Based on 44 public wallets checked on polyfees by 13 October 2026, from Polymarket’s own public records.
The short answer
Traders who sell most positions before the market ends pay the fee twice on those trades: once on the instant buy and again on the instant sale. In 44 wallets that sold 60% of their money or more before the end, fees were about 1.58% of the money bet. Fees turned 3 profitable months into losses: 29 of the 44 were ahead on their Polymarket profile, which is before fees, and 26 after fees.
To see what fees took from your own month, type your Polymarket @name or paste your address into the free check above.
How this style trades
We looked at 44 public wallets checked on polyfees by 13 October 2026 that sold 60% of their money or more before the market ended, each over the 30 days before its check. Polymarket’s monthly leaders are left out. A wallet here can also belong to another style.
- Mostly markets without a game clock: events, crypto prices, weather and politics.
- Mostly instant. About 83% of the money in the typical wallet went in with instant buys, and the typical wallet sold before the end on about 82% of its money.
- A typical bet was about $66, and the typical wallet bet $24,127 in 30 days.
What it cost
- Fees: about 1.58% of the money bet for the typical wallet, from 0.35% to 3.91% for the middle half.
- Some money came back. The typical wallet paid $191.23 in fees in 30 days and got $61.53 back from Polymarket; for 10 of the 44, more came back than they paid in fees.
- Fees turned 3 of 44 months around, from a profit on the profile to a loss after fees.
The second fee, with numbers
250 shares bought at 40¢ on a sports market pay $3.00 in fees. Sold at once at 75¢, they pay another $2.34. Held to a win, they pay nothing more. Selling with an order at your own price pays no fee, but it may not trade. Worked through in does Polymarket charge a fee when you sell? and cashing out early. Why a sale can bring less than the price on the screen: four reasons.
Read this with care
44 wallets over 30 days is a sample, not everyone. Selling early is a choice with its own reasons — locking in a price, cutting a loss — and we don’t say whether to do it. These numbers show what it cost in fees. All styles side by side: Polymarket trader types and their fees.
Questions
Does selling before the end cost more on Polymarket?
Yes, if you sell instantly: the sale pays a fee with the same formula as the buy, taken from what you receive. Holding to the end pays nothing more, and a sale with an order at your own price pays nothing.
How much do traders who sell early pay in fees?
In 44 public wallets that sold 60% of their money or more before the end, the typical one paid about 1.58% of the money it bet in fees over 30 days.
Is selling early the same as cashing out?
Polymarket has no cash-out button like a sportsbook. You sell your shares at the current price, and an instant sale pays the fee.