Key takeaways
- A market order fills at once at the prices available. A limit order fills only at your price or better. A stop order stays dormant until the market reaches a trigger price, then becomes a market or limit order.
- Every order type trades price against certainty of execution. None removes both risks.
- A stop order does not guarantee its trigger price. In a fast market it can fill well beyond it.
- Fees follow the type: an order that fills against the book pays the taker rate, one that rests and is filled pays the maker rate. Backpack's spot tier 1 rates are 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker.
- Which order types are offered on a given Backpack market was not verified for this guide. Check the order ticket.
For information only. Not investment advice. This guide explains how order types work and does not tell you whether, when or what to trade. Read the risk disclosure first.
What an order type decides
An order type is the instruction that tells an exchange how to buy or sell: at what price, how urgently and under what condition. The exchange keeps an order book, a live list of bids (offers to buy) and asks (offers to sell), as the guide to how a crypto exchange works explains. Your order type decides whether you take a price from that list now or wait for the market to come to yours. Three types cover most trading: market, limit and stop.
Market orders: certain to fill, not certain of the price
A market order buys or sells immediately at the best prices on the book. You choose the quantity, not the price. It is the simplest order and the one most likely to fill.
The cost is that you cross the bid-ask spread, the gap between the best bid and the best ask, and a large order can use up several price levels and fill at a worse average price. That second effect is slippage. Both are set out with a worked example in the guide to slippage and the bid-ask spread. A market order always fills against orders already resting, so it pays the taker fee.
Limit orders: certain of the price, not certain to fill
A limit order names the worst price you will accept: the highest you will pay for a buy, the lowest you will take for a sell. It can fill at that price or better, never worse.
If your limit price is away from the market, the order rests on the book until another trader fills it or you cancel it. It may fill in part, or not at all, if the market never reaches your price. If your limit price crosses the spread, it fills at once and is charged as a taker. A resting order that is later filled normally pays the lower maker fee. The glossary entries for maker and taker fees define both.
Stop orders: a trigger, then an order
A stop order is dormant until the market reaches a trigger price, called the stop price. It then turns into a live order. The two common forms differ in what it turns into.
- Stop-market. At the trigger, a market order is sent. It is very likely to fill, but at whatever price the book offers then.
- Stop-limit. At the trigger, a limit order is sent with a second price you set. The price is capped, but if the market moves through your limit price the order may not fill at all.
People commonly use a sell stop to cap a loss on a position they hold, and a buy stop to enter when the price breaks above a level. A stop is not a guarantee of the trigger price. If the market jumps past it, a stop-market order fills at the next prices available, and a stop-limit order may be left unfilled.
The order types side by side
| Feature | Market | Limit | Stop-market | Stop-limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You set | Quantity | Quantity and price | Quantity and trigger | Quantity, trigger and limit price |
| Fill certainty | High | Not assured | High once triggered | Not assured |
| Price certainty | None | Your price or better | None after trigger | Your limit or better |
| Usual fee | Taker | Maker if it rests, taker if it crosses | Taker | Maker if it rests, taker if it crosses |
A worked example: the same sell stop, two ways
Illustration only, not a forecast
A trader holds 100 units of a fictional token bought at 100.00 USD and wants to limit the loss. They place a sell stop with a trigger of 95.00 USD. Overnight the price falls quickly through 95.00 and the best bids are then 93.00 USD for 40 units and 92.60 USD for 60 units. All numbers are invented for the arithmetic, except the 0.10% taker fee, which is Backpack's published spot tier 1 rate.
As stop-market. The market order sells 40 units at 93.00 and 60 at 92.60, so the sale is 3,720.00 + 5,556.00 = 9,276.00 USD, an average of 92.76 USD. The taker fee is 9.28 USD. The trader meant to exit near 95.00 and received about 2.4% less per unit, because the market gapped past the trigger.
As stop-limit with a limit of 94.50. Nothing in the book is at or above 94.50, so the order rests unfilled while the price sits below it. The trader avoids the poor fill but still holds the position, and if the price keeps falling the loss grows. Neither version is better in every case: one gives up price for certainty of exit, the other the reverse.
