> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.xo.market/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How prices work > What 40¢ means, what it pays, and what a payout multiple is not. A prediction share pays according to the final market outcome. In a binary market, one winning share pays $1 and one losing share pays $0. If YES trades at 40¢, buying 100 YES shares costs $40 before fees. If YES wins, the gross payout is $100. If NO wins, those shares pay \$0. Your maximum loss is what you paid, plus any applicable fee. ## Price as a probability Traders often read a 40¢ price as roughly a 40% market-implied chance. The shorthand is useful but incomplete. The visible quote is affected by: * the spread between the best bid and the best ask * shallow or one-sided liquidity * stale resting orders * fees * the gap between the best executable price and a chart's midpoint or last trade Use the executable price in the trade ticket as the basis for cost and expected payout — not a rounded percentage on a card. ## Payout multiples A market card may show a payout multiple. Before fees, a share bought at 40¢ has a gross payout multiple of $1 ÷ $0.40 = 2.5× if it wins. The multiple compares the winning redemption value with your purchase price. It does not describe how likely the outcome is, and it does not promise a return. ## Why YES and NO don't always add to 100% In a live order book, the best available YES and NO quotes can sum to more or less than \$1. They come from different orders, on different sides, in different sizes, placed at different times. This is normal. It is also why the trade ticket — which prices your actual size against the actual book — is the number that matters. A quoted price is not a guaranteed exit price. If you want to sell before resolution, what you receive depends on the bids available at that moment.