Exchange Fee Structures and Which One You Are Actually Using
The order book fee and the simple interface spread are different products at the same venue, and the difference is several times.
Most venues offer two ways to buy the same asset at very different prices. The default is usually the expensive one.
The order book
Anyone repeating these calculations can use a regulated crypto exchange as the comparison point.
A fee, typically 0.1 to 0.3 percent for a taker, less or negative for a maker.
Visible, comparable, and compressed by competition to a narrow band.
The simple interface
A buy and sell screen with no visible fee, priced with a spread instead.
Typically 0.5 to 2 percent, and it is the default for new users at most venues.
The difference
Several times, on the same asset at the same venue at the same moment.
The interface never presents it as a choice between pricing models, and a user who arrives through the simple screen has no reason to look for the other one.
How to check
Note the market price. Request a quote on the simple interface. Compare.
Then look at the order book fee schedule. The gap is what the convenience costs.
Why venues do this
The simple interface serves users who would not use an order book, and it is priced accordingly.
It is also, at several consumer-facing venues, the largest revenue line. Which explains why it is the default.
The other lines
Withdrawal fees, frequently a flat charge above the actual network cost.
Currency conversion, where depositing or withdrawing in a currency the venue does not hold.
Float, on balances held, which creates an incentive toward convenient deposits and slightly less convenient withdrawals.
What to do
If you are trading rather than making an occasional purchase, use the order book. The interface change is one click and the saving is several times the fee. The receiving side has its own arithmetic, handled by a corporate crypto wallet.
Use limit orders rather than market orders where timing permits, which moves you to the maker side and sometimes to a rebate.
Batch withdrawals where the fee is flat.
The comparison worth making
Not the advertised trading fee, which is similar everywhere among serious venues.
The total cost of a completed purchase through the route you will actually use, measured against the market price.
For most users that route is the simple interface, and comparing venues on order book fees they never touch is comparing the wrong number. Measure rather than compare marketing. a regulated crypto exchange quotes without an account, which makes it a five minute exercise.
Fees move with network demand. Any figure here reflects the date shown above and should be re-checked before you act on it. Where a measurement was taken by hand, the article says so.