Six checks before you place an order
- Decide what matters more, price or speed. A limit order protects price. A market order protects speed.
- Read the order book first. Compare your size with the quantity at the best price. If you are larger than the first levels, expect slippage on a market order.
- Check the order type on the ticket. Confirm the type, side, quantity and price before sending.
- Set a stop with a gap in mind. Ask what happens if the price jumps past the trigger, and whether you can accept that fill, or no fill.
- Know the fee you will pay. A resting limit order that fills is a maker order. Anything that fills at once is a taker order. See the fee schedule.
- Review open orders. A resting limit or stop order stays live until it fills or you cancel it, unless the venue gives it an expiry. Cancel those you no longer want.
Common mistakes
- Using a market order in a thin market. A wide spread or a shallow book turns a small order into an expensive one.
- Treating a stop as a guarantee. A stop limits how long a loss runs, not how large it is.
- Setting a limit price that never trades. The order sits open while the opportunity you wanted passes.
- Forgetting a stale order. An old order can fill days later at a price you no longer want.
Order types and your account on Backpack
Backpack publishes spot maker and taker fees of 0.08% and 0.10% at tier 1, the entry tier, on the fee schedule, which notes that rates are subject to change. This guide did not read Backpack's trading documentation, so it does not list which order types, expiry options or stop triggers each Backpack market supports. Check the order ticket and the support site.
Availability depends on the company serving you. In the UAE, Backpack's licensed entity is Trek Labs Ltd FZE, which holds a VARA licence for Exchange Services, spot trading only. Perpetual futures are not available in the UAE, and stock brokerage is not provided under the CySEC, MiCA or VARA licences. The order types here apply to spot markets for a UAE client. How the same ideas work on derivatives is covered in the perpetual futures guide and in spot vs derivatives trading, but those products are not offered in the UAE. The About page names each entity and the FAQ answers common availability questions.
See the fees before you trade
The fee schedule lists the maker and taker rate at every tier, with worked examples and the date it was last reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a market order and a limit order?
A market order fills immediately at the best prices available, so it is almost certain to fill but its price is not fixed. A limit order fills only at your chosen price or better, so the price is fixed but the order may fill in part or not at all. Market orders pay the taker fee; resting limit orders usually pay the maker fee.
What is a stop order?
A stop order is an instruction that stays inactive until the market reaches a trigger price. It then becomes a market order (stop-market) or a limit order (stop-limit). Traders often use it to close a position if the price moves against them, but it does not guarantee the trigger price as the fill price.
Can a stop order fill at a worse price than the trigger?
Yes. A stop-market order is a market order once triggered, so in a fast or thin market it fills at the next prices on the book, which can be well beyond the trigger. A stop-limit order avoids a price worse than its limit, but may not fill at all if the market moves through that limit.
Which order type has the lowest fee?
An order that rests on the book and is later filled pays the maker fee, which is normally lower than the taker fee paid by an order that fills at once. At Backpack's spot tier 1, the published rates are 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker. The spread and slippage are separate costs that no fee table lists.
Does a limit order guarantee I will buy or sell?
No. A limit order guarantees only that it will not fill at a worse price than you set. If the market never reaches that price, or reaches it with too little quantity, the order stays open or fills in part. You can cancel it at any time before it fills.
Which order types can I use from the UAE on Backpack?
For a UAE client, Backpack's Dubai entity, Trek Labs Ltd FZE, is licensed by VARA for spot trading only, and perpetual futures are not available in the UAE. The specific order types offered on each spot market were not verified for this guide, so check the order ticket before you trade.
Sources
- Backpack, Trading Fees, support site. Tier 1 spot figures (0.08% maker, 0.10% taker) as shown on the fee schedule, read for this guide on 20 October 2026; the support article itself was not re-read.
- Backpack, VARA License Information, support site. Cited as quoted in What are perpetual futures, which read it on 12 October 2026; not re-read for this guide.
- Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, public register. Linked so you can check the licence yourself; not read for this guide.
The prices and quantities in the worked example are invented for the arithmetic and are not taken from any source or market. No external definition of order types was fetched for this guide: the definitions here are the research team's own plain-language explanations, and exchanges differ in how they implement stop and expiry options.