Why This Fee Exists: Covering Payment Processing Costs
WestPoint Markets charges a 5% fee on realized profits solely to cover the approximately 3% transaction fee charged by our payment processor, Stripe (similar to PayPal), with the remaining margin supporting platform infrastructure, security, and operations. The platform does not charge trading commissions, bid–ask spreads, or per-transaction fees. The site earns revenue only when users make money, and only after a market is resolved.
YES / NO Button Pricing (No Embedded Fees)
The YES and NO buttons display action prices—the best price you can trade at right now—not fair value, not your holdings value, and not prices with any fee embedded. In Buy mode, button prices show the best executable price to buy that side immediately. In Sell mode, button prices show the best executable price to sell that side immediately (the best bid you can sell into).
All pricing is derived from four canonical order book values per market: the best bid and ask on YES, and the best bid and ask on NO. These values come directly from backend order book data and do not include or anticipate the 5% profit fee, because that fee exists only to offset Stripe's payment processing costs at resolution time.
Buy-Mode Pricing (Designed to Minimize User Cost)
In Buy mode, the Buy YES price is the cheaper of buying existing YES from the lowest YES seller or minting a new YES contract by matching against existing NO bids. Mathematically, this is defined as the minimum of the lowest YES ask and one minus the highest NO bid, ignoring any missing values. The same logic applies symmetrically to Buy NO pricing.
This design ensures users always see the lowest immediately executable price, with no markup added to cover Stripe fees. The platform does not widen prices or embed fees into displayed prices; Stripe costs are handled separately at resolution.
Sell-Mode Pricing (Pure Best Bid, No Adjustments)
In Sell mode, button prices represent what you can sell into immediately and therefore use only same-side bids. Selling YES fills against the highest YES bid; selling NO fills against the highest NO bid. There are no complements, no min logic, and no adjustments for fees.
Again, no portion of the 5% fee is reflected in Sell prices, because the fee exists only to offset Stripe's processing costs when profits are actually paid out.
Market Resolution and Why Fees Are Applied Only Then
Markets resolve into one of two outcomes: a normal resolution (YES wins or NO wins) or a refund at cost basis. At resolution, trading permanently stops, all open orders are cancelled, and user positions are settled into cash.
This is the only moment when money leaves the platform back to users, and therefore the only moment when Stripe's ~3% payment processing fee is incurred. For that reason, the platform applies its fee only at resolution, and only on profitable positions, so that processor costs are covered without taxing trading activity or losses.
The 5% Fee: Specifically to Cover Stripe's ~3% Cost
The 5% fee is not a bid–ask spread, not a trading commission, and not charged per transaction. It is a single fee applied only to realized profits on winning positions at market resolution. Its primary purpose is to cover the approximately 3% fee charged by Stripe (similar to PayPal) for moving money.
The calculation is strict and transparent: payout equals winning shares multiplied by $1.00; profit equals payout minus cost basis; the fee equals 5% of profit, applied only if profit is positive. Losses, principal, refunded markets, deposits, and trades placed before resolution are never charged a fee.
Refunds and Losing Positions (No Stripe Fee, No Platform Fee)
If a market is refunded at cost basis, users receive exactly what they spent and no Stripe fee is incurred, so no platform fee is charged. Similarly, losing positions pay nothing and therefore incur no Stripe processing cost, which is why the platform charges no fee in those cases.
Value Charts and Final Settlement Transparency
The price chart reflects market activity up until resolution and then clearly marks the resolution event. Winning outcomes fix the final value at 1.00 or 0.00, while refunded markets end with an explicit "Refunded at cost basis" annotation. No chart behavior implies continued trading after resolution.
Final settlement views display gross payout, cost basis, profit, the 5% fee (covering Stripe's processing cost), and the net amount credited to the user—ensuring full transparency.
Summary
The 5% profit fee exists primarily to cover Stripe's ~3% payment processing fee, allowing the platform to operate without charging trading commissions, spreads, or fees on losses. Users are only charged when they profit, only after a market resolves, and only in proportion to their gains.