The short answer
Traders who put most of their money in with limit orders that wait for their price paid about 0.28% of the money they bet in fees, about a tenth of what 5-minute crypto traders paid. For 8 of the 15 wallets, Polymarket paid back more than the wallet paid in fees.
To see how your own wallet compares, type your Polymarket @name or paste your profile address into the free check above.
How this style trades
We counted 15 public wallets where less than 30% of the money went in with instant buys. The rest went in with limit orders: the trader sets a price and waits until someone takes it. Most of their money went to markets without a game clock, mostly politics, plus some soccer. A typical bet was about $2,905.
These traders often sell before the end. The typical wallet sold early on about 57% of its money, but mostly with limit orders too, so those sales also paid little or nothing.
What it cost
- Fees: about 0.28% of the money bet for the typical wallet. Some paid almost nothing; the middle half paid up to 1.29%.
- Polymarket paid back more than it took. The typical wallet paid $89.65 in fees over 30 days and got $334.44 back: a share of other traders' fees, rewards and payments for holding.
- 13 of the 15 were ahead after fees on their Polymarket profile.
The catch
A limit order only trades if someone takes your price. When the price moves fast, the order can sit there and the bet never happens. Waiting saves the fee, but it can also mean missing the bet. When a limit order still pays the fee, with worked numbers: limit order or buy now.
Read this with care
15 wallets over 30 days is a small group. These numbers show what this style paid, not that it wins. Polymarket's monthly leaders are not included here; what they paid is in our study of the top 50 traders.
Questions
Do limit orders on Polymarket pay a fee?
Not when they wait. The order that takes the price instantly pays the fee. If your limit order trades at once because the price is already there, it pays like an instant buy.
Why does the Polymarket profile not show the money paid back?
The payments go to your wallet separately and are not part of the profit or loss on the profile. The free check shows both: fees paid and what Polymarket paid back.
Does selling with a limit order pay a fee?
No, if it waits for its price. An instant sale at the screen price pays the fee, the same as an instant buy.