> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.parlayit.gg/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.parlayit.gg/using-parlayit/fees.md).

# Fees

Individual markets have **no fees** on ParlayIt. Buying and selling single-market positions costs nothing on either side of the trade.

**Parlays** carry a fee that is always shown in the betslip before you place. The exact amount is visible up front, so the formula below is for understanding how fees scale, not for manual calculation.

## How Parlay Fees Are Calculated

For each leg of a parlay, the fee uses this formula:

```
fee = C × feeRate × p × (1 - p)
```

Where:

* `C` is the number of shares traded
* `feeRate` is the fee rate applied to the trade
* `p` is the share price (between 0 and 1)

The shape is intentional: the fee peaks where `p = 0.5` and drops to zero at the edges (`p = 0` or `p = 1`). This concentrates the fee around the most uncertain prices (where market makers carry the most risk) and keeps it minimal where outcomes are nearly certain.

The final parlay fee is the **lower** of two values:

* the sum of all per-leg fees, **excluding the highest one**
* the same formula applied to the full parlay price

This caps the fee so it never grows linearly with the number of legs, and keeps multi-leg parlays competitive.

## Worked Examples

### Single Leg

If a leg has `C = 100` shares, `feeRate = 0.02` (2%), and `p = 0.50`:

```
100 × 0.02 × 0.50 × 0.50 = 0.50
```

The leg fee would be **$0.50**.

### Three-Leg Parlay

Suppose a three-leg parlay produces these leg fees:

* Leg 1 fee: 0.50
* Leg 2 fee: 0.32
* Leg 3 fee: 0.18

The highest leg fee (0.50) is dropped. Sum of the remaining:

```
0.32 + 0.18 = 0.50
```

The protocol also calculates the parlay-wide fee using the same formula on the combined parlay price. The final fee is the lower of the two:

* If the parlay-wide fee is **0.42**, the user pays **0.42**.
* If the parlay-wide fee is **0.80**, the user pays **0.50**.

## In The Betslip

You always see the exact fee for your trade in the betslip before placing the parlay. The formula above is provided for transparency about how that fee is computed. There is no need to calculate it yourself.