Market Help & FAQ
Understanding the metrics and mechanics of the Grand Exchange.
Understanding Prices
High Price (Insta-Buy)
The High Price is the wiki 5-minute average instant-buy (what you pay to buy now).
Low Price (Insta-Sell)
The Low Price is the wiki 5-minute average instant-sell (what you get if you sell now, before tax).
Profit Metrics
Margin (Net Profit)
The absolute gold profit per item after tax.
ROI (Return on Investment)
The percentage return on your gold. A higher ROI means you risk less gold to make the same profit.
GE Mechanics
Grand Exchange Tax
Most items sold on the GE are subject to a 2% tax of the sale price (raised from 1% on 29 May 2025).
- Capped at 5,000,000 gp per item (the cap kicks in at 250m).
- Sales under 50 gp round to 0 tax. Bonds, some food, teles, and tools are fully exempt.
Buy Limits
Each item has a Buy Limit restricting purchases every 4 hours.
Flipping high-volume items allows for consistent profit, while low-limit items may offer higher margins but slower volume.
Price movers
Price movers compare the latest 5-minute wiki average to the previous daily close (not a rolling 24h mean). Daily volume is the wiki daily mapping volume.
Merch (wait-both-sides)
The Merch page ranks items you buy at the insta-sell (wiki low) and sell at the insta-buy (wiki high), waiting both sides of the book. Edge is after the 2% GE tax (0% on tax-exempt items like bonds).
Rank is expected gp per 4-hour buy-limit window, not margin × limit. Capacity is the smallest of: the 4h buy limit, how many your cash stack can buy, and a fill factor × (daily volume ÷ 6). Fill factor is 0.4 by default (0.5 instant/volume, 0.25 overnight, 0.3 high ticket).
Thin / stale / wide tags are warnings, not filters. GP/4h is a fillability estimate, not a guarantee you will clear the book.