to come out ahead, and one loss takes away what about nine wins bring.
Why do high-probability bets still lose money?
Because the price already says how likely the win is. At 90¢ the market expects about 9 wins in 10; the 10th loses almost the whole stake, and the fee comes on top.