Maker & Taker Fees
An exchange keeps a ledger where orders line up by price — 'buy at this price,' 'sell at this price.' That's the order book. Trades happen when a newly arriving order meets one waiting in line.
A maker places an order at a price that won't fill right now and waits. Say the current price is 100 million won and you place a limit buy at 99 million — that order adds a new line to the book. You have to wait for someone to match it, but because you added liquidity to the market, your fee is cheaper.
A taker doesn't wait — they grab an order already resting on the book. The market order is the classic example. You get the certainty of instant execution, but you consumed liquidity someone else provided, so you pay more.
The difference in numbers: on an exchange charging 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker, a 10-million-won trade costs the maker 2,000 won and the taker 5,000 won. Seems like nothing — but a position means two trades, entry and exit, so the round trip is 4,000 versus 10,000 won; do that 100 times a year and it's 400,000 versus 1,000,000 won. The more often you trade, the more this gap quietly gnaws at your returns.
That doesn't make maker always the right answer. A maker order only fills if price comes to your order — you can miss the spot you were trying to catch. It's a trade: fee savings in exchange for fill uncertainty. The taker is expensive but certain. Which side is better depends on the situation.
One thing is certain, though: fees are a cost that goes out every single time, whether your call is right or wrong. If your odds of calling direction are near a coin flip, then the more you trade, the more your expected value tilts negative by exactly the fees.
What the data actually shows
Barobara's fee comparison shows maker and taker fees plus cashback (rebate) terms by exchange at a glance. Note that cashback isn't income — it's getting back part of a fee you already paid. It lowers the cost; it doesn't make trading profitable. And as the setup stats show, if most chart signals' historical win rates hover near a coin flip, then among the variables deciding your final P&L, the one you can reliably control yourself is essentially cost. That's why understanding the fee structure matters as much as studying any indicator.Common misconceptions
'Fees are pocket change — ignore them' is the most expensive misconception. A 0.1% round-trip trade once a day for a year adds up to over 30% of your capital in fees alone. A lottery ticket is cheap too, until you buy one every day. Another one: 'a limit order is always a maker.' Even a limit order, if placed at a price that fills immediately (like a buy above the current price), eats an existing order off the book and gets charged as a taker. The test isn't the order type — it's whether you waited or took.
FAQ
Q. Do limit orders always pay the maker fee?
No. A limit order that fills the moment you place it counts as a taker. To be a maker, your order has to sit at a price that doesn't touch the current price and wait on the book. Some exchanges offer a 'post only' option that cancels the order if it would fill immediately.
Q. Is saving on fees really that important?
The more you trade, the more it matters. Fees are a certain cost paid whether you're right or wrong, so the closer your directional odds are to a coin flip, the more cumulative fees decide your final P&L. The same strategy can flip between positive and negative depending on the cost structure.